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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780060525286
ISBN number: 0060525282
Label: Avon
Manufacturer: Avon
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 416
Printing Date: January 01, 2008
Publishing house: Avon
Release Date: December 26, 2007
Sale Popularity Level: 89393
Studio: Avon
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Product Description:
Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and his partner, Sergeant Gemma James, take their sons to picturesque Cheshire for their very first family Christmas with Duncan's parents—a holiday both dreaded and anticipated. But not even the charming town of Nantwich and the dreaming canals can mask the tensions in Duncan's family, which are tragically heightened by the discovery of an infant's body hidden in the wall of an old dairy.
As Duncan and Gemma help the police investigate the infant's death, another murder strikes closer to home, revealing that far from being idyllic, Duncan's childhood paradise holds dark and deadly secrets . . . secrets that threaten everything and everyone Duncan and Gemma hold most dear.
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Rated by buyers 
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First of all, being a huge fan of English murder mysteries, I do love this series. Gemma and Duncan are extremely appealing, the writing is great, and the descriptions really take you there. However, as excited as I was to discover that I had not yet read this latest in the series, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed. I was not personally that interested in narrow boats, so that whole plot line left me a little cold. Also, I agree with the reviewer who commented that there just wasn't enough Gemma and Duncan in this one...most of the book was about Duncan's family and the police force in Duncan's home town with our favorite (and still unmarried) couple taking a back seat. I also thought the whole story line with Lally and Kit was a bit far-fetched. Regarding Kit, I hope future novels will show him getting counseling considering the poor kid has now personally discovered two bodies including his mother's. The odds of something like that happening have to be pretty high. The climactic scene was contrived and unrealistic, and I thought the ending was rushed as well. Here's hoping that the new novel to be released soon goes back to Gemma and Duncan dealing with bodies in their normal line of work as inspectors and Kit back in school where he belongs. Oh, and come on, Duncan, ask her to marry you already!!!!
Rated by buyers 
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I love England and London! Deborah Crombie has written several books in this series of Insp. Duncan Kincaid and his Sgt. Gemma James. Crombie lived in England for some time and knows the country well. The mysteries are outstanding and well written. And the relationship between Kincaid and Gemma is very human and well presented. What a team! They are great. We rank these stories along with Morse, Midsommer Murders, and Insp. Lynley and Havers!! If you love mysteries and England, read these--outstanding!!!
Rated by buyers -
I can't say this book was captivating or that it provided great social commentary amidst the mystery/crime. There was no sense of can't put it down. And it certainly didn't have the character depth or social commentary of Elizabeth George's books.
On the other hand, it was enjoyable to read, had a ending that wasn't completely predictable, and provided a good environmental portrait.
Paul S
Rated by buyers -
I just discovered her wonderful Duncan Kincaid/Gemma Jones series a couple of months ago. I read one of them and went back to the library to get everything else of hers they had or could get on inter-library loan. I've now read the entire (to date) series and can't wait for the subsequent one.
In lieu of writing 11 separate reviews and maybe risking plot spoilers, I'll just say that you will not be disappointed in any book in the series.
I say, "Thank goodness for Deborah Crombie" because I'd almost concluded that the classic English mystery--literate, well-plotted, deeply atmospheric, not too graphically gory or depressingly misanthropic or gratuitously salted with the author's politics--is a vanishing genre. (Caroline Graham being a notable exception, but her books are agonizingly far between.)
All her characters are exceptionally well-drawn. Gemma and Duncan are authentically human and immensely likable, and their personal lives never dominate or distract from the story. Crombie is obviously a loving student of British history, literature, architecture and geography, and takes care--sometimes with exquisitely drawn inside-cover maps--to acquaint readers with the various locales the stories are set in.
She was a real find for me. I hope she has many more books in her.
Rated by buyers -
Crombie has taken her two erstwhile London coppers (Kincaid and James) and sent them out to the Cheshire (near the Welsh Border) where Duncan grew up. They have gone out to Duncan's parents farm for a real 'English Country' Christmas. It will also give Gemma and Kit (Duncan's newfound son) a chance to meet the 'family'. We are introduced to Duncan's parents (Hugh and Rosemary) his sister, husband and children (Juliet, Caspar, Lally and Sam) and assorted old friends (such as Chief Inspector Ronnie Babcock).
Of course there has to be a murder(s) or there wouldn't be any reason for the book. But blending into the standard Police Procedural is a fine discusion of the 'narrowboats' and the people who have made a living on them for more than the last hundred years. In the nineteenth century they plied the canal system, delivering goods like long haul truckers; except that they lived on the boats. They were only seven feet wide so that they could pass each other on the canals. Few of the boats are used this way anymore and a way of life is dying off. Crombie writes a great peaen to these people.
Though out of their jurisdiction, Kincaid and James are able to get involved peripherally with the conivence of DCI Babcock. More than seeing the investigation unfold, we see a newfound respect for each others professionalism between Kincaid and James. The strengthening of their bond as they both still deal with the loss of Gemma's baby (in the last book) is both thoughtful and realistic. Crombie also does a marvellous job of pursuing that age old antagonism that builds between and mother and daughter, as the child comes into womanhood. A fine novel.
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