Chocolate Diamonds

Jill Quint, MD, Forensic Pathologist #2

by 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 in progress and features a murdered skier in a resort town in Colorado, and its title is “A Breck Death”.

Genres: Mystery, Ebooks, Fiction

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 6, 2014

About the author

Author’s Bio
I have fourteen books published in the Jill Quint, MD murder mystery series. They are best described as soft-boiled mysteries.

The books are set in different locations in the United States and Europe. The lead protagonist is Jill Quint, a forensic pathologist. She worked for a state crime lab, but left as she became disenchanted with court appearances, paperwork, and politics. She operates a vineyard in the central valley of California producing Moscato wine.

Jill also works as a private consultant providing a second opinion on the cause of death for families not satisfied with what they are being told about their loved one's death. She had developed a lab that serves two purposes: she can analyze specimens from a crime scene and she can create organic solutions to pest control and fertilizer for her vines.

Jill is partnered in her adventures with her three best friends who live in another state. Each of those friends has unique skills that move a case forward to being solved.

I also have a second series featuring Damian Green, a loner who lives on an island in San Francisco Bay. He's a computer genius and inventor and his entire family were murdered seven years ago by a mistakenly released prisoner from Soledad Prison. Now he helps Natalie Severino, a retired police detective that solved his family's murders with cold cases. There are 5 books in this series.

I'm a book lover with mystery (mostly) and urban fantasy and romance (occasionally) being the only three genres I read.

Writing mysteries is an adventure - trying to plan for twists and plots to make the story richer. I can get engrossed researching a particular angle of each case. For example, in CASTLE KILLING set in Cardiff, Wales, I spent hours studying different angles of the castle to make sure I threw my victim out the right window. He needed to be four stories up to be dead rather than have multiple broken bones. Yes, I know it sounds like a gruesome question, but if I didn't ask it, one of my readers would.

I hope you will enjoy these stories!

I started a third series with Michelle Watson, a CIA operative with a teleportation skill. Imagine what a spy could do with that skill! There are 3 books in this series.

Alec Peche

Reviews

[Carole Whitehurst]

OMG what a bad book!

I usually try and be positive when giving a review, but this one is going to be all negative. This book suffers from:

1. A bad plot, that is absolutely and completely unrealistic. I mean, what are the chances that amateurs could give orders to and have access to the resources of the local police and even Interpol?!

2. Really appalling writing style. The book reads like a (bad) business report, not a novel. There is very little dialogue and even that is stilted. No way does anyone speak that way, and especially not Americans.

3. Ignorance of cuisine vocabulary: an entrée is a starter, not a main dish!

4. Totally Inaccurate information regarding data, and access to it in Europe, especially financial data.

5. Boring descriptions that do not do justice to each country. Has the author even visited them? And what is the purpose of the criticism of the Belgian autopsy system?.....

6. Sloppy editing, where changes to the text were not done properly and left us reading gobbledegook.

Usually when I read a bad book to the end it’s because I want to find out who the « baddie/s » is/are. In this case I only read the story to the end because I wanted to see how bad it could get. It actually got worse than I expected.

OMG what a bad book! Don’t waste your time reading it.

[Paganalexandria]

Ewwww! That cover looks like a scat porn got out of hand. No!!!

[June]

Well the title was certainly intriguing and the premise...three American women on holiday in Belgium had some promise to be interesting and that's about where it ended. Between the various beer tastings and adulations from the Belgium police force I got rather lost in the whole story potential that was there. What really did it in for me were the long and very wordy 'discussions' in regards to diamonds, their beginnings,their consortiums,their mines,their history......well you get the idea.
I wish I could have liked this story more but it just did not happen.

[Diana]

Foreign investigating

Dr. Jill Quint and her three friends are in Antwerp, Belgium on vacation eating in a restaurant when the lady at the table next to them goes into shock from a but allergy. Jill and Marie start doing CPR when the woman passes out. When the woman dies and it is ruled murder, the ladies are drawn into an investigation with Interpol and the Belgium state police. Finding out the deceased is a famous diamond thief makes the story very interesting.

[Robyn]

Jill's posse does it again

WOW!!! What a wonderful story. Jill and her friends go on holiday for their yearly vacation and get caught up in a murder. Just when you think the story is over a new incident is thrown at you. Alec keeps you guessing at what is going on constantly. Has a talent for holding your attention and interest so that you don't want to put the book down. Fantastic book.

[joni marley]

Awesome book!!!!

I was going to wait until tomorrow morning, to comment on this book, but I can't wait to order the next book, it's a very good 👍read very well written and so much fun to read, it took all day, love the information about diamonds, have my sister reading the first book, she enjoyed it and can't wait to get the next book.

Thanks for the awesome work!!!📚📚📚☕☕☕👍👍👍

[Mickey Noel]

Well written and suspenseful, loved the characters!

This story has all of the components that made this an enjoyable reading experience. Strong, clever characters, an interesting plot and an adventure that wasn't too graphic in the violence or romantic action. Well done! I will be reading more by this author.

[Carol Giacoletto-Brooks]

Lots of twists and turns

Great plot with !it's of twists and turns. I only have it 4 stars because of the sloppy editing. Basic spell check and grammar check would have solved many of the repeated words. Even though I found the errors irritating, I look forward to reading more of the Dr. Quit books.

[KerryO]

This story was not quite as enjoyable as book #1 of the series - it got bogged down with the European police authorities calling the American tourists pushy and aggressive, even though their input was not only necessary but extremely eye opening!!! I love all of the characters and can't wait for book #3.

[Pam Madson]

Excellent

Oh my gosh I love these books. The action is so high. There’s a lot going on. There’s so many twists and turns it’s crazy!! Think the book is about over and bam it just keeps going. Love the group.

[Sue Ben-Dor]

A Pleasant Enough Book

Nice a cozy mystery. The protagonists are four strong smart probably drop dead gorgeous who oddly enough find themselves in deadly sutuations. Yes? Did I just describe every “who-done-it” in the world? Well this is another one.

[Charlene Davis]

Awesome

Wow If you want to discover East Europe ,You've got to read this book. Doctor Quint and her fellow sleuths go on a vacation And end up in not just one Investigation but a few and each one is quite interesting

[Nadina]

What a saga

Though hard to believe so much could happen on ones vacation. Jill,Jo,Marie, and Angela were up to the challenge. So many twists and turns. I really enjoyed Henrik’s obstacle course.

[Christine Pattle]

This is a really fun read, with a good plot, and plenty of twists and turns.

It's set in Belgium and The Netherlands. As the characters put their earnings from solving cases towards their holiday fund, I'm looking forward to reading more of their adventures in other interesting locations.

[Michael Wells]

A diamond mystery

Jill, the forensic investigator, is involved in another murder mystery this time in Belgium. I like the plot and the characters were enjoyable. I recommend this book for all of like a good murder mystery.

[Linda Driesen]

Exciting book!

Immensely enjoyed this book. Always looking for interesting reading without profanity and four letter words. Enjoyed the characters as well as the countries.

[Lydell Lee]

Ok Book

The book was ok. The characters were not too fleshed out but the plotting was very slow and was not a fun read.

[Linda Kay Orpet]

Better!!!

My review of the first book asked for dialogue and details to connect to the characters. This second one does that. The plots are intriguing .

[Toni Thomas]

Great read I love the twists and turns of the story.

It’s fun to see how the friends all get involved in something they had no intention of pursuing. I like reading the stories of the friends they make in their adventures.

[Margaret Hier]

Start your vacation with your friends

4 American women who seem to have all the answers tackle an international mystery. Don’t underestimate what they can accomplish.

[jean buck]

Dangers of nut allergies

A very suspenseful thrilling book. Difficult to put down until your finished. Looking forward to next book. The characters were very believable.

[Linda Blackmer]

Not as engaging

This book was a step down from the first book in the series. , Too many characters led to a confusing storyline.

[John]

The story starts with Jill and the other members of her investigation team on their annual vacation trip to Belgium. While partaking refreshments in a pub, Jill comes to the rescue of another patron who is having a medical attack. After they have placed her in an ambulance and taken to the hospital, they discover that she has died while receiving treatment.

This action that they took places them in harms way since it is discovered that the person who they helped turned out to be a diamond thief. They offer their assistance to the authorities and pursue who killed the theif and why they have become a target. Their expertise enables the authorities to solve all of the events that arise around this investigation.

To see all of the rwists and turns that this story takes and why they have become a target, then you will need to read this book which I recommend highly. You won't be disappointed.

[Cheryl]

I won this book on Goodreads. Jill and 3 friends travel to Belgium and the Netherlands for a vacation. They get involved in a murder by nut allergy. While continuing their vacation they start to be attacked and have to learn about diamonds, miners and why the lady is killed

[Ms. Reader]

I received this book from Goodreads First Reads in exchange for an honest review....

This book was dreadful from beginning to the end. The plot and storyline was good, and I really liked the mystery behind it all, but way the author wrote the book bored me to tears. This book was so poorly written. It was bland and ridiculously boring. The details were non-existent, and the way he described the characters (if he described them at all) felt like you were reading a boring resume. The characters were weak and unconvincing, and the fact that the author did so little to explain them, I kept getting confused on who was who.

The majority of the book was all dialog, doing very little to describe what was actually going on. The dialog was even horrible! I wanted to fall asleep every time I picked this book up. This book was extremely disappointing and a terrible read.

[Cornelia]

I almost gave up on this one as the writing style is rather plodding, but I persevered and things did improve.
I found the handy coincidences throughout the story very contrived, the various police departments oh so co-operative, dropping everything to comply with the requests from the group of women
The basic plot was good, with plenty of interest, but the way it was conveyed ( through online research) was pretty dull.A more lively narrative would have added so much more atmosphere and depth to a good idea

[Kay (Brigidsmomma) Compton]

I really am enjoying this new (to me) series! Each book stands alone and is fulled with lots of detail about forensic investigations - not just medically, but also accounting, identity and profiling functions as well. Well written and very gripping, I just want to keep reading this series, cover to cover, book after book.

[Kathy]

The idea for a good story is there - however the author's writing style made it hard to enjoy. Sentences and paragraphs are short, choppy and non-descriptive. I think the author's bio said that he is used to writing memos and short notes and that is exactly how the book reads!

[K.R. Librarian]

An idea for a good story is there - however the writing style makes it hard to enjoy. Sentences and paragraphs are choppy, short and non-descriptive. I think the author's bio said that he is used to writing memos and short notes and that is exactly how the book reads!

[Michele bookloverforever]

it all starts with a peanut allergy at a restaurant in Brussels....then a terrible incident at a hospital...peanuts hidden in peanut free chocolate..diamonds found in the victim's stomach...bribery of Interpol agents...intrigue, danger, murder, kidnapping...blood diamonds.