cover image Murder Is Forever: A Diamond District Mystery

Murder Is Forever: A Diamond District Mystery

Rob Bates. Camel, $15.95 trade paper (216p) ISBN 978-1-60381-221-4

Bates’s sprightly debut and series launch introduces plucky 38-year-old New Yorker Mimi Rosen, who has been working for two months at her father’s diamond business on 47th Street, “the world’s sparkliest flea market.” For onetime reporter Mimi, this new occupation is a major comedown, but being unemployed and broke after an expensive divorce, she had no choice. Then Mimi’s cousin Yosef, a diamond trader, is murdered. The police quickly conclude it was a robbery, an occupational hazard for diamond dealers. But Yosef’s fiancée isn’t convinced, and she begs Mimi to use her experience as a reporter to investigate his death. Bates, who has more than 25 years as a journalist covering the diamond business, easily slips in loads of fascinating information on diamonds and Jewish culture without losing sight of the mystery plot. Readers will look forward to Mimi’s further adventures. Agent: Dawn Dowdle, Blue Ridge Literary. (Oct.)