Publishers Weekly
11/07/2022
Bestseller Crombie’s skillfully plotted 19th police procedural featuring the husband and wife team of Det. Supt. Duncan Kincaid and Det. Insp. Gemma James of Scotland Yard (after 2019’s A Bitter Feast) perfectly balances the investigative action with the characters’ true to life personal problems. The duo and their colleagues are called to Russell Square, where Sasha Johnson, a trainee doctor at Thomas Coram Hospital, lies dead, stabbed in the chest. The victim’s assailant acted swiftly and efficiently, fading away into the crowd before even she realized she’d been mortally stabbed. Why would anyone want to murder the respected and much loved doctor? The stakes rise after the nurse in charge of Sasha’s ward at the hospital is fatally stabbed in Soho Square. Once again, there are no witnesses. What’s the connection between the two murders? Crombie provides plausible suspects and motives amid entertaining interplay, including some friction, among the members of the squad. This entry can be read as a standalone, but it will give special pleasure to fans who have grown fond of the couple over the years. Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary. (Feb.)
From the Publisher
"My most recent crime read was A Killing of Innocents by Deborah Crombie. New to the series but got pulled in immediately by the interesting plot and engaging range of recurring characters." — Ann Cleeves, New York Times bestselling author
"Situated in the rich, historic Bloomsbury district of London, A Killing of Innocents is a superbly plotted work of suspense that immerses the reader in the intriguing world of Scotland Yard. But Crombie also gifts us something equally compelling: a very modern portrait of richly intertwined and diverse characters navigating the competing demands of work, family and romance. There is such humanity in all of Crombie's creations, particularly the lead married detectives Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid, making this stand-alone book and its background series such a noteworthy and satisfying addition to the genre of psychological suspense." — Natalie Jenner, international bestselling author
"Her new book, A Killing of Innocents, was worth the wait as Crombie once again showcases her ability to intertwine family drama with a gripping police procedural. Crombie fans will welcome updates on Duncan, Gemma and other favorite characters, but A Killing of Innocents stands on its own for anyone new to the series. — Washington Post
"Crombie’s plotting proficiency trumps the musings of readers as they try, usually sans success, to outwit her. She also excels in conceptualizing and achieving characters with vision, wisdom and, in most cases, sympathy. A Killing of Innocents is no exception. A winning blend of police procedural and psychological inquiry, Crombie’s latest novel offers — as does her entire canon — intelligent crime fiction that defines and transcends the genre." — Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
"Crombie is as skilled as Louise Penny or J.D. Robb in developing characters while entwining personal lives with riveting police investigations. With four years since A Bitter Feast, the previous book in the series, the author’s fans will be eager to catch up with her characters." — Library Journal (starred review)
"Skillfully plotted... perfectly balances the investigative action with the characters’ true to life personal problems... Crombie provides plausible suspects and motives amid entertaining interplay, including some friction, among the members of the squad. This entry can be read as a standalone, but it will give special pleasure to fans who have grown fond of the couple over the years.” — Publishers Weekly
"Crombie, as usual, presents a fascinating puzzle, loaded with twists and a grand dose of London atmosphere...This is a worthy excursion into the lives of a popular sleuthing duo." — Booklist
"Crombie excels at weaving together a cohesive story out of disparate circumstances and characters. The thread that ties the book together is the visceral horror that deliberate violence can be and is visited on innocents. A Killing of Innocents is rooted in the relationship between Duncan and Emma; how their careers impact their family life and friendships. It’s absorbing, nuanced, and true to the personalities of two people we’ve come to regard as almost family." — CriminalElement.com
“We can always count on her for fabulous plots...But what puts Deborah Crombie among the greats is her sure hand in raising her characters off the page.” — Louise Penny, New York Times bestselling author
“Nobody writes the modern English mystery the way Deborah Crombie does—and A Bitter Feast is the latest in a series that is gripping, enthralling, and just plain the best.” — Charles Kaiser, The Guardian
“A Bitter Feast is a rich banquet for mystery lovers. Three cheers for the chef, Deborah Crombie!” — Alan Furst
“Deborah Crombie continues to push the envelope, writing books that are new, different and better and better. Richly layered, character-driven, and with an evocative sense of place, A Bitter Feast truly transcends the genre.” — Rhys Bowen, New York Times bestselling author of the Royal Spyness series and the international bestseller The Tuscan Child
“A Bitter Feast is a fast-paced mystery with wonderfully developed characters and a storyline that makes it hard to put down.” — San Francisco Book Review
Alan Bradley
A Bitter Feast is a rich banquet for mystery lovers. Three cheers for the chef, Deborah Crombie!”
San Francisco Book Review
A Bitter Feast is a fast-paced mystery with wonderfully developed characters and a storyline that makes it hard to put down.”
Louise Penny
We can always count on her for fabulous plots...But what puts Deborah Crombie among the greats is her sure hand in raising her characters off the page.
Washington Post
Crombie is very talented at putting together a richly atmospheric whodunit....As a creator, she energetically inhabits the many strange worlds she shows her readers....
Rhys Bowen
Deborah Crombie continues to push the envelope, writing books that are new, different and better and better. Richly layered, character-driven, and with an evocative sense of place, A Bitter Feast truly transcends the genre.”
Charles Todd
Nobody writes the modern English mystery the way Deborah Crombie does—and A Bitter Feast is the latest in a series that is gripping, enthralling, and just plain the best.
Washington Post
Crombie is very talented at putting together a richly atmospheric whodunit....As a creator, she energetically inhabits the many strange worlds she shows her readers....
Library Journal
★ 12/01/2022
Afterwards, Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid wonders if he could have prevented the murder of the young woman he saw in the pub. Twenty minutes later, Dr. Sasha Johnson is stabbed to death in London's historic Russell Square. Kincaid calls his wife, Gemma James, because she's working on a project analyzing stabbing deaths. But Sasha's death doesn't seem to fit the pattern. She's not in a gang; not a drug user. She's a trainee at a nearby hospital. As Kincaid's team interviews witnesses, they discover Sasha has secrets unknown to her parents. And she's not the only staff member at the hospital who transferred there under a cloud. Residents of London are scared when there's another stabbing death, but Kincaid recognizes the link to Sasha. He suspects there's a personal connection to a killer that his team hasn't uncovered yet. VERDICT Crombie is as skilled as Louise Penny or J.D. Robb in developing characters while entwining personal lives with riveting police investigations. With four years since A Bitter Feast, the previous book in the series, the author's fans will be eager to catch up with her characters.—Lesa Holstine
Kirkus Reviews
2022-12-14
The murder of a physician-in-training turns out to mark the midpoint in a trail of crimes that stretches from the past to the future.
Who could possibly have had a motive for stabbing Sasha Johnson to death? Her parents insist that she had no enemies. So do her co-workers at London's Thomas Coram Hospital even though at least one of them, senior ward manager Neel Chowdhury, is so unwilling to cooperate with Det. Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and his detective sergeant, Doug Cullen, that he seems worth murdering himself. Before Kincaid’s wife, DI Gemma James, can bring herself to admit that she’s so overburdened with child care and her job tracking knife crime in Greater London that she needs a nanny and a new position, Chowdhury too is stabbed to death. As usual, Crombie weaves a dense web of suspects, relationships, and revelations, some of them involving series regulars like Gemma’s friend and co-worker Melody Talbot and her boyfriend, guitarist Andy Monahan, some involving Kincaid’s team at Holborn CID. Inquiries into the current whereabouts of Sasha’s unsavory brother, Tyler, and of Rosalind Summers, the best friend of Sasha’s flatmate, potter Tully Biggs, who vanished 10 years ago, alternate with dire hints about Tully’s brother, Jonathan, who managed a Soho club before he went AWOL, and Sandra Beaumont, the late nurse whose newspaper obituary was found in Chowdhury’s pocket. Readers who crave more will find italicized flashbacks to an agonizing medical emergency and updates on the problems of the children Kincaid and Gemma are struggling to bring up to something remotely resembling normal lives.
A rich brew whose plot is consistently subordinated to a world that teems with all the haphazard life of an ant farm.
