The Pindar Diamond — Katie Hickman

A GRIPPING HISTORICAL TALE OF LOVE AND AVARICE IN VENICE

A mysterious woman, crippled and mute, washes ashore on the Italian coast. She clutches a bundle to her chest -- a baby the citizens of the nearby town insist is a real-life mermaid. Seeing the child as a portent of bad luck, the townspeople pay a troupe of acrobats to carry mother and baby away.

In the bustling trade center of Venice, merchant Paul Pindar is the subject of his colleagues' concern. Lately, they find him changed, raging over the loss of his beloved and gambling away his fortune at the gaming tables. But when a priceless blue diamond surfaces in the city, Pindar recognizes the opportunity to regain everything he has lost -- including, perhaps, the woman he loves.