April Henry Buried Diamonds

Buried Diamonds

April Henry

Dunne, Dec 2003, $23.95, 304 pp.

ISBN: 031230403X

In Portland, forty-something Claire Montrose stops to catch her breath and to slow down her heart rate. She stretches her arms and legs using a crumbling stone wall as support when she notices a spot where the mortar fell off leaving a hole covered by a spider's web. Noticing how the sun reflects oddly off of the ole, she sticks her long fingers inside pulling out a diamond ring in an antique setting.

Upon returning to her home, Claire shows her prize to her roommate octogenarian Charlotte Heidenbruch, who immediately recognizes the jewelry. Charlie insists the gem belonged to her friend Elizabeth Ellsworth, who committed suicide herself years ago. The elderly woman though Elizabeth returned the ring to her fianc Korean War veteran Allen Lisac, when they broke off. Unable to resist and encouraged by Charlie, Claire investigates what happened fifty years ago. The players in this tragedy do not realize that the suicide might have been murder and someone today is willing to kill to hide the truth of yesterday.

Fans of the series will appreciate the latest Montrose tale though newcomers will wonder about the license plates that start each chapter. The story line turns darker than previous novels as anti-Semitism raises its ugly head targeting Holocaust survivor Charlie. Still the investigation is fun even if Claire inadvertently sets off a series of events that leads to death and destruction for some of the participants then and now.

Harriet Klausner