Thu 12 Apr 2012
Reviewed by LJ Roberts: DEBORAH CROMBIE – No Mark Upon Her.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[6] Comments
Reviews by L. J. Roberts
DEBORAH CROMBIE – No Mark Upon Her. William Morrow, hardcover, February 2012.
Genre: Police procedural. Leading character: Det. Supt. Duncan Kincaid; 14th in series. Setting: England.
First Sentence: A glance at the sky made her swear aloud.
Police Detective Chief Inspector Rebecca Meredith, also an Olympic rowing contender, has gone missing. When a K9 team locates her body, it is clear her rowing accident was no accident. Pressure in brought to bear on Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid to solve the case quickly and quietly, but things are not as simple as they appear.
On a personal level, one thing I enjoyed about this particular book is the setting; it’s one of the few areas of England I’ve been fortunate enough to visit and come to know. I’ve always appreciated Ms. Crombie’s vivid descriptions, but this was especially fun for me.
Although I am always glad to move away from the angst-driven detective to those who have families and personal lives, there can be way too much of a good thing. The case and the mystery were very nearly drowned in details of Duncan Kincaid and his wife Gemma’s life. While that adds veracity to the characters and story, I found it overwhelming and distracting to the point where I was close to not finishing the book.
What saved it, for me, is that Ms. Crombie does write a very good police procedural. There is good tension and some very well-done plot twists. Sadly, I correctly identified the killer almost from the first appearance in the story.
Ms. Crombie is a wonderful writer. Unfortunately, No Mark Upon Her was, for me, far from her best book. I’d prefer to see her leave the kids and the dogs more in the background and focus on her fine ability to write a really good mystery.
Rating: Okay.
April 12th, 2012 at 3:57 pm
I’m with LJ on this. I don’t mind personal details about a detective’s personal life, family and so on, but there is a point beyond which I decide enough is too much.
I wish I tell you how I know when this point occurs, but I can tell you this. I know it when I see it!
April 13th, 2012 at 8:23 am
I have to agree. I really liked the early books in this series but the family angst just seemed to take over to the extent that I’ve skipped her last couple of books. I was thinking about catching up but this review suggests I was right.
April 15th, 2012 at 7:21 am
I’m in the same boat. I think Crombie writes much better (and far less bloated) British police procedurals than her fellow American Elizabeth George, but ever since Kinkaid and Gemma got married, the domestic details seem to be overwhelming the crimes and their investigations in her books. I stopped reading this series a few books ago and there’s nothing in this review that really intrigues me to start back up again. It’s a shame because the series was very good in the beginning.
April 15th, 2012 at 11:21 am
From the WASHINGTON POST:
“The laconic protagonists of yesteryear would have found it quite strange, all the family-talk indulged in by Deborah Crombie’s married protagonists, Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid of Scotland Yard and Detective Inspector Gemma James of the Metropolitan Police. But judging by the popularity of Crombie’s series, her many fans must clamor for it.”
To follow up on this, the book gets 4.5 stars out of five from Amazon reviewers, with one saying:
“Loyal readers of hers will enjoy the advancement of Duncan Kincaid’s and Gemma James’ family’s progress and familiar characters (Hazel, Wes etc.) from prior books who make cameo appearances. I particularly enjoyed DI Singla’s humorous description of what is usually in his wife’s handbag as a character study–it’s these human interest asides that color Crombie’s books, attracting loyal readers.”
Which means that she’s doing what her readers want. She may be losing some, but the Amazon sales ranking for the book is #12,273, which is excellent for a non-thriller work of detective fiction.
April 15th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
Yeah, Steve, compare with the 3-star amazon average of Elizabeth George’s Believing the Lie–of course George’s book is over 600 pages long (!).
April 15th, 2012 at 8:26 pm
I echo your exclamation point.
I don’t think there are many detective novels that need 600 pages to tell an entertaining story. There are some that come close, though. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo had 480 in its hardcover edition, The Girl Who Played with Fire had 500, while Hornet’s Nest had 580.
That’s assuming you’d call Larsson’s books detective stories.
But if you take a look at epic fantasy novels these days, you have to pluck up a lot of courage before you start some of them. Can your believe 1000 pages or more?