Midnight in Ruby Bayou

Elizabeth Lowell

I read this and enjoyed it for the most part, though if Liz is anything like her female lead character she spends most of her day horny.

Despite trying a bit too hard for sensual, this weaves an interesting tale of a ruby missing from a Russion museum. Russian mafia, good ol' boys, and an interesting assortment of oddball characters (that, now that I think of it remind me of Hiassen but a with a harder edge) populate this book. The female lead is a Seattle jeweler that creates several pieces, including a ruby necklace, for a show in Savannah, Georgia. Her hotel was known, but on arrival her body guard (and subsequent love interest) change hotels at the last minute. The next morning, the person that took the room she was to have had is found nurdered.

Pretty fast paced, this would be a good beach read.