“Good girl” is not exactly what you say when your mini dachshund trots home alone from a walk with your fourteen-year-old nieces and drops a velvet pouch in your lap. Especially when the pouch contains an eight-carat flawless red diamond, known as the Red Tear of Havana, that had been reported stolen days earlier from a rare-jewel exhibition.
In Glimmer’s defense, she’s a professionally trained diamond-sniffing dachshund. I’m Taylor Hunter, a gem recovery specialist, and together we recover stolen jewels. The fact that my missing father also happens to be a notorious jewel thief complicates our lives more than I care to admit.
Still, even Glimmer knew the diamond wasn’t part of any case we were working.
Before I accused my dog of grand theft, I needed to figure out where she found it. Normally, that would be easy in Sunset Peak, Arizona—population three thousand and allergic to secrets. The bigger issue? Glimmer had returned without my nieces, Amber and Kyan. Oddly, that hadn’t worried me. Trouble followed the twins with the same determination it once followed my sister and me.
I found the girls outside the back exit of the family jewelry store two minutes later, both flushed and suddenly fascinated by their shoes.
“Glimmer…” Amber gulped.
“…ran away,” Kyan finished dramatically.
“We looked everywhere,” they said in perfect unison.
I crossed my arms. “Where did you last see her?”
“At the Canary Café.” They pointed toward the diner across the street.
“Glimmer pulled us inside,” Kyan said defensively.
“A fourteen-pound dachshund dragged you?” Granted, Glimmer had never met a rule she couldn’t ignore while hunting diamonds. “What happened in the café?”
“She kept growling at a lady in the booth in the back,” Amber said.
Interesting. I opened the door behind me for Glimmer to strut outside.
“She’s not lost?” the twins asked in relief.
“Makes me wonder what you two were actually doing.” That comment earned identical guilty looks. There’d be time later to figure that mess out. Right now, I walked to the cafe.
I found an elegant gray-haired woman calmly sipping coffee in the designated booth. Glimmer marched beside me, tail high, clearly convinced she had solved the entire case single-handedly.
“It took you long enough, Hunter,” the woman said. “This is my fourth cup of American coffee.” Her accent carried traces of old Havana and obvious disgust toward the coffee.
I slid into the chair across from her. “Who are you?”
“Andrea Maria Castillo Arroya Reyes,” she said smoothly. “The Countess Aria.”
She had my attention. “Tell me about the Red Tear.”
“It belonged to my great-grandmother,” she said. “It was part of her dowry when she married a Cuban plantation owner. The diamond vanished during the revolution.”
“And you stole it back?”
“You cannot steal what already belongs to you.”
I studied the pouch resting between us. “You expect me to return it?”
“No.” She lifted one perfectly manicured hand. “I expect you to prove the provenance legally.”
“Me? I recover stolen jewelry, Countess. I’m not an attorney.”
A faint smile touched her lips. “Your father assured me that you would do the right thing.”
That stopped me cold. My father, the international jewel thief, now the patron saint of rightful provenance?
Nothing about that fit the legend. Or the man I thought I knew. Which left one question I could no longer ignore. Who was the Silver Fox really?
THE WATER DIAMOND
Series: A Gem Hunters Mystery, Book 2
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: June 2026
Format: Print, Digital
Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Every diamond has a story… this one rewrites history.
When a legendary Art Deco bracelet disappears from the Wrigley Mansion, diamond detective Taylor Hunter is pulled into a case that turns deadly fast. The theft is only the beginning. A body surfaces. A trail of lies follows. And every clue points back to a mystery buried since 1929—the disappearance of a young heiress and the secret of a second, missing bracelet.
From the Arizona desert to the shadowed cliffs of Catalina Island, Hunter and her diamond-sniffing dachshund, Glimmer, race a ruthless adversary who is always one step ahead—and has no intention of letting anyone walk away alive.
Because some secrets aren’t just buried…they are never meant to be found.
In THE WATER DIAMOND, past and present collide in a fast-paced adventure brimming with intrigue, charm, and danger. Perfect for fans of Janet Evanovich, National Treasure, and fearless heroines determined to do the right thing.
About the author
Award-winning author, CB Wilson, writes two beloved cozy mystery series: the Gem Hunters Mysteries—beginning with The Fire Diamond—and the Barkview Mysteries, set in the dog-friendliest town in America. A GIA-trained gemologist and lifelong dog lover, she fills her books with sparkling clues, warm humor, and unforgettable canine sidekicks. She lives in Arizona, where she writes stories rich with diamonds, danger, laughter, and loyal dogs.