Bøker av Deborah Crombie

New York Times bestseller Deborah Crombie returns with a new novel focusing on Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James as they must solve the stabbing death of a young woman before panic spreads across London.On a rainy November evening, a young woman hurries through the crowd in London's historic Russell Square. Out of the darkness, someone jostles her, then brushes past. A moment later, she stumbles, collapsing against a tree. When a young mother finds her body and alerts the police, Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and his sergeant, Doug Cullen, are called to the scene. The victim, Sasha Johnson, is a trainee doctor at a nearby hospital, and she's been stabbed.Kincaid immediately calls his detective wife, Gemma James, who has recently been assigned to a task force on knife crime. Along with her partner, detective sergeant Melody Talbot, Gemma joins the investigation. But Sasha Johnson doesn't fit the profile of the typical knife crime victim. Single, successful, daughter of a black professional family, she has no history of abusive relationships or any connection to gangs. She had her secrets, though, and Kincaid uncovers an awkward connection to his Notting Hill friends Wesley and Betty Howard.As the detectives unravel Sasha's tangled relationships, another stabbing puts London in a panic, and Kincaid's team needs all their resources to find the killer stalking the dark streets of Bloomsbury. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

An abandoned Southwark warehouse burns next door to a women's shelter for victims of spousal abuse. Within it lies the charred corpse of a female body burned beyond all recognition. At the same time, workers at Guy's Hospital anxiously discuss the disappearance of a hospital administrator -- a beautiful, emotionally fragile young woman who's vanished without a trace.And in an old, dark, rambling London house, nine-year-old Harriet's awful fears won't be silenced -- as she worries about her feuding parents, her schoolwork . . . and the strange woman who is her only companion in this scary, unfamiliar place.Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid -- lovers and former partners -- have their own pressing concerns. But they must put aside private matters to investigate these disturbing cases. Yet neither Gemma nor Duncan realize how closely the cases are connected -- or how important their resolutions will be for an abducted young child who is frightened, alone . . . and in serious peril.

"e;Crombies characters are rich, emotionally textured, fully human. They are the remarkable creations of a remarkable writer."e;Louise PennyNobody writes the modern English mystery the way Deborah Crombie doesand A Bitter Feast is the latest in a series that is gripping, enthralling, and just plain the best. Charles Todd, New York Times bestselling author of The Black Ascot and A Cruel DeceptionNew York Times bestselling author Deborah Crombie returns with a mesmerizing entry in her excellent (Miami Herald) series, in which Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James are pulled into a dangerous web of secrets, lies, and murder that simmers beneath the surface of a tranquil Cotswolds village. Scotland Yard Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and his wife, Detective Inspector Gemma James, have been invited for a relaxing weekend in the Cotswolds, one of Britains most enchanting regions, famous for its rolling hills, golden cottages, and picturesque villages.Duncan, Gemma, and their children are guests at Beck House, the family estate of Melody Talbot, Gemmas detective sergeant. The Talbot family is wealthy, prominent, and powerfulMelodys father is the publisher of one of Londons largest and most influential newspapers. The centerpiece of this glorious fall getaway is a posh charity harvest luncheon catered by up-and-coming chef Viv Holland. After fifteen years in Londons cut-throat food scene, Viv has returned to the Gloucestershire valleys of her childhood and quickly made a name for herself with her innovative meals based on traditional cuisine but using fresh local ingredients. Attended by the local well-to-do as well as national pressfood bloggers and restaurant critics, the event could make Viv a star.But a tragic car accident and a series of mysterious deaths rock the estate and pull Duncan and Gemma into the investigation. It soon becomes clear that the killer has a connection with Vivs pubor, perhaps, with Beck House itself.Does the truth lie in the past? Or is it closer to home, tied up in the tangled relationships and bitter resentments between the staff at Beck House and Vivs new pub? Or is it more personal, entwined with secrets hidden by Viv and those closest to her?

Olympic rowing hopeful and senior Metropolitan Police officer DCI Rebecca Meredith goes out alone to train on the river in Henley on a dark afternoon in late October - and doesn't return. When a desperate search by the police and a K9 team reveals the possibility of foul play, Scotland Yard wants one of their own on the case. Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid, returning from celebrating his marriage to long-time partner Detective Inspector Gemma James, is called to Henley to investigate. He soon finds that the world of elite rowing can be brutal, and that Rebecca Meredith's ex-husband was not the only person with good reason for wanting her dead. Then, when a search-and-rescue team member is threatened, Kincaid realizes the case may be even more complex and more dangerous than he believed. But it is only when he enlists Gemma's aid that they find that the answers lie closer to home than they could have imagined - and are infinitely more deadly. It seems that more than one innocent life depends on their ability to track down the killer.

Gemma, Duncan, and the boys are back in their Notting Hill house and enjoying a quiet spring in London when Gemma receives a plea for help from her friend and neighbor, Erika Rosenthal.Erika has never shared much of her past, other than telling Gemma that she and her husband came to London before the war as refugees from the emerging Nazi regime in Germany. Her husband was a historian and was found murdered in a local park. His death was never solved. Now Erika tells Gemma that a necklace from her past has come up for auction - a necklace which was taken from her. Now Erika asks Gemma to find out where the necklace came from.As Gemma works backwards, interviewing the staff at the auction house and looking into the records of David Rosenthal's death, her viewpoint is interwoven with Erika's vivid memories of her life as a young woman in London during and after the war. Then a young woman at the auction house is murdered and suddenly the case becomes very much centred in the present.

Once the haunt of Jack the Ripper, London's East End is a vibrant mix of history and new ideas, but the trendy galleries of Brick Lane disguise a seedy underside where unthinkable crimes bring terror to the innocent.Artist and young mother Sandra Gilles disappears without trace after leaving her three-year-old daughter, Charlotte, with a friend at the Columbia Road Flower Market. Her lawyer husband, Naz Malik, is devastated - but he's also the prime suspect in a murder investigation. When Naz vanishes shortly afterwards, Gemma James and her partner Superintendent Duncan Kincaid agree to work together again to solve the case before the murderer can get his hands on the real prize, Charlotte.But just as the case grows more dangerous, a personal issue threatens to throw Gemma and Duncan off the trail. In the end, it is up to them to stop a vicious killer and protect the child whose fate hangs in the balance.

A corpse, burned beyond recognition, has been uncovered in a vacant warehouse in Southwark . . . A young, beautiful hospital administrator has vanished without a trace, her past a mystery to even her closest friend . . . And across the City, within an old, dark, rambling house, a rigidly controlling, anonymous woman is holding ten-year-old Harriet hostage. While innocent lives hang in the balance, sinister truths unfurl and DS Duncan Kincaid and DI Gemma James must call upon all resources to work together on their most menacing case yet . . . 'Deborah Crombie just keeps getting better and better. In a Dark House is utterly compelling' PETER ROBINSON

When Detective Inspector Gemma James is persuaded by her friend, Hazel, to take a trip to the misty Scottish Highlands, she jumps at the chance. But upon their arrival it becomes clear that Hazel has been concealing a dangerous secret. At their remote B&B the pair encounter Donald Brodie, the owner of a local distillery . . . and Hazel's former lover. Their relationship had ended abruptly years before. Now Donald is convinced he can win Hazel back. But the lovers' reunion yields shocking - and mortal - consequences. Gemma soon discovers that, in this tight-knit community, there is no shortage of murder suspects. And beneath the hospitable surface, there lurks a hundred years of bitter family rivalry waiting to emerge . . . 'As rich and history laden as a tartan plaid . . . this is a pure gem' Publishers Weekly (starred review)

On a winter's evening in Notting Hill, Dawn Arrowood drives home after a doctor's appointment confirming her pregnancy. She is terrified. Her older husband has made it clear that he wants no children, and Dawn is not even sure that the child is his. But as Dawn arrives home, she is attacked as she gets out of her car. In the ensuing struggle, her assailant whispers in her ear 'I'm sorry'. And he cuts her throat. Gemma Jones and Duncan Kincaid are called to the crime scene. The gripping case that develops forces them to investigate 1960s Notting Hill and its racial tensions, the Russian mafia and a possible serial killer. . . And at the same time, Gemma, pregnant herself with Kincaid's child, has to cope with her own rollercoaster of emotions in a case that is rather too close to home for comfort.

Jack Montfort grew up in the shadow of Glastonbury Tor in a town revered as the mythical burial place of King Arthur, and, according to New Age followers, a source of strong druid power. Montfort has little more than a passing interest in the history of the area - until he comes across an extraordinary chronicle almost a thousand years old . . . The unsettling way this record comes into his hands brings Montfort into contact with a disparate group of townspeople, including Nick Carlisle, a student of Glastonbury's myths; Faith Wills, a pregnant teenage runaway; and Winnie Catesby, the Anglican priest who is now Jack's lover. When a member of Jack's circle is attacked and left for dead, he appeals to his cousin, Superintendent Duncan Kincaid, for help. For something terrible and bloody shattered Glastonbury Abbey's peace long ago - and now it is about to spark a violence that will reach forward into the present . . .

In the past: It is September 1939 and thousands of children are being evacuated from London. Among them 12-year-olds Lewis Finch and William Hammond, both billeted on the Surrey estate of the formidable Regina Burne-Jones. Both become allies, then friends, and thus begins a story of choice and betrayal the repercussions of which will echo down the years . . . In the present: Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James are called out to investigate a death in London's East End. A young woman known as Annabelle Hammond has been strangled. Prime suspect is a busker she was seen talking to just before she disappeared. And when he turns out to be Gordon Finch, Duncan decides to investigate events which occurred more than fifty years before.