Diamonds are a girl’s best friend?

Personally I'm not a huge fan of diamonds, or other expensive stones. "Act normal, that's more than enough" is the rough translation of a very familiar Dutch saying. Maybe when I get older, but for now, I'm doing fine with the few gold pieces of jewelry I own. Lucky hubby, I should say.

But not owning much jewelry doesn't mean you can't read about it or appreciate them. And the books of Elizabeth Lowell are all about diamonds, rubies, emeralds and other precious stones. Yes, I have to admit, her books fall in the lovey-dovey category, but in the more intelligent category. Of course it's still boy meets girl, they like each other, they fall out, they come back together, happily ever after. But besides this, as I have said before about J.D. Robb: something happens! It's not just the 'development' of their relationship. Some things actually happen. Usually in her books it involves either art of precious gems. It could be a priceless book an collector is willing to murder for ("Moving target"), lost Russian crown jewels hunted down by a ruthless Russian criminal ("Midnight in Ruby Bayou") or eerie paintings depicting gruesome deaths ("Die in plain sight").

The funny thing is, it doesn't matter which book you read by Lowell, you always learn something. In "The color of death" (the one I've read recently) and "Midnight at Ruby Bay", this is about sapphires and rubies. And what did I learn? Well, a ruby is actually a red sapphire. They're quarried in Asia. The best quality ruby is an untreated Burmese ruby, but these are very rare. People use all kind of treatment – for instance heat – to deepen the color of the ruby, but this can also lower the value of the stone due to the removal of the clarity and the clarity is very important. Don't ask me how, it is a chemical process. Just read one of Lowell's books (or Wikipedia). And of course, these rare rubies or sapphires play a big part in some of Lowell's books.
In "The color of death" it are seven (orange?) sapphires, which Kat Chandler turned into a necklace called 'the seven sins'. Somebody wants to steal the sapphires and in doing so killed Kat's brother. So she's on a witch-hunt, which only turns successful after she met FBI-agent Sam Groves. And yes, they fall for each other. In the end her brother's murder is solved, the bad guys apprehended, the jewels recovered and everybody's happy.

A funny thing about "The color of death" is that it is depicted as the fourth installment in the 'Rarities Unlimited'-series. And here comes the funny thing: Rarities Unlimited – an art appraisal house – doesn't feature in the book at all. The firm doesn't even get mentioned. Funny isn't it?

In the end I have to say, the books by Lowell are not of a very high standing. It is what I like to call 'a snack'. Fun to read, not too difficult, a nice plot and perfect to read before going to sleep, or in a train or bus, or on holidays. Just something easy in between. Is this a crime? No, absolutely not as long as your expectations aren't too high.