Emerald Enigma  
by C.J. Westwick
Krell Press

Reviewed by Karen Morse

A character-driven international thriller, Emerald Enigma follows its protagonists from St. Martin to Colombia and into the high-stakes world of emerald and drug smuggling.  
 
After the disastrous affair that resulted in his expulsion from the Drug Enforcement Administration, private investigator Bret Lamplighter vowed never to return to St. Martin.  However, when Multistate Insurance offers him a huge commission to reclaim two thousand carats’ worth of stolen emeralds, Bret decides to return to the island because he needs the money.  While he knew he was persona non grata on the island, he never suspected that he'd be risking his life just stepping off the plane.  Just as he realizes that he's bitten off more than he can chew, Bret meets Abby Duchamps, a sexy, young French secret service woman. Though she was assigned to tail him, they find themselves joining forces as Bret’s case becomes more complicated and more dangerous.
 
It is clear that a lot of research went into this novel. From the subtle and not-so-subtle differences between the French and Dutch halves of the island, to the logistics of launching an air-breathing cruise missile from the water, these are the sorts of specifics that make the book seem alive. Unfortunately this attention to detail does not carry over to the novel’s plot.  Close calls and strange coincidences are par for the course in a thriller such as this, but Emerald Enigma’s plot tends toward the improbable.  From this reader’s perspective, the novel contains an overabundance of plot devices.  Beyond the shameless cliffhanger in the novel’s epilogue, the profusion of convenient happenings make things seem just a little too easy for Lamplighter.  That being said, Westwick does give the novel a welcome, believable, and altogether unexpected twist at the end.
 
A former military police officer, C.J. Westwick has worked as newspaper editor, advertising copywriter, and writer/producer of educational filmstrips. He is currently working on the second Lamplighter book, which will apparently take place in Russia and Ukraine.    
 
Emerald Enigma is a reprint of Westwick's self published debut.  Originally published as Caribbean Green in April 2003, the title met confused audiences when another self published mystery entitled Caribbean Green (that one by Carolyn Robbins) was also released that month.

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