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New York, NY--In an industry where sparkle often masks shadow, what happens when innovation becomes a threat, and someone is willing to kill to silence it?

With the release of “Making a Killing in Diamonds,” journalist and longtime JCK and JCKonline News Director, Rob Bates, returns with the fourth installment in his Diamond District Mystery series. Set in Manhattan’s 47th Street, the epicenter of the global gem trade, the novel unearths a murder that sends shockwaves through the world of diamonds, illuminating the high-stakes conflicts, ethical complexities and generational tensions facing the jewelry industry today.

Bates, a diamond business specialist, brings more than three decades of editorial authority, investigative reporting, and insider knowledge to every page. With his characteristic wit and incisive voice, he unspools a tightly plotted murder mystery grounded in the real, often hidden dynamics of the gem and jewelry world. In “Making a Killing in Diamonds,” that hidden world is suddenly pulled into public view with the disappearance of a brilliant scientist and subsequent murder of a lab-grown CEO. How far will the industry go when it’s under attack?

At the heart of the story is Mimi Rosen, the sharp, sardonic journalist-turned-amateur-sleuth who has become the heart of the series. Now working for her father’s diamond business, Mimi finds herself once again drawn into a mystery that straddles two worlds…the old-school diamond dealers of 47th Street, bound by family, tradition, and silent codes of loyalty, and the gleaming new frontier of lab-grown gems, where startups backed by venture capitalists promise disruption, transparency, and sustainability. As Mimi investigates the murder, she confronts uncomfortable truths about the industry’s resistance to change, how it’s become more difficult to define what is “real,” and the blurred ethical lines that define what we value in luxury. With each clue she uncovers, Bates peels back another layer of the diamond business, exposing not only the power plays and PR spins but the emotional legacy of an industry steeped in myth, meaning, and moral contradiction.

For Bates, this series is more than fiction. It is a mirror held up to one of the most fascinating and misunderstood sectors of the global economy. As News Director of JCK, one of the industry’s most respected publications, Bates has covered major developments in the jewelry world over the past 30 years.

In addition to his work as a journalist, Bates co-hosts The Jewelry District podcast, which features leading voices from across the global trade. His work has been recognized with more than a dozen editorial awards and has been cited in the many of the world’s leading luxury and business outlets.

 “Making a Killing in Diamonds” explores themes that are urgently relevant not only to the jewelry trade but to the luxury sector at large: What happens when disruption collides with heritage? When innovation threatens not just profit but identity? When “ethical” becomes a marketing buzzword instead of a moral commitment? And when technology allows us to replicate beauty, do we lose, or redefine, what makes something precious?

“Making a Killing in Diamonds” drops on August 12 on Amazon, available on Kindle and paperback formats here. For inquiries, contact Rob Bates at itsrobbatesauthor@gmail.com, visit www.robbatesauthor.com.