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As a spring thaw comes to a bog in Hamburg, Germany, a body buried beneath rises from the land. A signet ring and a photo of the corpse's head help identify the body as that of Johannes Cellarius, a 17th-century cartographer. But more interesting is what he clutched in his fist as he died: a ruby of more than 57 carats. The discovery revives the legend of the lost Tavernier stones, said to have included the 280-carat Great Mogul diamond and the 242-carat Great Table diamond. Tavernier, an adventurer, had been robbed and killed in 1689 – and with his death, the gems disappeared. That same year, Cellarius also disappeared. Now, modern-day cartographer John Graf has been captured by the legend. So has jewel thief and gemologist David Freeman and his girlfriend and partner-in-crime, Sarah Sainte-James. They form an unlikely team – unable even to trust each other – as they search for the stones. But they aren't the only ones looking. The legend of the Tavernier stones has swept the world, and several treasure hunters, some willing to kill for the stones, are also on the trail. Reminiscent of Dan Brown's novels or the "National Treasure" movies starring Nicolas Cage, THE TAVERNIER STONES, a debut novel, involves a lot of puzzles, including ciphers. It opens with the wonderful image of the body in the bog and introduces some interesting characters. Graf is one of those compelling characters: Born Amish, he has been shunned by his family since leaving their farm to attend high school and college – and later to earn a living outside the Amish world. It would be interesting to see this character developed further in more books. However, the book's momentum slows in the middle and never recovers, plodding along even after the characters travel from the US to Germany in the race to solve the puzzle and find the gems. While thrillers of this sort can often be over-the-top with a breakneck pace, THE TAVERNIER STONES suffers from just the opposite: the last scenes are underwhelming, the revelations skimpy and the ending just fizzles. If you like puzzles and ciphers, this book may interest you. But a thrill-a-minute ride it isn't. § Lourdes Venard is a newspaper editor in Long Island, N.Y.
Reviewed by Lourdes Venard, December 2010
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