A Bitter Feast - Deborah Crombie

A Bitter Feast - Deborah Crombie

Publication Date:  Oct. 8, 2019

She read

This is the 18th in Deborah Crombie’s Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James series.  It is the first one that I have read…how did I miss her all these years?

Set in the Cotswolds, the Kincaid/James family has been invited to the estate owned by the parents of Melody Talbot, Gemma’s DS, for a weekend featuring a charity luncheon. A local chef, once an up and coming culinary star in London who has retreated to a quiet life in the country, has been tapped for this event. When a character from her past shows up and ends up dead, the mystery begins.  A car accident, a hit and run, and an attempted murder ensue.

I enjoyed this police procedural.  It was a fast, engrossing read.  Crombie captured the ambience of life in the Cotswolds and featured some colorful characters.  Nothing too heavy here, but a step up from “cosy” mysteries….although there was a lot of tea served!

I realize that by the 18th novel, the author should expect readers to know the characters’ backstories, but I do wish I knew more about the histories of the Kincaid/James children.  Although there were some hints, there was an air of mystery about how the family came to be.  I guess I will have to go back and read this series from the beginning!