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Title: Now May You Weep: A Novel by Deborah Crombie ISBN: 0-06-052523-1 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 07 October, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (13 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Jealousy and passion lead to murder.
Comment: "Now May You Weep" is Deborah Crombie's latest mystery featuring Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid. Since Gemma left Scotland Yard, she no longer has a working relationship with her lover and housemate, Superintendent Duncan Kincaid. Gemma decides to take a few days off from her job as a detective inspector with the Metropolitan Police to enjoy a cookery weekend in the Scottish Highlands. She is traveling with Hazel Cavendish, her landlord and good friend.
Much to Gemma's surprise, she finds that Hazel had an ulterior motive when she suggested this trip to Scotland, which was her childhood home. It seems that Hazel has been keeping secrets about her past not only from her friend, but also from her husband, Tim. These secrets lead to an unanticipated series of events that end in murder.
"Now May You Weep" features a nice change of scenery. Crombie makes the most of the beautiful Scottish countryside where the story is set. She describes the heather-clad moors, the rolling hills, and granite cliffs of the Highlands in vivid detail. A number of the characters speak in a colorful Scottish dialect, which adds to the book's atmosphere. Since some of the characters are whiskey distillers, Crombie takes the time to explore the history and manufacture of Scotch whiskey, which may be interesting for those who care about how fine whiskey is made.
The problem arises with Crombie's plot, which turns out to be a bit of a potboiler. Love triangles abound, and the melodrama is piled on fairly heavily by the time Crombie comes to her climactic conclusion. She uses the same device that worked well in her previous book, namely a series of flashbacks that supposedly explain the events of the present day. Unfortunately, this time around, the flashbacks are distracting rather than illuminating. It is also too bad that Gemma and Duncan spend less time than usual together, and the story suffers for it. The mystery is a little too forced, and the characters lack the psychological depth that we have come to expect from Crombie. "Now May You Weep" is a disappointing installment is an otherwise above-average mystery series.
Rating: 5
Summary: Scotland and Deborah Crombie - great combination!
Comment: This latest in the Kincaid-James series was no disappointment, although being a lover of Scotland AND Crombie, I am perhaps biased. But Crombie just gets better (unlike so many mystery writers who have to churn out a new book every year and burn out after a while).
The plot involves a long weekend trip to the Scottish highlands by Gemma James, who is invited by her friend Hazel Cavendish. It turns out that this is not going to be the innocent weekend learning some cooking at an old farmhouse run by an old school friend of Hazel's -- Gemma learns that an old lover of (now married) Hazel will be present for the weekend. Not only that, but Hazel has been meeting the old lover, Donald Brodie, in London. Donald runs a family distillery (Scotch) down the road from the farmhouse and will be doing the cookery weekend as well. No-one thinks this weekend is a good idea except Donald, who wants Hazel to leave her husband for him.
Needless to say, someone ends up dead and Hazel is a suspect, so Gemma gets involved in trying to solve the murder (to the annoyance of the local police). Duncan ends up joining her, so they are once more working together.
Interspersed with this 2003 story are short sections of a story that took place 100 years ago in the same area, with the ancestors of Donald and Hazel and some other characters. In a place where feuds and grudges are rife, the story of family conflict from the past explains some of the tensions in the present day story.
All in all, the plotting was excellent and characterization and dialogue well-done. Add to this the Scottish highland backdrop, and this mystery made a great read. I could practically smell the heather. I can hardly wait to find out what happens to James & Kincaid next. I hope Crombie does another "Scottish" mystery soon.
Rating: 4
Summary: Another Great British Procedural
Comment: I really enjoyed this book. I found that Gemma on her own as she is for most of this book is a nice touch. Although I like Kincaid, I find him somewhat of a "stuffed shirt". I also love Scotland, and this book has some wonderful descriptions of the Scottish countryside in the spring, which to my mind would be when I would like to visit. This book slips back and forth between two times - the present and 1898 so there is a parallel storyline here. I think Ms. Crombie handles this very well, and she certainly makes it clear that the old adage is true - "
The sins of the fathers are visited on the sons." in the book Gemma's friend Hazel has asked her to accompany her to the place where she grew up for what she terms a "cookery weekend", at a Bed and Breakfast. Once they get there Gemma finds that what she thought she knew about Hazel is totally wrong, and she finds herself in the middle of a love triangle which turns into a murder. Along the way we learn how fine whiskey is made. A good read!
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Title: The Murder Room by P.D. JAMES ISBN: 1400041414 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 18 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Playing with Fire : A Novel of Suspense by Peter Robinson ISBN: 006019877X Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 20 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: The Babes in the Wood: A Chief Inspector Wexford Mystery by RUTH RENDELL ISBN: 140004930X Publisher: Crown Pub. Date: 21 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: A Place of Hiding by ELIZABETH GEORGE ISBN: 0553801309 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 29 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: Foul Matter by Martha Grimes ISBN: 067003259X Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 18 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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