The Color of Death / Elizabeth Lowell

Good mystery, but the author has a VERY distracting habit of interlacing the protagonist's thoughts with dialog, trying to establish sexual tension between him and the other main character. Enough already.  That only takes place in part of the story, though, so I learned to ignore it. Otherwise, an intriguing mystery based on the precious gem industry; I actually learned a bit about the gem trade and jewel-refining.  411 p.