The first word that came to mind after finishing Deborah Crombie’s WHERE MEMORIES LIE was “professional.” This is a professionally written mystery featuring top-grade series characters with an impeccably solid plot. It is what the modern, non-gimmicked-up mystery should strive to be. I was so interested in the story that I read through dinner and received many a reproving glance from my significant other, but it was just too good, this tale of a found piece of fabulous jewelry, and its tragic provenance in World War II Germany.
A diamond brooch is soon to be auctioned off at a major London house, but an elderly German woman who has become Inspector Gemma James’ friend, thinks it may have been a piece stolen from her as she fled the Nazis in the prelude to the war.
James looks into the matter unofficially, and the case soon explodes into a tangled web of brutal crime that spans the decades, from the Nazi atrocities of World War II, to a mid-1950s investigation of a murdered Jewish intellectual, to the modern-day cover-ups surrounding the brooch.
While there are numerous stories being told, the plot never becomes too murky, the characters all have sincere motivations and behaviors, and the reader is never left to flounder in an area that the author may have neglected. For series fans, this book also continues the odd family dynamic that has blossomed around James, Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and their merged families. Crombie’s Kincaid/James series is a gem for those who like contemporary mysteries without all the blood-and-gore folderol. Highly recommended. —Mark Rose
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• WATER LIKE A STONE by Deborah Crombie
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I picked up an older Crombie joint as part of a paperback mystery binge a year or so ago. A guy was selling books on the street in Queens for like a nickel, so why not? I learned a lot from that bulk purchase, and by far the most pleasant surprise of the group was one of Crombie’s Kincaid/James novels (it may have been called “Mourn Not Your Dead”). Compared to the much more visible Sue Grafton books, which I also sampled as part of that purchase, Crombie was in a whole other league. Her characters were more realistic, her plots more believable and better structured. Just all around good stuff. I’m really glad to hear that I hadn’t just gotten lucky. I’ve actually stockpiled a couple other Kincaid/James novels over the last couple months, and now I’m even more excited to dig in. I’ll have to keep an eye out for “Where Memories Lie” when it hits paperback.
I have read all of Deborah Crombie’s novels. What a great writer and your comment today summed it up perfectly. All her books are fabulous but I thoroughly enjoyed Where Memories Lie becauase of the subject matter and the characters.
I’m currently going through the Lee Child’s books and enjoying Jack Reacher as a character but some of it is too gimmicky for my tastes.
Your words of “professional”, “solid plot” and “non-gimmicky” hooked me. I’ll have to check out this author.
Thanks.