Chocolate Diamonds — Alec Peche

Chocolate Diamonds is a murder mystery that is set in Europe. Dr. Jill Quint, vintner from California and consulting forensic medical examiner joins her three friends from Wisconsin in Antwerp, Belgium to enjoy their annual girlfriends' vacation. Jo's ancestry resides in this country and she is looking forward to exploring her heritage. They all plan to enjoy the museums of Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as the food and especially the beer of the region. A chance medical emergency pulls Jill and her friends into a homicide investigation assisting the Belgian Police and Interpol with uncovering something worth killing for in the diamond industry. Who was the woman in the restaurant that Jill and Marie performed CPR on, and why did she die in the hospital after they had her stabilized- it was just an unusual nut allergy? Angela, the photographer of the group of friends begins to capture faces of men who want to kill them or kidnap them and along the way she meets Nick who helps them stay alive. The friends do what they can to give Nick and Angela's budding relationship a chance. Jo learns to navigate European financial and tax records with the help of an accountant from Interpol. She is usually oblivious to the strangers around her, but on this vacation paying attention become a requirement as they have to run from several kidnap attempts. Marie has been exploring people's backgrounds worldwide in her day job in the US. Always a multi-tasker, she is a real sleuth at ferreting out the hidden facts and identities for anyone, all while standing in line to buy a ticket at a museum. Nathan, Jill's partner, doesn't want to miss out on the excitement. He joins the ladies in Brussels and plans to visit some of his wine clients while he is in that region. As a world class wine label artist, he has clients that he designs bottle labels for in most parts of the world. He soon finds opportunities to use his Hapkido skills disarming Jo's assailant, joining Nick in providing some security for the women. Diamonds are mined in many parts of the world, but the miners are not always treated fairly. Antwerp is the acknowledged diamond industry hub of the world. Many chocoholics believe that the best chocolate artists in the world reside in Belgium. Jill and her friends stumble upon the intersection of chocolate and diamonds in this murder mystery This is book two of the Jill Quint forensic pathologist series, a follow up to "Vials," the first book in this murder mystery series. A third book in the series Is also available and features a murdered skier in a resort town in Colorado, and its title is "A Breck Death."