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Summary
Summary
Necessary As Blood is the latest entry in Deborah Crombie's New York Times Notable, Edgar®, Agatha, and Macavity Awards-nominated mystery series featuring Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James. A Texan frequently compared to the masters of British crime fiction--including P.D. James, Martha Grimes, Barbara Vine, and fellow American Elizabeth George--Crombie dazzles once more with Necessary As Blood --a relentlessly suspenseful tale of a vanished mother, a murdered father, and a helpless, endangered child.
Author Notes
Deborah Crombie was born in Dallas, Texas on June 6, 1952. She received a degree in biology from Austin College in Sherman, Texas. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked in advertising, as a journalist, and as a manufacturer's representative for theatre concessions. Her first book, A Share in Death, also became the first book in the Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James Novel series. She won the Mystery Readers International Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel for Dreaming of the Bones in 1997 and the Macavity Award for Best Novel for Where Memories Lie in 2009. In 2014 her title, To Dwell in Darkness, made The New York Times Best Seller List.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Romance dominates Crombie's 13th contemporary procedural featuring Scotland Yarders Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid, who are on the verge of getting married (after 2008's Where Memories Lie). The how, where and when of their wedding proves a considerable source of stress to both, overshadowing the murder investigation of Naz Malik, a solicitor suspected in the disappearance of his wife, Sandra Gilles, an artist specializing in textile collage. Malik was found suffocated in Bethnal Green, with traces of an animal tranquilizer in his system. Meanwhile, James's mother is seriously ill, placing James in the impossible position of trying to fulfill both her familial and work responsibilities. In addition, James must fight to keep Malik's now parentless young daughter from falling into the custody of Sandra's unsavory relatives. Hopefully, Crombie will provide a better balance of police work and her characters' personal lives next time. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Enriched by chapter heads from novels and sociological studies that track the modern-day evolution of London's East End community, Crombie's latest Kincaid and James crime story is as rich in its picture of cultural and racial flux as it is in its framework of family dynamics. Scotland Yard Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and his investigative partner and significant other Sergeant Gemma James once again put their personal issues on hold to investigate an odd case that has left a sweet, young toddler an orphan. When little Charlotte's mother, a presumably happily married textile artist, leaves her beloved child with a friend one day and never returns, her husband is devastated, and rumors circulate about the stability of the couple's mixed-race marriage. Later, when the husband is brutally murdered, Duncan and Emma turn again to the mystery of the vanished woman to find clues to the husband's killer. As much about finding a good home for the child as it is about solving a crime, this latest in Crombie's series tells a subtle and moving character-driven story.--Zvirin, Stephanie Copyright 2009 Booklist
Kirkus Review
Would a mother abandon her child to get out of a problematic marriage? Still mourning her miscarried baby, DI Gemma James can't settle on wedding arrangements to Scotland Yard Superintendent Duncan Kincaid. He fears she may back out: Their best friends Hazel and Tim are divorced, and the marriage of Gemma's parents is challenged by her mother's chemo. When Pakistani lawyer Naz Malik turns up dead three months after his white wife Sandra disappeared, there are rumors that she ran off with another bloke. Would Sandra have abandoned the daughter she doted on? Did Naz, who loved his wife and child, commit suicide? Arranging temporary custody for the Maliks' toddler, Charlotte, Gemma becomes obsessed with figuring out why Sandra vanished and Naz died. She's hampered by Narcotics, which has been watching Sandra's druggie brothers for years and doesn't want Gemma interfering. That doesn't stop her, and she gets a concussion for her troubles. Suspects include a former agent for Sandra's artwork, a restaurateur whose missing nephew was to testify at his corruption trial and the owner of a private club whose wealthy members fancy very young girls. More complications arise when a tabloid-newspaper baron susses out facts the Yard is not ready to release, Gemma's sister piles on guilt about the wedding and Charlotte seems headed for a truly unsuitable family placement. Despite a smattering of East End history and racial discord, this is really a study of what makes relationships work or fail, thoughtfully unfolded by a dependable pro (Water Like a Stone, 2007, etc.). Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
A young mother goes missing, and three months later her husband is found murdered. Assigned the racially and socially charged case, Scotland Yard Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid must assuage the egos of local detectives while leading his own team. Detective Inspector Gemma James, Kincaid's ex-partner, is also interested because the unlucky spouses' young daughter is now orphaned. Crombie, known for her intricate plotting and careful character development, interweaves the police investigation with James's personal problems-her mother's battle with cancer, her friend's depression, her family's dislike of her wedding plans with Kincaid. Verdict Fans of the series (Where Memories Lie) will lap this one up because the focus is on James running her own unsanctioned investigation. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 6/1/09; for more mystery, go to LJ's Mystery Book Buzz webcast at http://bit.ly/AV1nw, where this title was highlighted.-Ed.] (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
