Jason and the Deadly Diamonds — Linda Hutsell-Manning

In this exciting sequel, twelve-year-old Jason Carter travels with his friend Charlotte and her little brother Squid to seventeenth-century Luxembourg where they meet an innocent man about to be hanged.

Through the magic of a battered old bugle, Jason and his friends have already had one amazing adventure in medieval Germany. This time, they embark on a fantastic journey to the tiny kingdom of Luxembourg in the late 1600s. Ruled by French conquerors, its people have never forgotten their ancient language or their hopes of regaining independence.

Outside the city of Luxembourg, the kids befriend a group of craftsmen - people who help keep alive the ideal of independence. When the city's rich people visit on market day, Jason and his friends are asked to play their musical instruments. Assisted by the bugle's magic, they make marvellous music, and are invited to stay with the great engineer, General Vauban, who is building a vast series of tunnels under the city.

But Fabian, one of Vauban's officers, is secretly involved with an international ring of diamond thieves. He organizes a daring robbery and the people in the camp are blamed. Jason, Charlotte, and Squid have to prove their friends' innocence to save their lives. With the help of the bugle and a mysterious mermaid, Melusina, who holds in her memory the long and tragic history of Luxembourg, they uncover secrets hidden deep in the tunnels.