Detective Sanchez Hollowson believes he is on the yacht to celebrate his best friend’s John birthday along with John’s children with the hope of having fun. However, soon a turn of events take place and he finds that John has been murdered after his birthday. This revelation comes with a disturbing thought that one of those present on the yacht is the murderer.

To most people, it appears as if Derek James is a typical college freshman. Yes, he is on a football scholarship at one of the most prestigious universities in the country, but other than that, he appears quite ordinary. But there is an extraordinary secret that Derek is harboring: he is a warlock! When he runs into fellow freshmen Matthias, Omar, and TreVell, he is surprised to learn that they are also warlocks! Shortly after they all meet, however, the freshmen start getting attacked by terrifying monsters. Now, the four fast friends must overcome doubts and disagreements in order to discover the source of the attacks. But it may go deeper than any of them realize.

It is first time that Isabella Galloway has returned to Evansville since she made her escape from her egotistical and controlling mother four years earlier. Bella would not have come now, if it were not for Leona Hodge, the woman she considered her real mother. Leona's urgent telegram informing Bella that her mother, the famous Virginia Galloway, was on her deathbed, was quite unexpected and Bella did not truly believe Virginia could be dying. When Bella left Evansville she had also left behind the love of her life, Neil Whitely, because she believed he had been unfaithful to her with none other than her own mother, Virginia. The prospect of seeing him again filled her with dread, because no matter how hard she tried to forget him, she could not. Bella traveled to France and had become a distinguished artist. By the time she returned to the United States and took a position at Carrington Academy as instructor, she considered herself truly independent. Her fear that the trip to her hometown would undo everything she had worked so hard to accomplish would only be the tip of what was to befall her as she discovers the curse of the Black Diamond Lavaliere.

Perth and Rockingham, Western Australia were turnaround locations for uncut diamonds originally smuggled out of the Zimbabwean Marange mines and destined for secret auction in Monaco, Europe. It was an illegal operation set up by Viscount Rupert Blicksworth, an executive of the Bellerose Investissments de Monaco. He engaged Iranian arms dealer Omar Sahran to co-ordinate the operation within Australia. Sahran in turn involved two Aussie crime families, the Russos in Sydney and the Petris in Perth. The Secret Intelligence Services (SIS) in London had information that it was Blicksworth family member in Monaco who was actually handling the final stage of delivery to auction. To find out more, the SIS engaged a new operative in Monaco. On learning about Sahrans involvement, alarm bells rang. His association with terrorists and revolutionaries sparked off memories of how he had doubled crossed the SIS over an arms deal in the Middle East. When intel about a delivery of diamonds were departing from Zimbabwe, the covert SIS interest shifted to Perth, as did their field operative and his Blicksworth contact. Hacket. London based controller Charles Grimshaw had said. Keep it low profile surveillance. The Aussies arent being told anything so no bodies, just useful information we can use against this Baroness Blicksworth when back in Monaco. And Omar Sahran? Hacket questioned and Grimshaw simply grinned. What developed after the disappearance of a small, but valuable, black diamond would crystallise allegiances and cause feuds between, not only, the Russo and Petri crime families, but also within the Blicksworth family and who would live to enjoy their accumulated wealth and title. www.mbchatelle.me.uk

LOTS OF CLUES AS YOU READ TO HELP SOLVE THE PUZZLE.

This title in the acclaimed Afoot & Afield series contains more than 100 carefully described trips in the nine-county region. Included are all the well-known favorites: Mt. Tamalpais, Point Reyes National Seashore, Henry W. Coe and Mt. Diablo state parks, and Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve. The book also features more remote parks and preserves, from the rugged Sonoma coast to hidden canyons south of San Jose, as well as regional open spaces and country parks from the East Bay hills to the Santa Cruz Mountains.