The Good Diamond: A Pacific Northwest Mystery

The Good Diamond is a great addition to the long running series. Skye Moody has pulled together a fascinating cast of new and returning characters, along with intriguing detail about the diamond trade to create an exciting, action-packed mystery.

The Good Diamond is the latest mystery in the Venus Diamond series and it is absolutely fantastic. From the minute it opens in a Canadian diamond mine where a 384 carat diamond has been discovered until the final page, the action is fast-paced and heart-stopping. The characters are well portrayed, drawing the reader into the novel immediately, and the writing is of an exceptionally high quality. This is a novel which, once begun, is impossible to put down. It is a superior addition to the series, but it can also be read as a stand alone. I not only enjoyed the intense thriller action of the novel, but I learned a tremendous amount about the diamond industry and weapons smuggling. As always, Skye Moody has done extensive research to present her readers with an exquisitely written, very intelligent, highly entertaining mystery novel. This is a mystery which should be on every mystery reader's must read list.

In the Barrens of Canada's Northwest Territories, diamond prospector Big Jim Hardy strikes it rich at the Lac de Lune Mine when he finds a three hundred and eighty-four caret blue green diamond. He increases security but commandos steal the big gem and millions of dollars in small diamonds, killing the security guards and Jim. Before dying, he wrote the name Venus Diamond in blood; RCMP Sergeant Roland Mackenzie believes that U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent Diamond was a key player in the theft and killings. Venus identifies Jim as U.S. federal undercover agent Buzz Radke who was tracking weapons and diamond smugglers. After Mackenzie is arrested because evidence points to him as one of the killers in the Lac de Lune Mine murders, Venus is assigned to find the diamond. It is on the Lay-A-Day Ranch where a white supremacist group intends to trade the diamonds for arms in their war against the U.S. government. The diamonds are stolen by a go between who was supposed to insure the gems were real before a final trade with a weapons dealer. . Instead, the head of the Lay- a- Day Ranch is killed and Venus follows a trail of and destruction leading to the mastermind. The protagonist of THE GOOD DIAMOND is hard to understand or empathize with but that hardly matters since there is so much action in this exciting crime thriller in which readers learn about the legitimate and the seamy sides of the diamond trade. Venus realizes nobody can be trusted as she is sure the witnesses she interrogates hide information from her when they are not totally lying. Skye Kathleen Moody pens another winner in this long running series. Harriet Klausner