By Deborah Crombie

This was a good Agatha Christie/Golden age type mystery set in modern times. It could well have occurred in the 1930s but for Gemma, a single mother and Duncan Kincaid’s sergeant. And one of the character’s purple spiked hair. Most of the appeal for me lies in its being the first in an ongoing series where the continuing characters grow and develop. I don’t believe I will like it as well as Anne Perry’s Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series, but it seems to have more promise than another partners-in-crime type series I started but quit after the second one.

The puzzle was pretty good as to the who and the why, although the solution came upon our hero like a bolt of lightning without a lot of build-up. It was kind of a relief to read a story that was just a straightforward mystery without a huge shocker of a twist that authors nowadays seem obligated to include. This requirement also obliges the reader to look for the “trick” around every corner and not take anything at face value. This can be entertaining, but it is also very wearing on the nerves.

I thought it was funny how desperate our hero is for a committed relationship. This was a nice quality, but it caused him to have harmless mini-crushes on two women simultaneously. One happily married with two children! I’m sure it won’t take long for him to notice the woman right in front of him! 

July 24, 2019