Wednesday, December 14, 2011

No Mark Upon Her-Deborah Crombie

No Mark Upon Her


Deborah Crombie

Morrow, Feb 7 2012, $25.99

ISBN: 9780061990618



Metropolitan Police detective chief inspector Rebecca Meredith trains for the Olympics in rowing. However, she drowns while training at night on the Thames in Henley. Although her police peers assume a horrible accident occurred, the circumstances require an official inquiry.



Newlyweds Scotland Yard Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and Detective Inspector Gemma James Kincaid lead the investigation. They quickly conclude Meredith’s death was a homicide. The Kincaid pair looks into the activities of family, friends, and rowing and police associates. Their focus narrows down to the victim’s former spouse, a K9 handler, her rowing coach, and a Deputy Assistant Commissioner; of whom the latter accused of raping her.



The latest Kincaid and James-Kincaid British police procedural (see Necessary as Blood and Kiss A Sad Goodbye) is a terrific entry that looks closely into an investigation in which a high ranking cop is a prime suspect. The storyline provides readers with a tour of London not seen by tourists. However, it is the contrast between the untidy contented marriage merger of two extended families, and the untidy discontented murder mystery that will remind readers of the final split scene in the Cagney version of Public Enemy.



Harriet Klausner

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