Böcker av David Ciambrone

What could go wrong on the beautiful Gulf of Mexico coast of Texas? Smuggling and manufacturing of illegal drugs and counterfeit relics? The lost treasure of King Henry II of England? Murder? Then there is the dragon that tried to kill Virginia Davies Clark's friend Dr. Terry Sorenson. Dr. Terry Sorenson is on Buckman Island, a Texas barrier island on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, sorting through ancient North and Central American native artifacts that a wealthy English Lord sold to the Smithsonian. But when Virginia Davies Clark is called to duty by the Smithsonian Central Security Service to investigate why Terry was attacked by a dragon, things turn dark. Virginia and Terry quickly discover illegal activities taking place on the island involving illegal drugs being made and distributed, artifacts being copied and sold as the originals, the murder of the English Lord, and an old skeleton wrapped in a Dragon Quilt in a closet. They must locate a lost green dragon statue made from a meteor and use it along with the dragon quilt to find the murderer, who is behind the drug and relic operations, and the missing treasure of King Henry II... without being killed. Virginia and her quilting pal Dr. Terry Sorenson wish they had stuck to archaeology, basting, and batting.

A friend of Virginia Davies Clark, Dr. Gail Knight, a retired professor of computer science at the University of California at Irvine where Virginia was a student, purchased an old ranch called the Circle A near Georgetown, Texas and is renovating it to live there. Dr. Knight bought the ranch from a relative of First Lieutenant Robert Cumo of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division, a veteran of the battle for Rome during World War II. The relative lived there since Lt. Cumo died and sold it due financial problems and issues with the ghosts. Virginia visits her friend at her ranch where Gail gives Virginia a unique quilt dating from the late 1940s that she found in the attic of the ranch house. Her friend tells Virginia about subtle rumors of a treasure, supposedly stolen from the Vatican in WWII, and ghosts at the old ranch. Virginia is intrigued by the idea of a treasure and specters of a WWII soldier and a Roman gladiator skulking around Gail's ranch; but Virginia does NOT believe in ghosts. Did First Lieutenant Robert Cumo leave Rome in 1945 with a little... souvenir... like the missing Vatican treasure? Only one thing is for sure: someone thinks he did. Virginia and her friends, think the clues to the possible hidden treasure and the reason for the violence lie within in her newly acquired, and unusual, quilt. Virginia, along with her colleagues, is determined to figure out who is behind all this and locate the treasure. She must switch her attention from quilting to killers and to the romantic but deadly city of Rome and its ancient catacombs. While few can still remember the war personally, there's a killer who refuses to forget... with a vengeance.

Virginia Davies Clark and her husband, Professor Andy Clark, have no idea what's in store for them as they attended an estate auction in Georgetown, Texas. Virginia won the bid for an antique quilt and a ships-log from the mid-1700s. Upon leaving the auction, someone attempted to rob her of the quilt. Later, after examining the quilt and glancing through the logbook, Virginia discovers they are from a French ship chartered by a French count to clandestinely delivering chests of gold to the American Sons of Liberty during the Revolutionary War. According to the log, the ship was attacked and crippled by a British Man-of-War, but it managed to get away to make repairs and hide the remaining chests of gold. But the log and quilt also show where the ship sank in the Gulf of Mexico in a hurricane after fleeing New England. When the Smithsonian sends Virginia to find the lost ship and the remaining gold, trouble starts-danger and turmoil mount as Virginia, a Coast Guard special agent, and Virginia's colleagues struggle to overcome cutthroat pirate attacks in the Gulf of Mexico and by a Mexican drug lord financed by a mysterious person in the U.S. who also wants the treasure. Intrigue mounts as Virginia and her friend Dr. Terry Sorenson weave together additional clues from the quilt and a mysterious Revolutionary War vintage bottle from the shipwreck about the possible location of the French gold. In New England, Virginia and Terry must locate and recover the gold and stop the shadowy individual financing the killers in the high-stakes conclusion of the action-filled adventure.

Virginia ventures to Palm Springs, California for a quilt show and conference. It's also a reunion and respite for her and her long-time friend, Donna Bolette. A few days of fun, sun, and quilting can't hurt. They visit Virginia's old teacher and friend, Ms. Carol Jean Putman when they arrive in the desert. After a nice friendly visit, Carol is discovered murdered on her ranch. Virginia's shock doubles when she learns that Carol Jean Putman made Virginia the executor of her estate and the new owner of a whole lot of desert. Virginia learns the murder involves a special quilt that partially glows in the dark, a painting from the seventeen hundreds, a legend about old Spanish galleons lost in the desert sands, and a vast treasure hidden centuries ago. Virginia's mastered the art of piecing together blocks to create intricate quilts, but piecing together her friend's murder will prove far more challenging.

Virginia Davies Clark, the quilt Bee leader, or Queen Bee, as the others in the group called her, are set to expand their Bee Hive Quilt Bee by inviting newcomer Amanda Radford, a retired engineer, into their group. Amanda is well known for her crafty patchwork and her exquisite, prize-winning quilts. She recently moved from Galveston to Georgetown, Texas. She joined the Quilt Guilds in Georgetown and in Round Rock. Her crafty reputation could perk up the Bee Hive Quilt Bee's patchwork proceedings, especially as they prepare for the upcoming quilt show. But when they arrive at Amanda's home, they find her dead inside the front door, and a couple of her exquisite, prize-winning quilts missing. But the fact that Amanda had investigated extinct volcanos in Texas, especially one with special diamonds and that she had a contract with the Department of Defense to build a portable super laser caused Virginia to dig deeper. She and her friend Natalie North uncover an espionage ring and illegal arms traders who will kill for the wall hanging, design manual, and the special laser. Virginia's is not one to leave a mystery unraveled. She must stop the killers from establishing a fatal pattern.

Virginia Davies Clark and her friend Natalie North go to a quilt retreat to teach workshops at the Mayfield, An historic ranch in Williamson County, northwest of Georgetown, Texas. But Virginia's lessons in paper piecing and Natalie's lessons in knit felting are no match for Colin Carswell's (the owner of the ranch) hamming it up with equal parts history, an ancient curse, and histrionics. Part of the ranch is being renovated and Carswell leads an "e;archaeological/historical"e; tour of the ranch house, especially the attic, the old ranch buildings and cemetery, and the story about the old curse for the visiting quilters-until Virginia stops the show by uncovering human bones in an old steamer trunk.When the full skeleton is later exposed, Virginia can't help but wonder if it's somehow connected to the rumored sightings of a historical ghost and the curse. After Colin Carswell is found dead clenching an emerald the size of a tennis ball along with a very old lap quilt, it's up to Virginia and Natalie to thread the clues together before someone else, like them, becomes history. Virginia's mastered the art of piecing together blocks to create intricate quilts, but now she wishes she'd stuck to basting and batting.

Virginia Davies-Clark must find a quilt missing for seventy years. An award-winning quilt hiding an amazing secret. Virginia Davies-Clark is called back into the service of the Smithsonian Central Security Service and the Department of Defense along with her husband Andy and her friend Donna to locate a quilt. This isn't just any quilt. At the 1933 Century of Progress in Chicago, Sears Roebuck Company sponsored a quilt contest. The Grand Prize was to be $1,000.00. The quilt that won the prize was a pieced called "e;The Unknown Star"e; by the maker, Margaret Rogers Caden of Kentucky. The quilt itself was presented to the President's wife, Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt. Sometime during FDR's presidency the quilt disappeared and has not been seen for almost seventy years. Virginia questions why the DOD is interested in an old quilt. As she, Andy and Donna start their quest, they find they are not the only ones searching for the quilt and they are attacked by various organizations bent on stopping her. Their adversary list grows as they try to accomplish an impossible assignment. Virginia makes some strange alliances across the country to take down the organizations trying to stop her. Using her wits, cunning, intellect, and guts, she, Andy and Donna attempt to locate the quilt and use any means she can to undermine a bold strategy by her adversaries trying to kill her and her little group. Her conniving, devious and messy strategy brings the villains to an explosive end.

Someone tried to kill a friend of Virginia Davies Clark in Virginia's museum. The killers are after the gold, a mysterious Civil War era quilt, jade jaguar, and a ceremonial jade dagger her friend just inherited. More murders take place because of the old quilt and the inheritance. The list of suspects includes a university professor and a few relatives of Virginia's friend. They all look suspicious and innocent at the same time. Tests on the gold indicate it came from Central America. Virginia's examination of the quilt reveals it was made in the mid-1800s in Texas. It holds a hidden map to a Mayan golden temple in an unexplored area of jungle in southern Mexico and northern Guatemala. It is a fabled Mayan temple of gold and the city of gold-El Dorado. With the backing of the police and the Smithsonian Central Security Service, Virginia and her colleague and archaeologist, Dr. Terry Sorenson, using photographs of the quilt blocks and the binding as maps, head for the jungles of Mexico and Guatemala in search of the fabled Mayan temple and city of gold.When Virginia and Terry tromp through the jungle to locate the source of the Confederate gold supply and the fabled Mayan temple of gold, they must outsmart a corrupt undercover U.S. DEA agent, face a dangerous and violent drug lord, handle a very real Mayan curse, and fight unfriendly natives all of whom want them dead. The question is, using the hidden map in the quilt, can they find the mysterious temple and city of gold, and capture the murderer, before getting themselves killed?

It's hard to imagine anything really bad ever happening in picturesque Georgetown, Texas-until a famous face rolls into town and unthreads some very dark secrets... Virginia Davies Clark and members of the Bee Hive Quilt Bee and Chisholm Trail Quilt Guild, are all too familiar with the Greenwald estate. The Victorian mansion, known as "e;Borealis,"e; was owned by nationally famous quilter Ann North Greenwald, and sits now vacant just west of the city limits after the murder of Ann. Georgetown is abuzz with excitement when Hollywood actress, Natalie North arrives and announces she inherited "e;Borealis"e; and selling off its old furnishings and renovate the mansion. A local developer and a local radical church group are shocked and will do anything to prevent Natalie from renovating it instead of selling it. And Virginia is intrigued when Natalie asks her to appraise the estate's sizable collection of quilts and Ann's notebooks. But the more she examines the quilts, the more they seem to point toward Ann's murder-and the murderer-and it's up to Virginia and her friends to stitch the clues together.