(PRESS RELEASE) On Feb. 8, 2022, Camel Press will release Murder Is Not A Girl’s Best Friend, the second book in the Diamond District Mystery Series, written by veteran industry journalist Rob Bates.
The follow-up to A Murder is Forever includes all the characters from the first book, in a whole new mystery set in New York City’s 47th Street Diamond District.
This time, there’s controversy. The book tackles hot-button issues like social responsibility, blood diamonds, and small-scale diamond miners in Africa.
“My new book is meant to be entertaining, and can be enjoyed without having read the first,” Bates says. “However, I also hope that it provides insight on controversial topics like conflict diamonds and what constitutes social responsibility in today’s times. I would like it to stir discussion and debate both among people who sell diamonds, and people who buy them.”
Full Description
Journalist-turned-amateur-sleuth Mimi Rosen is back with her father Max for another action-packed tale of murder and intrigue in New York City’s Diamond District.
A Reverend from Africa has found a sparkling $20 million diamond that he hopes will free his continent from the scourge of blood diamonds. But this attempt to do good soon turns very bad. After the diamond is stolen and leads to a series of murders, Mimi discovers both the diamond and the Reverend have a less-than-sparkling history.
Soon, Mimi is investigating a web of secrets involving Africa’s diamond fields, a shady billionaire, offshore companies, as well as a human rights activist, documentary filmmaker, and computer whiz who may not be as noble as they appear. Is the prized gem actually a blood diamond?
- Murder mystery set in the New York City Diamond District.
- Book two in the series.
- Follow-up to “A Murder is Forever”
Advance Praise for Murder Is Not a Girl’s Best Friend:
“The best mysteries not only entertain but also educate, and with the second in his Diamond District mystery series, Bates, who has written about the diamond industry many years, succeeds on both counts. Bates offers readers not only an engaging sleuth with an amusingly snarky sense of humor but also a cleverly constructed plot rich with fascinating tidbits about the diamond trade and the business of selling these sparkly gems, ethically and otherwise.”
Check booklist here.
About the author — News director for JCK, a blogger/writer about the diamond and jewelry industries, and now a debut mystery author. Rob Bates has written about the diamond industry for 30 years.
He has won 12 editorial awards, including the Jewelers of America Media Excellence award in 2016, the American Gem Society’s Triple Zero Award, and been quoted as an industry authority in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and on National Public Radio.
He is also a comedy writer and performer, whose work has appeared on comedycentral.com, and McSweeney’s. He has also written for Time Out New York, New York Newsday, and Fastcompany.com. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and son.