Leave the Grave Green (Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James Novels) [Mass Market Paperback]

Deborah Crombie (Author)

Book Description

Series: Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James Novels | Publication Date: July 26, 2005

When Connor Swann, the dissolute son-in-law of renowned and influential Sir Gerald and Dame Caroline Asherton, is found floating in a Thames River lock, the circumstances eerily recall a strangely similar tragedy. Twenty years ago, the Ashertons' young son, Matthew, a musical prodigy, drowned in a swollen stream while in the company of his sister Julia -- Connor Swann's wife.

Police Superintendant Duncan Kincaid and Sergeant Gemma James quickly discover that Connor's death was no accident, and that nothing in the Asherton family is as it seems. Connor, though estranged from Julia for more than a year, still lives in her London apartment, where his exploits with women and gambling suggest plenty of motives. The Ashertons are far more attached to Connor than to their own daughter, and these are only the first of the secrets that haunt the suspects. New lies cover older lies, as Kincaid finds himself dangerously drawn to Julia Swann, and Gemma must confront her own troubling feelings for Kincaid.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Crombie's Scotland Yard Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and his sergeant Gemma Jones make a welcome return, after All Shall Be Well, to investigate a suspicious drowning in the countryside outside London. The seemingly placid domestic life of distinguished conductor Sir Gerald Asherton and his wife, Dame Caroline Stowe, a renowned soprano, is disturbed when their son-in-law's body slips through the local lock and is dragged up to reveal suspicious bruises around the neck. The Ashertons' daughter Julia had recently left Connor, who was "on good terms with pints and ponies." While her parents continued to lunch weekly with the victim in their stately home, Julia, who 20 years earlier had witnessed her little brother's death by drowning, has had nothing to do with him. The youthful, slightly rumpled Kincaid, his pleasant manner masking a keen intelligence, and the equally insightful, appealing Jones make little pretense that police work is objective, detached business. Occasionally Crombie lets their personal feelings-Kincaid's for the widow, Jones's for opera, and both for each other-outweigh the story. Nonetheless, the passages of the first drowning are haunting, the mystery is intriguing, the characters are well developed and the solution satisfies. Stay tuned. Author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

When police detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James (who are series regulars) investigate a suspicious drowning near London, they encounter a strange situation: the victim's widow-a painter whose father is a famous conductor and whose mother is a renowned opera singer-is oddly stand-offish and strangely unaffected by her husband's death. Crombie (All Shall Be Well, LJ 1/94) creates strategic tension by both establishing a parallel between this drowning and the childhood drowning death of the painter's brother and by juxtaposing two protagonists who feel-but struggle against-a mutual attraction. Lucid prose, well-focused plot, and all the trappings of a cosy British mystery-from a talented American author.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Avon (July 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060789557
• ISBN-13: 978-0060789558
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #77,357 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #90 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Police Procedurals

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

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An engrossing police procedural in the British tradition., December 7, 2000

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Leave the Grave Green (Mass Market Paperback)

Deborah Crombie's work is not up to the level of Ruth Rendell's or Elizabeth George's, but she is a talented writer in the British tradition of police procedurals. In Crombie's novel, "Leave the Grave Green," Inspector Duncan Kincaid and Sergeant Gemma James investigate the murder of a young man named Connor Swann, who drowned under mysterious circumstances. Both Kincaid and James are divorced and afraid of relationships, and Crombie explores the tentative nature of their mutual attraction very nicely. The murder investigation is engrossing; it plays out interestingly and realistically. Crombie depicts her characters with a sharp understanding of human nature and, in her own quiet way, she delivers a murder mystery that satisfies. I love Inspector Kincaid and Sergeant James. They are marvelous characters who are vulnerable working people struggling to make a place for themselves both professionally and personally. I am looking forward to more books featuring Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Appealing detectives make this one a satisfying read., April 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Leave the Grave Green (Mass Market Paperback)

"Leave the Grave Green" by Deborah Crombie is her third novel featuring the Scotland yard team of Duncan Kincaid and Gemma Janes. They are called in to investigate the suspicious drowning death of Connor Swann.

The book opens with a prologue describing another drowning that occurred long before Mr. Swann's. Part of the fun in reading this book is trying to figure out all the connections between the two drownings before they are revealed.

Ms Crombie is so good at developing her characters that we have empathy with all of them, even those that make choices that lead to tragic consequences. Jones and Kincaid are appealing police officers. They have both been wounded in love and watching them reach out to each other is touching. In fact, this whole story is about how people deal with the aftermath of poor choices made in the name of love.

My favorite mysteries tend to be a little darker than this one, but I'm going to read the next book in the series. I'm hooked!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent mystery, February 22, 2006

By 

B. Lawrence "constant reader" (Kingsport TN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Leave the Grave Green (Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm a great fan of both Deborah Crombie and Jill McGown. Both of these authors present complex, satisfying mysteries with a believable relationship going on at the same time.
This is a great read involving complex family interactions and excellent characterizations. The whole issue of the death of the young son, revealed in the first chapter, comes to an interesting conclusion.