Buried Diamonds

Buried Diamonds by April Henry. mass_market edition. ISBN: 9780373265329.

From the back - When former vanity license plate inspector Claire Montrose finds a valuable diamond ring embedded in an old stone wall, shes uncovered more than lost jewelry - shes just unwittingly exposed a fifty-year-old murder. Claires octogenarian housemate, Charlie, recognizes the ring with shock. It belonged to Elizabeth Ellsworth, a woman who broke off her engagement fifty years earlier, then killed herself. All the "old gang" believed Elizabeth had returned the ring, so how did it get buried inside a stone wall? As half-century-old questions resurface about the incident, Claire discovers more about the terrible secrets Elizabeth kept -- and why someone wanted her dead. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more Claire realizes that someone believes old crimes must stayburied...at all cost. "Cozy trappings...effectively contrast with chilling glimpses of Charlies concentration camp days...(and) a vivid cast of elderly characters." Publishers Weekly