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Saturday, February 28, 2015

To Dwell In Darkness by Deborah Crombie

Wow, oh wow.  You want to know how pleased I was with To Dwell In Darkness, the 16th book in Deborah Crombie's wonderful crime series?  Just, wow.  And I need the next book now, please!!  This book was published back in September of last year and I have held back from reading it - savoring the moment.  Sigh, now I have to wait again.

I am so fond of the characters in Deborah Crombie's world - Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid, his wife, Detective Inspector Gemma James, their children, Kit, Toby, Charlotte.  There is a backstory to each character and I have loved travelling through Duncan and Gemma's London.  Deborah Crombie is a Texan, by the way - just saying - ha!  She spends part of her time at home in the Dallas area and part of her time in London.  Her books are really well done and I've read all of them in the last 3 years.  Well, I re-read a couple of them and then caught up.  The mysteries are intriguing for sure, but it is the character development and the wonderful settings in various parts of London and beyond that keep this reader coming back.

To Dwell In Darkness begins with Duncan going back to work after having been at home on paternity leave with Charlotte.  He has been unexpectedly transferred away from Scotland Yard to a local Major Crime Unit in Camden.  It's not a demotion exactly, but it feels that way.  He's had to leave his faithful DS Doug Cullen behind and there is a whole new group of colleagues to meet and get acquainted with.

There has been a bombing at the historic St. Pancras Station and Duncan and his team are in charge of the investigation.  Other familiar characters happened to be at St. Pancras during the event, including Gemma's Detective Sergeant, Melody Talbot.  A young man, part of a group of protesters, was killed and many others are injured.  A bystander that helped Melody in the chaos disappears.  The other protesters insist that the young man who died was just going to set off a smoke bomb.  Mysteries abound and the puzzle begins to take on a truly ominous flavor.  It will take all of Kincaid's resources to get to the bottom of things and even then, we're not sure if there is more to know.

And then there's another question - where is Duncan's boss from Scotland Yard?  What's going on with the odd transfer?  A lot of things are left unanswered.  Kincaid has a really, really bad feeling about his career.  Here's hoping that we'll get to the nitty-gritty in book #17, because I'm worried.  Indeed, I am.

If you have not read this series before, it begins with A Share in Death.  I know that 16 books are a lot to catch up on, but trust me, it's worth it.

27 comments:

  1. Ok, another series to add to my forever long list. I need more reading time!! :D Nice review, Kay!

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    1. Thanks, Melody! I love adding to your list. ;-)

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  2. I really need to get back to this series! I've read the first two, but that's as far as I got, not because I didn't like them, but because I didn't want them to blur all together. I may wait, though, until I read through all of Elly Griffiths' Ruth Galloway series. And Susan Hill's Simon Serrailler series. I'm loving both of them and plan to read both sets over the course of the year. :)

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    1. Have I added enough to your list, Les? You know that Nan loves this series too. Her reviews were simply wonderful.

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    2. Oh, yes! I'm so glad you're back in the blogging world. You always have such great recommendations for mysteries!

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  3. Another series I should read!?! How will I ever catch up with everything. I will have to look into these. :)

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    1. What? You thought you were supposed to catch up? Maybe after your girls are grown. Oh wait, I'm already there. Nope, it's not possible. ;-)

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  4. I know! Duncan's weird transfer, Gemma's promotion, and the missing boss all have me concerned!

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  5. I have only read the first ten books, books 11 -13 are waiting on my shelves. I agree, it is worthwhile to read all of them from the beginning. I especially loved the first 6 or 7 in the series.

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    1. I love getting the full story of how all the characters came to be connected. Hope you enjoy the next ones.

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  6. I have had the first one to read in TBR stack for quite awhile. I know I should read it soon. Right now I am reading the 3rd book of J.A. Jance's Joanna Brady series so I have a lot of catch up to do there. There are quite a few other series waiting for catch up too. Lots of good reading ahead!

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    1. So many series, right? I haven't read a Joanna Brady for quite a while. I need to see where I left off in that series.

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  7. You know how much I loved this series, but I stopped caring in the last book. I didn't care for the story, found their lives confusing, and wasn't interested enough to read very many pages. Funny how that happens sometimes.

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    1. Yes, sometimes one hits the point where a series doesn't work for them any longer. I've had that happen to me. :-)

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  8. 16 books! Too big of commitment for me at this point but maybe someday :)

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    1. I know. It is a lot. I feel the same way about other series that I've not yet tried. Listening to audio has helped to kind of expand my reading time.

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  9. This sounds like a great mystery. I don't have much patience for trilogies, even though I've enjoyed them. Wow 16! I hope there is not too much time to wait. I enjoyed your review.

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    1. Pat, I think that some like me are so addicted to series and then others prefer the standalone. Yes, I'm hoping not too long for the next book.

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  10. This is such a good series. When I lived in Dallas my mystery book group invited Deborah Crombie to join us one evening and she was so gracious. She was under deadline and still came out to do a short reading, signing and answered questions. I need to go grab one of these. I'm about three or four books behind in the series I think.

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    1. How fun for your group, Iliana. I'd love to be able to see Deborah Crombie. She never seems to come here.

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  11. I love this series. I'm all caught up, and can hardly wait for the next one. I will say, though, that A Share in Death, while a good introduction to the characters, is such a slim, slight volume compared to the rest of the series. It has more of a cozy feel to it (I read it after I'd already read a few of the later ones). The second book and all the ones after that have a lot more meat to them!

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    1. Yes, I agree. I think that she would probably agree that it definitely seems like a first book. You know, I've heard some authors tell readers not to even read the first book, as they feel like their writing improved so much. :-)

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  12. You make me want to pick up the first book in this series and start reading RIGHT NOW! This does sound very good. I loved the one book I read in the series. I don't know why I haven't read more by her yet.

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    1. I love your "RIGHT NOW". OK, you're allowed to take your time getting to the first book. LOL

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  13. Oh, stop it already! Another series I should read? You're killing me. I need to devote one day a week to read what I want and that just ain't happening. For what it's wortth I've added it to my list :)

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    1. Stacy, Stacy, Stacy - yes, that's my aim to inundate you with reading suggestions. Can you tell I missed doing this? LOL

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