I will be withholding my review of this book in solidarity with the <a href="https://r4acollective.org/">St. Martin's Press boycott</a>.

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books

🎧 Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio

I received an ARC of the audiobook from the publisher and NetGalley, in order to write an honest review. It's possible that changes were done before the publishing date, so it's possible that some of my comments will no longer apply.

Although the first book in this series has been on my TBR for quite a while, the one here is actually the third in the series. Readers might well be able to read this as a stand alone, but I'm pretty sure that I would have understood the relationships and comments about the past better if I'd read it in order.

Listening in starts and stops, rather than one long trip might have contributed to my feeling that the book sometime seemed to drag. This was most noticeable at about 90% when our main characters begin talking about a perceived problem between them. The whole section seemed to be lifted straight from a TV soap opera where long pauses, significant looks, and "jumping to conclusions" are often used to supposedly build tension for the audience. In this case, it was quite off-putting; I just wanted them to tell what had happened in the past instead of guessing at what was still unsaid. Maybe I would have already known if I had read the previous two novels...

My last comment about the audiobook was about the narration when the main character (Captain Jim) is thinking or speaking. Like some other narrators, the voice used seems hushed and breathy and makes it more difficult to hear. I guess this is meant to add gravity to the tale... I did not have much problem understanding the voices used for other characters because the were read in a more normal tone.

I will still be reading the first volume in the series, since it seems to be set in India and I had chosen it. This mystery (ah, the Spanish diplomat's murder) is set at sea on an ocean voyage. The mystery itself was worth reading.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

I didn't realize this was #3 in a series until I started listening but was ok without having read the previous books. It was fun to listen to, with history, mystery and romance all in one. The narrator was great in this one!

This series has been a bit up and down, and this is closer to the first book than the second. It’s not a bad story, but it’s overlong and drags badly in parts.

I really liked the second book in the series, which had far better pacing and a richer sense of place. This one felt like a bit of a regression on both counts, if still a good mystery worth reading.

I was hoping for more atmosphere, particularly with the ship setting, which is among my favorites for a historical mystery. Here the setting works well in a technical sense, but doesn’t feel particularly immersive.

Jim and Diana remain wonderful, though sometimes Jim’s bumbling tendency to falsely accuse a number of people before getting it right grates on the reader. There is also some content included that doesn’t relate to the central mystery touching on rape and miscarriage that might upset some readers and while it was by no means badly handled, it felt very out of place in a book like this.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for accepting my request to audibly read and review The Spanish Diplomat's Secret.

Narrator: Vikas Adam

Just okay. This is the third book of the series and my first. The storyline was simple. The main characters, Jim and Diana, are likeable.

The narrator did a good job, and my hope is that he is the constant in the series.

While I was bored at times and I really wanted some excitement, there is comfort and familiarity in the characters. I would pick up the first two books if I found them at the right price, free library, etc. My current TBR prevents me from adding willy nilly.

Of note, while listening I did believe this would make a great Masterpiece show.

The Spanish Diplomat's Secret is the third book in the Captain Jim and Lady Diana historical mystery series by Nev March. Released 12th Sept 2023 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 320 pages and available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback format due out from the same publisher in Aug 2024. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout.

This is a very well written and engaging historical mystery. The titular protagonist, Captain Jim Agnihotri, is a half English, half Indian officer and investigator who leaves India to take up a job in America with his young wife. He deals with racism because of his upbringing and skin color as well as being an Englishman in the US.

The relationship between Jim and his wife Diana is refreshingly honest (and modern). She's intelligent and headstrong, if naive. Both of them have a distinct honesty that's refreshing to read. The mystery is well constructed and the prose is nuanced and enjoyable. The action moves the plot along quickly and the denouement and resolution are satisfying and fair play. There are some sweetly romantic moments as well as inevitable moments of melancholy and misunderstanding between the (married) protagonists, but it's all euphemistically described and effectively described. The author has an impressive command of dialogue and the writing is immersive and full of period verisimilitude.

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 12 hours 1 minute and is beautifully narrated by Vikas Adam. He has a classically trained, clear, and well modulated voice and manages a number of accents (including "foreign" accents), and a range of ages, and both sexes, without a hitch. He has a pleasantly neutral voice which made the read seamless and unobtrusive. Sound and production quality were high throughout.

Four stars. Recommended for public library acquisition and home use. With three volumes extant in the series, it would make a good choice for a binge/buddy read.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for my copy of The Spanish Diplomat's Secret by Nev March Narrated by Vikas Adam in exchange for an honest review. It published September 12, 2023.
First off, the narration was on point, as always!
Another installment in this fun series totally delivers. I really love that this series is quite mysterious, very twisty and lots of turns, and isn't quite in the cozy mystery genre. I find it refreshing. Another bonus about this book is that even though it is the third installment in the series, I would go so far to say that this might even be the best book in the series. It is not losing steam. I cannot wait for the next one!

The third episode of the Captain Jim and Diana mysteries. An interesting plot, as always, but this series is just too slow paced for me (and the reader reads it too slowly! I have to turn it up to 1.25x speed and then everything sounds really frenzied even though going at a slow pace!) and has too much of a romancy feel to it. I like the mystery but I get tired of Jim and Diana constantly keeping things from each other because they are trying to protect each other. I think there is a certain class of reader that will enjoy this historical mystery / romance style but it is not me.

The Spanish Diplomat's Secret is a slow mystery set on a transatlantic ship. I really enjoyed the last 1/6 of the book, but the rest was a bit too slow for me. I wasn't a massive fan of being in the main character's head, and I also didn't find his investigation methods intriguing. This is a solid story, and I recommend it if you enjoy a slow-burn mystery with a bit of political intrigue.

"The room is locked. How did the killer get out?"

And the room is on a ship in the middle of the ocean! A killer is definitely among the passengers in the intriguing historical fiction murder mystery The Spanish Diplomat's Secret by versatile mystery author Nev March.

It's the summer of 1894 and Captain Jim and Lady Diana are on an ocean liner heading to England. It should be relaxing, a time to spend in love with each other but alas, Captain Jim spends most of the time seasick hanging over the ship's railing. During one of these railing incidents a kind elderly man offers him some help. Soon they are trading soldier stories and Jim has a new friend in Don Juan Nepomuceno. Sadly, 24 hours later the Spanish diplomat is dead and Jim has six days before they dock to find the killer to avoid an international incident. You see Don Juan had a doozy of a secret; it involves Spain's civil war and Cuba's rebellion.

Reading this absorbing mystery was a page turner but listening to the smooth international accents from meticulous voice actor Vikas Adam brought it to a whole new level of enjoyment. Honestly, I could listen to him read a shopping list and happily drool.

Though the 3rd book in the Captain Jim and Lady Diana mystery series, it's a standalone. I highly recommend reading the first 2 books, Murder In Old Bombay(my fav)and Peril at the Exposition to enjoy the growing love between Jim and Diana. In this book when he helps her with the buttons down the back of her dress the author took a simple task and made it a beautiful moment of pure love.

A murder, an apparent suicide, and a wife hiding something makes for compelling mysterious secrets.

I received a free copy of this book/audiobook from the publishers via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

I have loved this series from book one and was so excited to see book 3 was coming out [and even more so when I got accepted for both the eBook ARC and audiobook ARC] and I am so glad that this one, like the two books before it, absolutely did not disappoint [and I will admit to being relieved. LOL].

Jim and Lady Diana, after their crazy adventure in Chicago, are now on a luxury liner, heading to England to see Diana's brother Adi [and for Jim to do a job when he is there] and they are trying to relax and find some peace and also to try and mend a rift that has sprung up between them [you can see just how much they still love each other, but it is obvious from the beginning something is very wrong between them; while it is resolved by the end, I think it will rear its head again before all parties figure stuff out]. Unfortunately, between Jim's violent sea sickness [which introduces him to an elderly gentleman, who both commiserates with the sickness and shares his knowledge of the military when finding out who Jim is] and his inability to see Diana as anything but a fragile creature, the resolution to that doesn't come until near the end of the book, simply because, well, murder. Naturally. ;-)

When the kind gentleman who helps Jim when he is sick is found dead, in a locked room [this seems to be a fun trope amongst mysteries these days] no less, it comes out that he is not only a Spanish diplomat, but also the uncle to the King of Spain and his death could cause all sorts of a ruckus [naturally] if the killer isn't found before landing in Liverpool. Jim is then drafted into service and the game is...ahem...afoot.

This is not a quickly solved mystery however [readers need to be prepared for slow burn of a mystery - you will learn a lot about Spain and Cuba and jewels and the hierarchy that occurs everywhere, including an ocean liner in 1894, and the red herrings will abound right up to the end and the reveal [which was surprising to me - since it was so obvious to other reviewers, I am afraid I am losing my touch in figuring mysteries out. Of course, I was still caught up in some of the amazing {and not always amazing in a good way} Spanish history and probably missed some thing], and even as the book ends, you are left wondering just what happened in the end [this is not a bad thing, and it means you either have to assume, or it sets it up that something from this trip will come back in a future book] all while wondering why Jim is still keeping secrets about himself and Adi and why they are really in England to himself and that is a story I cannot wait to read [so Ms. March, please write faster?? LOL].

If you love a good mystery and lots of interesting history interspersed, this is a series for you!!

I was able to request and receive the audiobook ARC for this book and once again, the narrator, Vikas Adams did not disappoint [I did miss the female narrator from the previous book, but not enough to complain] and really brought the book [once again] to life. I love when I find a book that he is narrating because I know at least the narration will be awesome; thankfully, in this case, both the book AND the narration were really, really, good. Well done.

Thank you to NetGalley, Nev March, Vikas Adams - Narrator, St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Audio for providing the eBook and audiobook ARC's in exchange for an honest review.

This enjoyable historical mystery is the third in a series of fantastic mysteries set in the 1890s. The books in this series can be read as standalones, for me this book is the second I have read in this series.
Captain Jim Agnihotri and his wife Lady Diana Framj are on board HMS Etruria travelling from Boston to Liverpool. When the Governor of Bilbao and cousin to the Spanish king Don Juan Nepomuceno is killed in the locked music room, Captain Hawley insists that Jim investigates. But why and how was the Spanish aristocrat killed in this way. A locked room mystery and a play on the secluded manor house with a setting in the first class part of a transatlantic liner.
Giving a realistic feel for the period, author Nev March authentically describes the various lifestyles of this time
- from the well-to-do politicians to the work in the machine rooms and the servants. Her descriptions of the sights, sounds and smells help to bring this era to life.

Augmenting the novel to be more than a well-written historical mystery, March incorporates the racism, classism, and sexism of the era while bringing in a quite diverse set of characters.
The audio was very well done with two separate narrators for Jim and Diana. Another great addition to this well researched series.

In the summer of 1894, Captain Jim Agnihotri and his wife, Lady Diana Framji, set sail for England. When the enigmatic Spaniard Don Juan Nepomuceno is mysteriously murdered, Captain Jim is asked to uncover the killer before they reach Liverpool in six days. With a thousand suspects and a locked-cabin crime, Jim and Diana, inspired by Sherlock Holmes, must solve the murder, all while navigating the high society world of the ship's first-class passengers.

This is the first book of the series I’ve read, so it’s a little awkward since it is book three. The book does a good job, however, of making sure a new reader is brought up to speed on who our main character is and how he’s reached the point he has. Captain Jim is immediately a sympathetic person, being terribly seasick on a ship, and his concerns for his wife.

The plot moved at a good pace. At times, it was rapid action, and at times it was slower, more introverted, as Jim contemplates the tangle before him. I will confess that I guessed the ending rather early on, but still found Jim’s journey to the truth enjoyable. The only thing keeping this from a full five star rating for me is an instance where Lady Diana uses a method of finding something that was a little too close to magic for my taste.

Overall, this was fun to listen to. The narrator did a phenomenal job of bringing Captain Jim to life. I would definitely recommend this to readers looking for a historical mystery.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for sending this audiobook for my honest review.

Based in the 1890s, The Spanish Diplomat’s Secret tells the story of a Spanish soldier who is murdered onboard a transatlantic voyage. The captain enlists investigator Jim Agnihotri, who is a passenger on the ship, to solve the murder before they arrive in England. Will Jim solve the crime and avoid an international incident or will the clues leave him with more questions than he started with?

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I liked that this book kept me guessing. The clues had me suspecting EVERYONE! Eventually you are able to start organizing the clues and narrow it down but I like that it wasn’t *immediately* evident.

I will say sometimes the story was difficult to follow when listening. There were a lot of secondary characters that were difficult for me to keep straight. This occasionally led to some confusion. I think I would have had a better time learning the characters if I had read the book instead of listened to the audio version, but that might just be a me thing! I also didn’t love Jim’s personal drama with his wife. It felt out of place with the main story.

Overall, if you love a mystery that isn’t straight forward and predictable, this is the book for you!

This was the first book I've read in the Captain Jim series. I think you can pick up the story from anywhere as this mystery was completely done on the ship itself. The only thing I missed out on was the relationship between Jim and his new wife Diana so I didn't know a lot about them or how they came to be together. I did like what we saw of their relationship, Diana did spend most of the voyage feeling seasick and just unwell in general so we mainly only saw Jim doing his detective work on his own until the last half of the book. Because of that Jim spent most of his time talking to several other people on the ship as he tried to find out what happened.


Overall I did enjoy this story and found it interesting. I struggled to solve this mystery before Jim did which was nice for a change. We did get little hints and clues that were helpful, I just wasn't catching on to them because I was focused on a different character who I felt was acting suspicious. Some of my favorite parts of this story were ones where real history was woven into the story as it was talked about that America had a conflict with Spain about Cuba, and some other European power things were going on as well that were interesting to see be included in the story and how the passengers talked about it all.

The narrator of this audiobook I enjoyed. The only part I did not like at times was some of the voices that were used for several of the women's side characters (one in particular reminded me of a TikTok voice changer sound and it got old rather quickly.) It was easy to tell who was talking in the story which was good since there were so many side characters who were important to the story.

I do see myself potentially continuing with this series to break up some of the other series I am currently reading.

THE SPANISH DIPLOMAT’S SECRET by Nev March
Publication: 9/ 12/ 2023 by St. Martin’s Press / Minotaur Books
Page Count: 400
Also: Macmillan Audio
Narrated by: Vikas Adam


Meet the progenitor of James Bond in 1894 British India .. Captain James Agnihotri (aka Jim O’Trey)… now recently married to Lady Diana. Jim is a half-caste orphan and Diana is from a noble, wealthy Indian family. Jim become endeared to the family will his previous sleuthing to clear up a family mystery - dilemma. Once Diana set her sights on him , he was easily won over. With Diana’s social skills in high society, and Jim’s investigative skills and army background they make a formidable couple, and have a penchant to apply the deductive skills of their hero, Sherlock Holmes.
In the Summer of 1894 they have embarked on a transatlantic ocean voyage from Boston to Liverpool, along with an international list of a thousand passengers. Jim is sensing some underlying current of dissatisfaction in Diana’s mood … the trip will be an excellent time to root it out. Jim is aware that almost more pressing will be his penchant for sea-sickness. True to form he finds himself on deck and vomiting over the side. He is approached and offered comfort by a Spanish gentleman, who identifies himself as Don Juan Nepomuceno… a fellow soldier and comrade in-arms. The next day Jim received a note from Don Juan urgently requesting his presence in his stateroom. Before he can comply, the gentlemen is found garroted in his locked stateroom. The ships Captain Hawley, once he’s aware of Jim’s background, enlists his aid in solving the crime … hopefully before they reach Liverpool, and avert an international crisis. Jim undertakes the investigation with the aid of Lady Diana. There are literally a thousand suspects and no witnesses. Using their Sherlock Homes-like skills they relentlessly pursue an extensive and all encompassing investigation … all the while realizing their time clock mercilessly is winding down. They soon learn that the Don was certainly not a beloved person with his checkered past history. There is an abundance of those onboard who hold malice. The fact that Don Juan is a highly placed in the Spanish nobility threatens to create an international calamity.
Nev March proves to be a master storyteller, weaving a narrative with ever increasing tension and suspense as the facts and clues are teased out, while incorporating relevant Indian history and customs into this marvelous soufflé. I look forward to the further investigative adventures of Captain Jim and Lady Diana. This can be devoured as a standalone as the author expertly weaves an necessary backstory into the narrative. I personally switched back and forth between my kindle and the audiobook, narrated by the marvelous Vikas Adam. Hi wonderful narration brought this complex tale alive in the theatre of my mind. Thanks to NetGalley, St.Martin’s Press / Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio for providing an Uncorrected Proof and Advance AudioBook in exchange for an honest review.

The Spanish Diplomat's Secret is the third book in the Captain Jim and Lady Diana series. Jim and Diana are sailing to England. Jim has felt Diana pulling away from him in their relationship and is dealing with particularly bad sea sickness. During the voyage Jim meets a mysterious Spanish gentleman on the ship. The day after this first interaction Jim receives an urgent message from Don Juan Nepomuceno requesting a meeting. Before the meeting can occur the Spaniard is found dead. Jim is enlisted by the ship's captain to help solve the murder. With Diana now back by his side they set out to uncover the killer.

I was so excited to be approved for this ALC. I have read the other books in this series and really enjoy it. I like the mix of historical elements with the mystery. Jim and Diana are both great characters. I love how their relationship has evolved. I can't wait to see where this series goes next!

Goodness, I love the relationship between Jim and Diana and their romance is especially adorable on this crime-riddled cross-ocean voyage in The Spanish Diplomat. This one’s basically a locked-room mystery, meaning all the culprits Jim investigates must exist aboard the ship, making the mystery that much more entertaining and intriguing. There are a lot of cultural and historical references, too, and the cast of characters was interesting.
I’ve physically read (and enjoyed) the first two in this series, but this 3rd I mostly listened to on audio and throughly enjoyed. Admitting, it took some time to sort all the people out, but once I had that figured, I was totally hooked on all the twists and turns Diana and Jim encountered during their investigation - Diana is such a charming and clever sidekick.
I definitely recommend this series, but this book could certainly be read as a standalone. It gives Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes vibes and I really enjoyed it.

I really love this series and the relationship between Jim and Diana. He wants to protect her but realizes that she'll have none of being put on the shelf for him to do so and he doesn't force the issue. This was a bit of wild ride and I did not see the ending coming at all!! I can't wait for the next installment!

3.75

This was such a fun addition to this series! Captain Jim and Lady Diana are on their way to England when when a Spanish diplomat is murdered. What follows is a closed circle mystery as Captain Jim tries to figure out what happened before they arrive in Liverpool and cause an international incident.

I love the way Nev March weaves in elements of history into these stories, and how she allows those real historical events to play into the plots. In this case, we learn more about the Cold War between the US and Spain in regards to Cuba, as well as some tensions between European powers.

The pacing of this one did drag for me a little in the beginning but wow was the ending explosive, and I loved the way it all tied together. While this is the third in a series, I think as a mystery it stands well on its own and there are enough reminders of Jim and Diana’s interpersonal relationships that you wouldn’t feel lost if you didn’t read the first two.

I had both an eARC and ALC via NetGalley and listened to the whole book while occasionally using the ebook as a point of reference. The audiobook is narrated by Vikas Adam, who remains one of my favorite narrators.