In a Dark House (Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James Novels) [Mass Market Paperback]

Deborah Crombie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 27, 2005 | Series: Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James Novels

An abandoned Southwark warehouse burns next door to a women's shelter for victims of spousal abuse. Within it lies the charred corpse of a female body burned beyond all recognition. At the same time, workers at Guy's Hospital anxiously discuss the disappearance of a hospital administrator -- a beautiful, emotionally fragile young woman who's vanished without a trace.

And in an old, dark, rambling London house, nine-year-old
Harriet's awful fears won't be silenced -- as she worries about her
feuding parents, her schoolwork . . . and the strange woman who
is her only companion in this scary, unfamiliar place.

Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid -- lovers and former partners -- have their own pressing concerns. But they must put aside private matters to investigate these disturbing cases. Yet neither Gemma nor Duncan realize how closely the cases are connected -- or how important their resolutions will be for an abducted young child who is frightened, alone . . . and in serious peril.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A serial arsonist nutter is on the loose in London in Crombie's assured 10th book starring Scotland Yard Det. Supt. Duncan Kincaid and his lover/partner Det. Insp. Gemma James. When a nude, charred female corpse turns up in a burned warehouse, the police discover that the unidentified victim, one of four possible women, was murdered beforehand. Duncan and Gemma also look into the abduction of 10-year-old Harriet Novak, a pawn in her parents' ongoing acrimonious divorce. As the investigation by both fire officials and police evolves, it becomes clear that the abduction is connected to the murder. Young, eager firefighter Rose Kearny, who found the body in the burning building, works the case on her own and comes up with a theory that may explain the arsonist's unusual motive. Fanny Liu, confined to a wheelchair, fears the worst when her roommate goes missing, and a nearby home for battered women apparently connects several aspects of the case. It's a web of gossamer-thin clues that police, under the patient Superintendent Kincaid, work to untangle as they race against time to find the imperiled Harriet. Myriad subplots that have accrued from past entries slow the action in places, but Duncan and Gemma are such interesting and attractive characters that few readers will mind.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“Crombie keeps this series on its toes with her smooth procedural techniques and engagingly eccentric characters.” (New York Times Book Review )

“An uncanny affinity for the English detective genre...Her characters are three-dimensional and are drawn with compassion and sensitivity.” (Dallas Morning News )

“A master of the modern British mystery...one writer who gets better with every book.” (Harrisburg Patriot News )

“As always, Ms. Crombie peoples her novel with well-drawn, interesting characters. (Richmond Times-Dispatch )

In this dark house, the author’s light shines brightly. (Richmond Times-Dispatch on In a Dark House )

Crombie’s steady hand drives teh story--and the likable Kincaid and james--safely home again. (Texas Monthly )

“Crombie...has evolved into a masterful novelist.” (Denver Post )

“...interesting and attractive characters...” (Publishers Weekly )

“A defiinite recomendation for fans of Elizabeth george, P.D. James and Ruth Rendell.” (Library Journal )

“Crombie has laid claim to the literary territory of moody psychological suspense owned by P.D. James and Barbara Vine.” (Washington Post )

“Rich and complex.” (London Times )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Avon (December 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060525266
• ISBN-13: 978-0060525262
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,250 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Deborah Crombie grew up near Dallas, Texas, but from a child always had the inexplicable feeling that she belonged in England. After earning a Bachelor's degree in Biology from Austin College in Sherman, Texas, she made her first trip to Britain and felt she'd come home. She later lived in both Chester, England, and Edinburgh, Scotland, where she failed to make as good a use of being cold and poor as JK Rowling.

It was not until almost a decade later that, living once more in Texas and raising her small daughter, she had the idea for her first novel, a mystery set in Yorkshire. She had no credentials other than a desire to write and a severe case of homesickness for Britain. A Share in Death, published in 1993, was short-listed for both Agatha and Macavity awards for Best First Novel and was awarded the Macavity.

Crombie's fifth novel, Dreaming of the Bones, was a New York Times Notable Book in 1997, was named by the Independent Mystery Booksellers as one of the 100 Best Crime Novels of the Century, was an Edgar nominee for Best Novel, and won the Macavity award for Best Novel.

Subsequent novels have been published to critical acclaim and in a dozen languages. Crombie's fourteenth novel featuring Metropolitan Police detectives Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and Inspector Gemma James, No Mark Upon Her, will be published by Harper Collins in February 2012.

The author still lives in Texas but spends several months out of the year in Britain, maintaining a precarious balance between the two, and occasionally confusing her cultural references.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great setting, engaging characters, many mysteries, December 12, 2004

By 

Patricia Tryon (Longmont, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In a Dark House (Hardcover)

Deborah Crombie succeeds on at least three levels in the continuation of the Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James series.

First, she skillfully develops the historic and contemporary meaning of Southwark, where the story is set. Architectural details, anomalies of language, and anecdotes of days gone by provide a rich and believeable backdrop. Yet the setting informs, rather than overwhelms, the story: no risk of drowning in meaningless detail.

Second, the plot nests several mysteries without requiring all the characters to run into each other. Though nuanced, the questions at the story's center differentiate themselves sufficiently to make the reader follow closely the final pages. It would be hard not to care about how each problem resolves and Crombie conscientiously wraps up each of the plots.

The primary reason to care so much about the plots is that the characters, both familiar and those making one-time appearances in the series, show rich diversity in character and within characterizations. About the few characters who lack depth, the reader is likely to think simply that -- well, they lack depth. It is true in life, so why not in fiction? But most of the personalities show the range of how well and how poorly people respond to difficulty. Their interactions are anything but predictable.

When I pick up a book by this author, I always mean to make it last because I savor the tensions between characters, being immersed in the sights and sounds and smells of a foreign place, and the lovely economy of language in dialog and description, alike. And Deborah Crombie does not shirk from putting out a multi-course feast for the mystery reader. The problem, though, is that the stories she creates invariably drive me into turning pages. I tend to finish her books quickly because my curiosity drives me on, even as I want the story to last longer and longer.

A tiny criticism: a personal subplot has strung out over several books. It seems artificial that it remains unresolved. But that's a fly in the neighborhood -- hardly a fly even near the soup of this exciting and interesting book.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is superb -- the best Crombie yet, January 31, 2005

By 

M. C. Crammer (Decatur, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: In A Dark House (Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James Novels) (Audio CD)

The literary merit of this mystery is very high -- as good if not better as anything P.D. James or Elizabeth George has written. Several plots intertwine deftly in a rather complex (but not so complex you have trouble following it) plot. I listened to the CD version, read beautifully, and that forced me to hear the story in a measured pace rather than rushing through the book to find out what happened next. The temptation will be to hurry through this book to find out what happens, but it's a book worth savoring.

The plots involve several missing women -- including a child -- and an unidentified body of a woman found in a burned out warehouse. In addition to Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid, who both get involved in this although they are working in separate offices of Scotland Yard, a new "detective" character is added -- a young firefighter named Rose whose interest is in arson investigation. She suspects that this seemingly natural fire is anything but.

My only criticism has to do with my impatience with the subplot involving Kit -- I'm tiring of it and wish the author would resolve this family problem, which apparently interests her more than it does me.

But on the whole, I think this is a book you may want to keep and suspect it will be winning some awards.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Arson and murder, July 29, 2005

By 

Beverley Strong (Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In a Dark House (Hardcover)

This is a really fine murder mystery in the English style. DS Duncan Kincaid is called in to represent Scotland Yard in a murder/arson investigation of the burning of a warehouse owned by a prominent MP. It's an investigation that he could well do without at this minute as he is concerned about a hearing affecting the custody of his son. His partner and lover, DI. Gemma James, is not prepared to commit to marriage, even though the even tenor of their lives with their joined families is in jeopardy. After the charred body of a female is discovered in the aftermath of the warehouse fire, patient and detailed police work unravels the identity of the victim who is linked to the murder and disappearance of several women from the same district. Dr. Tony Kovak arranges for a casual friend to help kidnap his 10 year old daughter so as to prevent her mother from stopping custody arrangements, but doesn't bargain for his daughters' total disappearance. Yet another woman can't be located and is found murdered. It's a gripping, methodical plot and one which I would recommend to every reader who enjoys this style of mystery.