52 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great setting, engaging characters, many mysteries, December 12, 2004
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.
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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
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.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Arson and murder, July 29, 2005
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.
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