Reviews

Scotland Yard Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and his wife, Detective Inspector Gemma James and their children ( not sure if there are 2 or 3) go to the Cotswolds for a luxurious fall weekend getaway. Luxurious because this quaint area has become uber chic and populated by wealthy weekend residents. Kincaid travels down by car, while Gemma and the kids go by train. Before he arrives, he is in a serious accident. He has serious but not life-threatening injuries. Occupants of the other car aren't so lucky.

While I generally enjoy this series a lot, this was not one of my favorites. I labeled it a "cozy" rather than police-procedural or crime novel because it has many of the hallmarks of cozy mysteries. There is a "big house" though it is not at the center of the story. The focus is on a big cast of characters and figuring out whether deaths are accidental or murder and who has secrets. There was little focus on Duncan and Gemma's family life which is a feature I enjoy in the novels. Neither Gemma nor Duncan are part of the investigations of the deaths, and there are a few.

I found the big cast of characters hard to keep track of. Most likely this was because I listened to the audiobook as well as the story being organized around an event and restaurant . The highlight of the audio book was the narrator Gerard Doyle, who is one of my favorites. His parents are Irish, and he was raised and educated in England. He does a good Northern Irish accent, and has narrated the Sean Duffy series written by [a:Adrian McKinty|12433|Adrian McKinty|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1557151071p2/12433.jpg].

theorysloth's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

melhara's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5/5

I haven't read any of the previous novels from this series so I didn't care much for some of the background details about the characters. Even so, I felt like this could definitely be read as a standalone mystery.

[b:A Bitter Feast|42351527|A Bitter Feast (Duncan Kincaid & Gemma James #18)|Deborah Crombie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1553783704l/42351527._SY75_.jpg|65999304] is the kind of mystery that you'd want to read on a cold autumn day while snuggled up indoors by the fireplace (a light mystery without too much suspense or twists). This book is set in the fall and starts with Detective Superintendent Kincaid getting into a car accident on his way to a relaxing weekend in the Cotswold villages. He and his family gets pulled into a mystery when they find out that one of the passengers in the wreck was already dead before the crash. How did it happen? Who is this mysterious dead passenger and why is he dead?

Overall, I really enjoyed this mystery and thought many of the characters were interesting.
Also, one of the detectives is called Booth so I couldn't help but picture:

***#16 of my 2019 Popsugar Reading Challenge - A book with a title that contains “salty”, “sweet”, “bitter”, or “spicy”***

zogg's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

perednia's review against another edition

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4.0

Loved the way the whodunit plot and the ongoing lives of the continuing characters were woven together.

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