Author Description

Superintendant Duncan Kincaid and Detective Inspector Gemma James have settled into domestic tranquility with their sons from former relationships, thirteen-year-old Kit and five-year-old Toby. Kincaid works in Scotland Yard and Gemma is stationed in Notting Hill. Although they are no longer professional partners, they still depend on one another for advice and support. Gemma's friend, Erika Rosenthal, is a retired academic who left Berlin with her husband, David, at the beginning of World War II. One evening, Erika asks Gemma to come over to discuss an important matter. It seems that an Art Deco brooch made of diamonds set in platinum has surfaced and is about to be auctioned off at a house called Harrowby's. Erika's late father, Jakob Goldshtein, was a master jewelry maker who created this exquisite item in 1938 and gave it to his daughter. It was stolen from her fifty years ago under tragic circumstances and she never expected to see it again. Erika asks Gemma to find out how a British auction house managed to acquire Jakob's masterpiece. Gemma agrees to make inquiries, not realizing that her visit to Harrowby's will set off alarms in the mind of a cold-blooded killer.