Fifth entry in the Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James Scotland Yard mystery series. When Duncan receives a call from his ex-wife Victoria, whom he hasn't seen in over ten years, he wonders what's up. Vic is a Cambridge University professor and is also writing a biography of a semi-famous Cambridge poet, Lydia, who committed suicide five years previously. After examining Lydia's papers, Vic begins to wonder if her death was indeed a suicide and has decided to contact Duncan to get his opinion and to see if he can gain access to the police reports from the time of her death. When Vic herself ends up dead a short time later, Duncan's uneasy feeling about the earlier case are solidified and he vows to stop at nothing to find Vic's killer, too--and Gemma steps in to assist. I can't believe how much I've come to enjoy this series. Very rarely do I finish a book in a series and want to move immediately to the next one to see what happens next, but I do feel that way with this one. I generally hold myself back though--heaven forbid I make it through them all too quickly and then have to WAIT for the next book to be written! LOL

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Another installment in a very fine series of British murder mysteries. The two main characters acquire more and more depth and complexity in every book.

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I stumbled across this book at a charity book sale and am glad I did. I was unfamiliar with the series but based on this book I want to read more.

I found the characters believable and complex and the writing clear and compelling. This particular book has some tenuous connections to the poet Rupert Brooke and I greatly enjoyed the excerpts from his poems that opened each chapter.

While the relationship between Kincaid and Gemma is progressing, you don't need to have read the prior 4 books to enjoy this one.

I didn't give it a 5 as the it took a little time to see how the plot and new characters were to be involved in the story.

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I was so happy to locate this book. It was the only one of the series I hadn't read. I read the last book first and had a hard time getting my hands on the others. I have recommended these books to others in my book group. It is so much fun to find an new author.

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Wonderful book! I have almost finished reading all of Crombie's books to date. Loved them all.

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Excellent British cop story with more depth than most

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All of Crombie's books make compelling reading. This one was not my favorite, probably because I am not into poetry which is a sort of central "character." But I have been reading her titles out of order and "Dreaming of the Bones" filled in a lot of backstory about Gemma, Duncan, and company.

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This series about Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid are some of my favorites. You can't go wrong with any of them.

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It is the call Scotland Yard Superintendent Duncan Kincaid never expected?and one he certainly doesn't want. Victoria, his ex-wife, who walked out without an explanation more than a decade ago, asks him to look into the suicide of local poet, Lydia Brooke?a case that's been officially closed for five years. The troubled young writer's death, Victoria claims, might well have been murder.

No one is more surprised than Kincaid himself when he agrees to investigate?not even his partner and lover, Sergeant Gemma James. But it's a second death that raises the stakes and plunges Kincaid and James into a labyrinth of dark lies and lethal secrets that stretches all the way back through the twentieth century?a death that most assuredly is murder, one that has altered Duncan Kincaid's world forever.

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It is the call Scotland Yard Superintendent Duncan Kincaid never expectedâand one he certainly doesn't want. Victoria, his ex-wife, who walked out without an explanation more than a decade ago, asks him to look into the suicide of local poet, Lydia Brookeâa case that's been officially closed for five years. The troubled young writer's death, Victoria claims, might well have been murder.
No one is more surprised than Kincaid himself when he agrees to investigate; not even his partner and lover, Sergeant Gemma James. But it's a second death that raises the stakes and plunges Kincaid and James into a labyrinth of dark lies and lethal secrets that stretches all the way back through the twentieth centuryâa death that most assuredly is murder, one that has altered Duncan Kincaid's world forever.
I enjoyed book 5 very much and another visit to another small English village. Cambridgeshire this time. I also liked the excepts from Rupert Brookes' poetry at the start of each chapter. Once again, great writing from Deborah Crombie, unique characters that were well-drawn and another super plot. I look forward to the next installment and I would highly recommend this series to those who love mystery in small English villages.

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Love the whole series

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