Mourn Not Your Dead [Audio Cassette]

Deborah Crombie (Author), Michael Deehy (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2005

In the latest mystery by the author of Leave the Grave Green, Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James must solve the murder of a high-ranking police officers. Reprint. AB. NYT.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The three things that make Deborah Crombie's books about a pair of Scotland Yard detectives so fascinating are (a) the way the relationship between Superintendent Duncan Kinkaid and Sgt. Gemma James is constantly--and believably--changing; (b) the meticulously researched and impeccably presented details of British police procedure; and (c) the fact that the superb chronicler behind these multi-layered tales of British society is a native Texan and current resident of a small town near Dallas. This fourth entry in Crombie's excellent series sends the gently raised, intellectual Kinkaid and the tougher, more abrasive James out after the killer of a much-unloved senior policeman in suburban Surrey. Other books in the series also available in paperback are All Shall Be Well, Leave the Grave Green, and A Share in Death. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Sergeant Gemma James and Superintendent Duncan Kincaid reappear (after All Shall Be Well) in this finely tuned procedural that moves between the tidy village of Holmbury St. Mary and the gritty streets of London. Alastair Gilbert, a high-ranking police officer, has been bludgeoned to death in his home in Holmbury, and Scotland Yard's James and Kincaid are called in to aid the local authorities who, over time, prove to be both efficient and fallible. Suspicion immediately falls upon the fragile-looking widow, Claire Gilbert, who, along with her daughter Lucy, Gilbert's stepdaughter, discovered the body. Shrewd and methodical interviews with some of the town's citizens (the pubkeeper and his son; the vicar and doctor, both women; an engaging psychic) show that Claire and Lucy are held in high regard and suggest that more pertinent information might be found in London, where Claire's first husband had been killed in a hit-and-run accident some years earlier-a case in which Alastair had been an investigating officer. Ongoing complications in the evolving relationship between James and Kincaid add depth to the proceedings. With her meticulously, affectionately drawn cast, Crombie is closely attentive to every facet of the tiny village and demonstrates that if country life is clannish and inbred, the small world of the police force is much the same.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Sound Library (December 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0792735536
• ISBN-13: 978-0792735533
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,951,811 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

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best of the Series So far, January 10, 2002

By 

Mark "markrobcol" (FLOMATON, AL, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mourn Not Your Dead (Mass Market Paperback)

After an inauspicious beginning, Crombie's Kincaid/James series improves with every book. 'Mourn Not Your Dead', 4th in the series, is as good a police procedural you're likely to find.

Crombie uses her characters and plot in some unexpected and interesting ways. This installment's victim is a senior police officer. Crombie uses this instance to shed light on the inner workings of the Metropolitan Police. The case is set in an English country village and Crombie uses the setting to give us a new look into English country life. The intersecting lives and loss of life in this village are presented in fresh, never predictable and, one senses, quite accurate ways.

Sometimes, mystery/crime series can be a bit like watching 'Touched by an Angel'. The formula never varies, the pace never varies, characters are predictable and two-dimensional at best. You will feel mad, glad, sad and afraid at all the usual points. This is NOT SO with Crombie's Kincaid/James series, especially installments 3 and 4.

I'm on to #5 in the series "Dreaming of the Bones" which was a NY Times Notable Book of the year when it was published -- a rare acheivement by a crime series novel. If Crombie stays on track -- and the Times's opinion indicates she has -- this should be a winner.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great one by Deborah Crombie, March 29, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Mourn Not Your Dead (Mass Market Paperback)

When Scotland Yard is called to investigate the murder of police commander Alastair Gilbert,
Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and Sergeant Gemma James are assigned the case.
Complicating the investigation is the relationship between Kincaid and Gemma, who just recently
shared a passion-filled evening together. At the onset of the investigation, Gemma tells Kincaid
that it is over between them, leaving him badly hurt.
......As the duo starts to dig into the background of Alastair, they find a different picture then the
public image of a model citizen and cop he presents. They learn that Alastair ignored the rules, his
wife planned to leave him, and that his neighbors despised him for his rancorous and dominating
personality. As more clues are uncovered and a suspect confesses, the case becomes even more
unsettling to the couple. Adding to their disquieting feelings, is the pair's personal dilemma about
which direction their relationship should take.
......Mourn Not Your Dead is a very interesting Scotland Yard mystery novel that will thrill fans of
the genre because of the lead protagonists' struggle with a difficult investigation, personal ethics,
and a shaky relationship. Like her first three novels, Deborah Crombie's fourth mystery deserves
wide readership.

.......Harriet Klausner

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent mystery in excellent series, June 18, 2003

By 

Mim Zee (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mourn Not Your Dead (Mass Market Paperback)

If you like well-plotted, well-written police procedurals served up with a healthy dollop of character-driven writing, pick up this and all the other books is this engaging series. You'll find yourself equally interested in the solving the crime and in the personal relationship between crime-fighting partners Gemma James and Duncan Kinkaid.