Agatha Award (nominee)

Edgar Awards (nominee)

Macavity Awards

Dr Victoria McClellan is writing a biography of the tortured poet Lydia Brooke, five years after Brooke's tragic suicide. Victoria becomes immersed in Lydia's life – she cannot believe the poet died by her own hand. So she calls her SI ex-husband for help in the case who receives terrible news…

An abandoned Southwark warehouse burns next door to a women’s shelter for victims of spousal abuse. Within it lies the charred corpse of a female body burned beyond all recognition. At the same time, workers at Guy’s Hospital anxiously discuss the disappearance of a hospital administrator – a beautiful, emotionally fragile young woman who’s vanished without a trace.

And in an old, dark rambling London house, nine-year-old Harriet’s awful fears won’t be silenced – as she worries about her feuding parents, her schoolwork… and the strange woman who is her only companion in this scary, unfamiliar place.

Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid – lovers and former partners – have their own pressing concerns. But they must put aside private matters to investigate these disturbing cases. Yet neither Gemma nor Duncan realize how closely the cases are connected – or how important their resolutions will be for an abducted young child who is frightened, alone… and in serious peril.

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.

Erika Rosenthal has always been secretive with her friend and neighbor, Detective Inspector Gemma James, about her past, except for one telling detail: She and her long-dead husband, David, came to London as refugees from Nazi Germany. But now the elderly woman needs Gemma's help. A unique piece of jewelry stolen from her years ago has mysteriously turned up at a prestigious London auction house. Erika believes the theft may be tied to her husband's death, which had always been assumed a suicide.

Gemma has a tough challenge. She must navigate the shadowy and secretive world of London 's monied society to discover the jewelry's connection to David's murderer. However, the cold case needs to be put back on the books and possibly into the hands of her partner, Duncan Kincaid. When a second, present-day murder kicks the investigation into high gear, Gemma becomes more determined to exact justice for Erika – in a case that will have lasting repercussions.

Una semana de vacaciones en una lujosa residencia de propiedad compartida, situada en un tranquilo paraje de Yorkshire, es justo lo que le conviene al comisario de Scotland Yard, Duncan Kincaid, agotado por una sobrecarga de trabajo. No obstante, en vez de las actividades relajantes, como excursiones y lectura, que ha programado, justo al día siguiente de haber conocido a todos los huéspedes en un cóctel de presentación encuentra el, cadáver del subdirector del establecimiento flotando en la piscina. No será el único.

¿Qué relación pueden tener con las víctimas del crimen la provocativa directora del centro; o las hermanas solteronas escocesas, o la bella científica, o el diputado dé éxito?

A pesar de la antipatía que le demuestra el ineficaz jefe de policía del lugar, que no soporta la injerencia de Kincaid, éste, con la ayuda de su subordinada, la joven y brillante Gemma James, irá desentrañando las escondidas conexiones entre las víctimas y los sospechosos hasta colocar la última pieza del puzzle en un final sobrecogedor.