As the book opens, University of Michigan student Clare Swann arrives at her late aunt's house where the Swann family is meeting to pick from the possessions of the deceased. The Swann family is, to put it politely, a mixed bag. The eldest is a multimillionaire whose son Patrick is in the PhD program at Michigan. Son number two is a buffoony attorney with a piranha-like wife. Son number three is Clare's father, Gerald, who abandoned Clare and her mother12 years ago. Also present at what has become a tense and unpleasant scene are an antique appraiser, the attorney, and a representative from the foundation that will inherit her aunt's papers.

Clare is a beneficiary, inheriting for her father who is believed to be dead. Apart from her one-third interest, she is expressly given a Black Diamond box. Refusing to open it in the presence of the circling vultures, she returns to school to examine the contents. Inside is a mixture of old letters and photos that mean nothing to Clare, even though she and her aunt had always been very close.

She leaves to photocopy them, hoping the process will clarify the faded writing. Upon her return Clare Swann finds her dorm room ransacked, and under the rubble, the body of her father. At this point, Clare's friend, Zoe, calls Anneke to come help Clare.

The clues come from events going back to 1895 that are chronicled in the Black Diamond box. Black Diamond is cleverly constructed through the use of flashbacks to guide the reader. This is the novel's greatest strength.

The weakness in Black Diamond is the lack of credible characters. The author showcases the family as examples of extreme behavior. Somewhere along the line, their reactions to events should have come across as genuine or natural to their particular unfortunate personality trait. They did not. Although Anneke and Karl did show some sparks occasionally, the lack of sustained tension made this an occasionally slow-moving novel.

--Thea Davis