  In this dazzling addition to Deborah Crombie's acclaimed mystery series, a disappearance, a murder, and a child in danger lead Scotland Yard detectives Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid into London's legendary East End?a neighborhood where the rich and the poor, the ambitious and the dangerous, collide?to solve one of the most challenging and disturbing cases they've ever faced. . . . Necessary as Blood Once the haunt of Jack the Ripper, London's East End is a vibrant mix of history and the avant-garde, a place where elegant Georgian town houses exist side by side with colorful street markets and the hippest clubs. But here races and cultures still clash, and the trendy galleries and glamorous nightlife of Whitechapel disguise a violent and seedy underside, where unthinkable crimes bring terror to the innocent. On a beautiful Sunday afternoon in mid May, a young mother, Sandra Gilles, leaves her daughter with a friend at the Columbia Road Flower Market and disappears. Shortly thereafter, her husband, a Pakistani lawyer, is killed. Scotland Yard detective Gemma James happens upon the scene in time to witness the investigator making a mistake. When Duncan and his trusted sergeant, Doug Cullen, see Gemma's name in the report, they decide to take the case. Working together again, Gemma, Duncan, Doug, and Melody Talbot must solve it before the murderer can get his hands on the real prize, Naz and Sandra's daughter. But just as the case grows more dangerous, a personal issue threatens to throw Gemma and Duncan off the trail. In the end, it is up to them to stop a vicious killer and protect the child whose fate hangs in the balance. A young mother goes missing, and three months later her husband is found murdered. Assigned the racially and socially charged case, Scotland Yard Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid must assuage the egos of local detectives while leading his own team. Detective Inspector Gemma James, Kincaid's ex-partner, is also interested because the unlucky spouses' young daughter is now orphaned. Crombie, known for her intricate plotting and careful character development, interweaves the police investigation with James's personal problems—her mother's battle with cancer, her friend's depression, her family's dislike of her wedding plans with Kincaid. VERDICT Fans of the series (Where Memories Lie) will lap this one up because the focus is on James running her own unsanctioned investigation. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 6/1/09; for more mystery, go to LJ's Mystery Book Buzz webcast at http://bit.ly/AV1nw, where this title was highlighted.—Ed.] [Page 60]. Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
Romance dominates Crombie's 13th contemporary procedural featuring Scotland Yarders Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid, who are on the verge of getting married (after 2008's Where Memories Lie). The how, where and when of their wedding proves a considerable source of stress to both, overshadowing the murder investigation of Naz Malik, a solicitor suspected in the disappearance of his wife, Sandra Gilles, an artist specializing in textile collage. Malik was found suffocated in Bethnal Green, with traces of an animal tranquilizer in his system. Meanwhile, James's mother is seriously ill, placing James in the impossible position of trying to fulfill both her familial and work responsibilities. In addition, James must fight to keep Malik's now parentless young daughter from falling into the custody of Sandra's unsavory relatives. Hopefully, Crombie will provide a better balance of police work and her characters' personal lives next time. (Oct.) [Page 125]. Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
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