Dreaming Of The Bones (Duncan Kincaid & Gemma James, #5) by Deborah Crombie

Jul 25, 2012 Bev Hankins rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, academic-mystery

Just finished Deborah Crombie's Dreaming of the Bones. I am very surprised at how long this took me to finish. It is an absolutely beautiful and lyrical mystery novel...seamlessly written. Perhaps I was taking my time because I didn't want the experience to be over? I found it amazing that Crombie adapted her writing style to the subject matter...the re-opening of a poet's death. The entire book read like a very long prose poem and the poetry she constructed to weave into the story of Lydia was...more

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Jan 02, 2012 Kathleen Hagen added it · review of another edition

Dreaming of the Bones, by Deborah Crombie, A. Borrowed from National Library Service for the Blind

This is the 5th in the Scotland Yard Inspector Kincade, and Sergeant Gemma James series. This book begins with Duncan getting an unexpected call from his ex-wife, Victoria, (Vic) who he hasn’t seen since their divorce 12 years ago. Vic left Duncan for another man, a professor in her own department, and she married him. Now these many years later, he has left her to move to France with a graduate stu...more Dreaming of the Bones, by Deborah Crombie, A. Borrowed from National Library Service for the Blind

This is the 5th in the Scotland Yard Inspector Kincade, and Sergeant Gemma James series. This book begins with Duncan getting an unexpected call from his ex-wife, Victoria, (Vic) who he hasn’t seen since their divorce 12 years ago. Vic left Duncan for another man, a professor in her own department, and she married him. Now these many years later, he has left her to move to France with a graduate student without even leaving a forwarding address for her or their son, Kit. Vic has been working on a biography of a famous poet, Lydia Brooke. Lydia apparently committed suicide five years previously. But as she is working on the biography, Vic becomes convinced that Lydia’s death was not a suicide, but was murder. She contacted Duncan as the only policeman she knows who can dig into the closed file. Duncan thinks the case was not handled well, that the police too quickly assumed suicide, but he isn’t convinced that there’s enough evidence to reopen the case and tells her so. Vic makes it clear that she has something else she wants to talk to him about, but it never happens because a few days later she is dead. The police are about to write this death off as a suicide as well, but Vic died from an overdose of digitalis, the same thing Lydia died of. And Vic had no heart condition or reason to be taking the drug. So Duncan, who cannot stay out of the case, inserts himself and Gemma into the investigation at every opportunity. Vic’s current husband, Kit’s father, has abandoned them both. It seems that Kit will have to live with his grandparents-Vic’s parents-but he refuses to do so. Duncan steps in, in addition to investigating the case, to find at least a temporary solution for Kit. This book will obviously take the series in a new direction adding layers onto, among other things, Duncan and Gemma’s relationship. Crombie’s books never disappoint, and this was no exception.
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Nov 19, 2012 Matt Schiariti rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

during the first third of this book I found myself not liking it as much as the previous novels in the series. Why? Well there just wasn't that much Kinkaid/James in this Kinkaid/James mystery! I'm glad I stuck with it though because it ended up being very good and quite frankly one of Crombie's darker books.

Things are going as normal for Duncan and Gemma..they're both comfortable with their relationship, doing their normal workday routines as coppers in Scotland Yard when Duncan gets a call fro...more during the first third of this book I found myself not liking it as much as the previous novels in the series. Why? Well there just wasn't that much Kinkaid/James in this Kinkaid/James mystery! I'm glad I stuck with it though because it ended up being very good and quite frankly one of Crombie's darker books.

Things are going as normal for Duncan and Gemma..they're both comfortable with their relationship, doing their normal workday routines as coppers in Scotland Yard when Duncan gets a call from the last person he ever suspected, his ex wife, Victoria.

Vic is a professor of literature at the University and has been working on a biography of a local poet from the 60s, the problem with that is that she's become rather obsessed. Lydia was a local moderate success in the 60s and had a history of attempted suicides until finally, it was a successful attempt. As Vic does more research she finds herself more and more uneasy with the case being deemed a suicide. Vic thinks Lydia was murdered and she asks for Duncan's help.

Much to Gemma's consternation, Duncan decides to help in what limited way he can by calling in some favors and soon he finds himself more and more intrigued by the case. What's more, Vic doesn't seem to be the cold viper that Duncan remembers walking out on him without a word years ago, much to Gemma's chagrin.

As I said at the beginning, the first third of the novel is primarily about Vic. Vic doing research for the book which leads her into the circle of old friends Lydia kept from University until she died. The mystery was set up nicely but I found myself missing the abundance of Duncan and Gemma that Crombie usually gives us in these novels. Not that the beginning of the book is bad, I just wanted more D and K. Crombie throws a gear into the works though that entrenches Duncan and Gemma even further into a case neither of them had any interest in (for obvious reasons) and exposes a history of darkness, secrets and seemingly unattainable redemption.

As usual, Crombie evolves the relationship with Duncan and Gemma at a nice pace with some very interesting developments that are sure to keep the series fresh and new. Well, new to me anyway being that I'm late to the party ;)

So, if you find yourself feeling the beginning is a little slow or not as engrossing as the rest of the novels because of the seeming lack of Kinkaid and James, you'd do well to stick with it! As the mystery reveals itself the book only gets better and better. (less)

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Nov 10, 2012 Tina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-reads, mystery

Feels like the series is hitting it's stride with this book. At first I wasn't sure I was enjoying it since it spent so much time with a woman who had been dead for five years. But the looks back in to Lydia's life proved important to her death (long believed to be a suicide) and to the death of Vic McLellan the woman who is writing her biography.

Vic also happens to be Duncan's ex wife who walked out on him 12 years ago without a word. She calls him out of the blue to ask his help in looking int...more

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Apr 14, 2011 Mary Ronan Drew rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library-book

I hate to say this. I know authors hate it when people say this about their books. But it’s true: This is a crossover novel. It’s a mystery and the author perceives it as a mystery, which it is. But it’s so much more.

Deborah Crombie is the best of the contemporary writers of the police procedural. Her plots are complex without being convoluted, her writing style is clean and occasionally lyrical, and her characters are realistic and face their problems in a realistic way.

Here is Publisher’s We...more I hate to say this. I know authors hate it when people say this about their books. But it’s true: This is a crossover novel. It’s a mystery and the author perceives it as a mystery, which it is. But it’s so much more.

Deborah Crombie is the best of the contemporary writers of the police procedural. Her plots are complex without being convoluted, her writing style is clean and occasionally lyrical, and her characters are realistic and face their problems in a realistic way.

Here is Publisher’s Weekly’s review of this fifth book in the series:

Crombie's English procedural series featuring Scotland Yard's Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James (Mourn Not Your Dead, 1996, etc.) takes a giant leap forward with this haunting mystery set among Cambridge literary types. Vic McClellan, Duncan's ex-wife and a member of the English faculty at Cambridge, is writing a biography of Lydia Brooke, a Cambridge poet whose death five years earlier was attributed to suicide. Convinced that Lydia didn't kill herself, Vic asks Duncan to look into the poet's death. Estranged from Vic since she left him 12 years ago, Duncan is at first unwilling to help. But Vic's literary evidence and a brief look at the local police records soon convince him and Gemma, who's his lover as well as his partner, that there's something fishy about Lydia's demise. Having reconciled with Vic and been charmed by her son, Kit, Duncan is devastated when she is murdered. Assisted by Gemma, he sets out on a personal crusade to find the killer. Their investigation leads to Lydia's circle of Cambridge friends in the 1960s: Nathan, now on the botany faculty; Darcy, a colleague of Vic's on the English faculty; Daphne, headmistress of a girls' school; and Adam, an Anglican priest. It's Gemma, through close reading of a long-lost poem by Lydia, who uncovers the crucial secret. As Crombie continues to explore Duncan and Gemma's complicated relationship, she adds a deeper resonance in the form of Duncan's feelings for Vic and Kit. This is the best book in an already accomplished series. Crombie excels at investing her mysteries with rich characterization and a sophisticated wash of illuminating feminism.

2011 No 64 Coming soon: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
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Dec 07, 2010 Kirsty Darbyshire added it · review of another edition

these are excerpts from my responses to a mailing list discussion of this book and as such they include spoilers.

[On Lydia's letters and Vic's inklings of suicide]

I didn't like Lydia much and I really wanted to see her mother's side of all those letters! The letters all came from a period early on in Lydia's life and not the time close to her death. Vic's convictions seemed to be the biggest sign that Lydia was really murdered but I had mixed feelings about those.

It seemed reasonable that if s

...more these are excerpts from my responses to a mailing list discussion of this book and as such they include spoilers.

[On Lydia's letters and Vic's inklings of suicide]

I didn't like Lydia much and I really wanted to see her mother's side of all those letters! The letters all came from a period early on in Lydia's life and not the time close to her death. Vic's convictions seemed to be the biggest sign that Lydia was really murdered but I had mixed feelings about those.

It seemed reasonable that if she was setting a scene to die she'd have gone the whole hog and worn something 'appropriate' too, but then I didn't feel she had particularly planned her earlier suicide attempts. She caused Nathan a lot of distress in dying but I think she caused Adam a lot of distress when he found her with her wrists slit too. I don't think she left notes in the two earlier cases so why would she at the third attempt? Also since she made the second attempt with the car crash look like an accident I didn't see why she might not leave an incongruous scene at her third attempt to make that look like an accident too. The fact that she didn't seem to be in a depressed phase at the time she dies seemed to be the biggest pointer to me that something was amiss.

[On the English village setting and comparisons to Christie and Sayers]

I thought this book bore more relationship to an academic mystery rather than a village one. The setting didn't seem especially important to the plot and I only felt a sense of place in when Vic's office and Lydia's rooms were mentioned.

I've never read Sayers and I didn't really see much resemblence to Christie. The book didn't strike me as especially English. Although the University of Cambridge plays its part I feel that the book could've equally been set around any fairly prestigious college anywhere.

[On the murder coming late in the book]

I wasn't expecting Vic's murder at all. I was intrigued by what happened to Lydia and looking forward to Vic finding out what happened and I was a bit shocked by the change of pace. I quite like the non murder mystery and I like books that depart from the formula so I was disappointed as much by the fact that anyone was murdered as I was by the fact that it was Vic.

I'm reading this as a standalone so I don't know anything of Duncan and Gemma but I presume this is their series. I wasn't surprised by them investigating, partly because this was obviously the central story of the book, but also because I think the author set the situation up well. I thought Gemma's reactions to the situation with Vic were particularly well done and quite realistic.

If I was expecting there to be another body apart from Lydia, which I wasn't really, I think I would have expected it to have been one of the people who knew Lydia, probably Adam or Nathan, but perhaps Darcy or Morgan too.

I think I preferred the book before Vic died. I've only read the beginning of Part Two but I definitely feel the emphasis has changed. I suspect that if I was reading this as a series I would have found Part One an annoying break from the norm and would breathe a sigh of relief with the beginning of Part Two where a 'proper' investigation is underway. However I found Vic a more interesting person than either Duncan or Gemma and I rather wanted the book to go in a different direction.

[On whodunnit ideas at the halway point]

I've no idea who murdered either of them and haven't really seen anything to suggest beyond doubt that they were both murdered by the same hand. If I had to pin the tail on the donkey and guess at this point I'd say that Daphne seems a bit suspicious to me, we haven't seen much of her in Part One and she was mentioned quite a lot in Lydia's letters. I feel she's got something to hide though I don't know if it's murder. I'm also not convinced that Nathan has been entirely truthful in his description of finding Lydia dead but I don't have anything to show that he murdered her either.

[On the cast being haunted by Lydia's death]

I don't think Lydia's death did haunt all of these characters that much. I think only Morgan was really haunted by her death and felt that in some way he was responsible for her committing suicide because of the violence in his relationship with her.

Nathan, Adam and Daphne were all upset by her death but I don't think any of them felt responsibility for it the way that Morgan did. I suspect that they all felt that they should have been more use to Lydia as friends and that it was some failing on their part that led her to commit suicide but I think they all knew that it wasn't their fault.

And Darcy, who seemed the least troubled by Lydia's death, was unlikely to be haunted by it both because he was responsible for it and because, in spite of his pretentious airs, I thought he was the most straightforward character emotionally. He didn't seem to feel any remorse for any of the killings and killed Lydia and Vic just to cover up the earlier death.

I felt a bit cheated that Verity's disappearance wasn't alluded to earlier in the book. Although I can see the discontinuity in Lydia's letters that signifies 'something major happened here' when she moves from dedicated student to dropping out to get married in the course of a few months I don't think there was anything to point to what that pivotal event was.

[On Vic not telling Duncan about Kit]

I think it's difficult to judge Vic on the facts we have but on the whole I think she made a decent decision. She was in a very difficult situation. For one reason or another she'd left Duncan and was seeing Ian. Ian says near the end of the book that she didn't know originally which of the men was the father of her baby. Ian was aware of that and he and Vic must have had a loving relationship at that time. Ian was happy at that point to bring up Kit as his son. I can't say I blame Vic for deciding that staying with Ian and simplifying a complicated situation by not telling Duncan what was going on was the best thing to do, especially as I suspect she needed to make the decision before the point where she was certain of Kit's paternity.

At the point where the book begins Vic and Ian's relationship has broken down and it appears irretrievable, Vic finds another reason to contact Duncan again in his professional capacity. I think that if Vic had lived she would have told Duncan the truth before he had it pointed out to him. I think she'd realised that Ian was never going to be a good father to Kit and whilst one can't just swap in another dad I think she wanted Duncan to have the opportunity to play a role in Kit's life if he wanted to.

I think Duncan's actions at the end of the book show that he wants to form a relationship with Kit. I also think that this will cement his relationship with Gemma rather than strain it as he realises more about what Toby means to Gemma and what families are all about. But then I haven't read the rest of the series so I only know Duncan and Gemma through what I've seen in this book.

[On whether the ending was fair]

I don't think Crombie played particularly fair. I'm not sure ifVerity's disappearance was mentioned more than a couple of chaptersahead of where it was explained. If it was I missed it entirely. Thiswas the big letdown in the book for me. I wasn't bothered that the poemwas uninterpretable, but I was bothered that I hadn't been given anyidea that a young girl's murder was involved in the explanation ofLydia's death. I think the book would have been better if things hadbeen more obvious and we all had 'ah ha!' moments when we saw the poemnear the end of the book.

Darcy was one of only a handful of dislikable characters in the book andtherefore I was slightly surprised that he was the murderer since I'vecome to expect the device of one of the more sympathetic charactersbeing the real bad guy.

[Final Thoughts]

Well this is the only book in the series that I've read and I'd give itfour stars. I liked it but it hasn't left me desperate to read all theother episodes. I thought it stood well as a stand alone, I don't feelthat I need to know about the books on either side of it. I'd be morelikely to read another Crombie if it was a standalone I think. Whilst Iliked the central characters I liked the peripheral characters more andI'd rather read about a whole different set.

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Feb 14, 2010 Anne Hawn Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: mystery fans

Shelves: mystery, forensics

This is the first of this series that I have read and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I thought the characters well developed and the plot complex, but easy to follow. I also liked the setting and the way the plot moved between the past and present.

The only thing that is a problem is the relationship between Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James. As colleagues, their relationship would have presented a problem and also the way they operated on vacation and in another jurisdiction. However, this is fiction and...more

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Jan 12, 2010 LJ rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary_post_1945, england, female_author, mystery, police_procedural

First Sentence: The post slid through the letter box, cascading onto the tile floor of the entry hall with a sound like the wind rustling through bamboo.

Twelve years ago, Duncan Kincaid’s wife walked away from their marriage. Receiving a call, asking for his help was not something he expected. Victoria Kincaid McClellan, mother of Kit, and abandoned by her current husband, has a position with the English Faculty and is writing a biography on 20th Century poet Lydia Ashby who had, supposedly, die...more

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Dec 22, 2009 Joan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A great story where solving the mystery introduces lots of other topics that may be of interest to readers. While reading this book, I discovered some of the poetry of Rupert Brooke and look forward to reading more. (but I digress...)

Dreaming of the Bones continues the story of two Scotland Yard detectives as they work unofficially to solve a case with close ties to Superintendent Duncan Kincaid. I haven't read any of the previous novels in this series, so I'm not sure if I'm missing a lot of d...more

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Feb 17, 2013 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. THIS SUMMARY/REVIEW WAS COPIED FROM OTHER SOURCES AND IS USED ONLY AS A REMINDER OF WHAT THE BOOK WAS ABOUT FOR MY PERSONAL INTEREST. ANY PERSONAL NOTATIONS ARE FOR MY RECOLLECTION ONLY

Things are going as normal for Duncan and Gemma..they're both comfortable with their relationship, doing their normal workday routines as coppers in Scotland Yard when Duncan gets a call from the last person he ever suspected, his ex wife, Victoria.

Vic is a professor of literature at the University and has been wo...more THIS SUMMARY/REVIEW WAS COPIED FROM OTHER SOURCES AND IS USED ONLY AS A REMINDER OF WHAT THE BOOK WAS ABOUT FOR MY PERSONAL INTEREST. ANY PERSONAL NOTATIONS ARE FOR MY RECOLLECTION ONLY

Things are going as normal for Duncan and Gemma..they're both comfortable with their relationship, doing their normal workday routines as coppers in Scotland Yard when Duncan gets a call from the last person he ever suspected, his ex wife, Victoria.

Vic is a professor of literature at the University and has been working on a biography of a local poet from the 60s, the problem with that is that she's become rather obsessed. Lydia was a local moderate success in the 60s and had a history of attempted suicides until finally, it was a successful attempt. As Vic does more research she finds herself more and more uneasy with the case being deemed a suicide. Vic thinks Lydia was murdered and she asks for Duncan's help.

Much to Gemma's consternation, Duncan decides to help in what limited way he can by calling in some favors and soon he finds himself more and more intrigued by the case. What's more, Vic doesn't seem to be the cold viper that Duncan remembers walking out on him without a word years ago, much to Gemma's chagrin.

As I said at the beginning, the first third of the novel is primarily about Vic. Vic doing research for the book which leads her into the circle of old friends Lydia kept from University until she died. The mystery was set up nicely but I found myself missing the abundance of Duncan and Gemma that Crombie usually gives us in these novels. Not that the beginning of the book is bad, I just wanted more D and K. Crombie throws a gear into the works though that entrenches Duncan and Gemma even further into a case neither of them had any interest in (for obvious reasons) and exposes a history of darkness, secrets and seemingly unattainable redemption.

As usual, Crombie evolves the relationship with Duncan and Gemma at a nice pace with some very interesting developments that are sure to keep the series fresh and new.

Gemma and Duncan are partners. This book is where Duncan's ex-wife Victoria is murdered. It is also where Duncan meets Kit and with the suggestion of his mother realizes that Kit is his son.

It ends up that another University fellow named Darcy Lester is the killer of Lydia Brooke, Vic and a young teenage girl, Verity, who had disappeared. He killed Verity by accident by drowning her, he killed Lydia because she was going to expose him for the murder and he killed Vic because she had figured things out and because she worked with him he knew she had gained too much knowledge about Lydia and her circle of friends. As is usual, there are plenty of possible murderers. (Reread 2/13)
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Sep 11, 2012 Terri Lynn rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, mystery-suspense-thrillers

I just couldn't make myself like it though I tried hard. I have liked the previous books in this series very much but had to drag myself through this one forcibly. It felt like a punishment.

I like Gemma James a lot more than I like Duncan Kincaid and I found myself wishing she would dump him as a lover during this book and just be work partners the way they had been with no romance.

As this book begins, Gemma has become more comfortable with Duncan being both her boss at Scotland Yard and her...more I just couldn't make myself like it though I tried hard. I have liked the previous books in this series very much but had to drag myself through this one forcibly. It felt like a punishment.

I like Gemma James a lot more than I like Duncan Kincaid and I found myself wishing she would dump him as a lover during this book and just be work partners the way they had been with no romance.

As this book begins, Gemma has become more comfortable with Duncan being both her boss at Scotland Yard and her lover after hours. Her preschooler Toby likes him a lot too and they have settled into a cozy semi-family.

Then Duncan gets a call. Keep in mind that Gemma's ex-husband had run out on her when she had Toby and disappeared to avoid paying child support. Twelve years earlier, Duncan's wife Victoria had done the same thing to him- ran off. She was pregnant by Duncan but didn't bother to tell him as they waited for many months for their divorce to be final. As soon as the ink was dry on the divorce, she married Ian, an academic who can't keep his pants zipped when sexy graduate students are around. Victoria also has a Phd and teaches college. She is doing research on a female poet who supposedly died of a heart attack after years of trying to kill herself.

Victoria gets Duncan involved in investigating whether or not Lydia's death years earlier was what it was said to be or murder. Never mind that this is not his jurisdiction. She also does not bother to tell him that her 12 year old son Kit is his.

Gemma is furious and it is easy to understand why. Duncan has shown himself prone to behaving ridiculously and he just has no concern for Gemma's feelings on the matter at all. I mean, hey, the woman who ran out and left him without so much as a note 12 years ago and had a preteen son that is his but still doesn't bother to tell him calls and oh baby, he's going to run and ask how high she wants him to jump.

As usual there is a cast of weirdos, creeps and assorted nuts and fruits. There is lying, cheating, and murder. Normally I would love that but this one just seemed so boring that I wanted to get a broom and drive all of the characters (except Gemma and Toby) away. I found myself someone would bump them all off (though Duncan would just have sex with his killer before hand no doubt).

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Apr 12, 2012 Mary Gilligan-Nolan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When Duncan Kincaid's ex wife, Vic, contacts him out of the blue and asks him to meet her on her home ground in Cambridge, he is intrigued and goes there despite the fact he has now seen her since she left him without so much as a note, some twelve years before. Vic is working on a biography of Lydia Brooke, a poet who committed suicide 5 years earlier and she tells Duncan, she suspects Lydia was in fact murdered. He is naturally sceptical and yet does not doubt Vic sincerity and conviction, so...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Stuart rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I haven’t read Deborah Crombie before. She has some superficial similarities to Elizabeth George, being an American author writing British mysteries with an upper-class Scotland Yard detective (Kincaid) and his lower class sergeant (Jones). But while the genre is the same, the execution is different. Elizabeth George serves up heavy tomes full of lots of details; Crombie (on the basis of this story) serves up much simpler fare, though equally enjoyable. We do of course have the requisite detecti...more

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Apr 06, 2013 Bonnie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This multilayered tale combines the days before World War I, the permissiveness of students in the sixities, and academic Cambridge in the present. Ater being divorced for twelve years, Duncan receives a call from ex wife Victoria asking for his help in trying to prove poet lydia Brooke did not commit suicide. Dr. Victoria was writing a biography about Lydia and need Duncan's expert advice to prove she had not committed suicide. Duncan agrees and he and Gemma investigate and discover doubt that...more

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Sep 15, 2012 PatK rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

“Dreaming of the Bones” is considered one of the best novels in the Duncan/Gemma mystery series. Of the six that I have read, it proved to be my least favorite. While I applaud the plot and the incredible characterization, I had problems with the novel’s structure.
At the beginning of each chapter, a fragment of a poem by Rupert Brook is inserted, plausibly to give a perpetuating reminder of the poet’s influence upon the primary victim, Lydia Brooke. Lydia’s tragic obsession with Brooke’s lifest...more

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Dec 22, 2012 Gail added it · review of another edition

Shelves: british, mystery-thriller, library-book

There were many things to like about this book. How well written it is. How multi layered the story is and how it slowly unfolds. What I didn't like. Vic, how she kept Kincaid from knowing he had a child and kept from Kit who his true father was. Just absolutely heartless and cruel. I didn't like that Vic didn't even know who the father was at first because she was sleeping with another man while married to Kincaid. I hated that it was explained away that the reason why she left Kincaid without...more

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Jun 19, 2009 Chad rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

I can't claim to be a fan of the British murder mystery, nor murder mysteries of any other nationality. I read my first Deborah Crombie novel back in the day because, like Ms. Crombie, I attended Austin College, and upon her returning to the campus for a discussion, I was tasked with writing an introduction for her speech. I'm nothing if not thorough, so in addition to researching her biography and writing credits, I felt it only just that I actually read some of her actual works. While not a li...more I can't claim to be a fan of the British murder mystery, nor murder mysteries of any other nationality. I read my first Deborah Crombie novel back in the day because, like Ms. Crombie, I attended Austin College, and upon her returning to the campus for a discussion, I was tasked with writing an introduction for her speech. I'm nothing if not thorough, so in addition to researching her biography and writing credits, I felt it only just that I actually read some of her actual works. While not a life-changing experiece, her first novel, "A Share in Death", was enjoyable enough that I read the next in the series, and the next and the next. Her fifth novel, "Dreaming of the Bones" sat on the shelf for quite a while before I happened to run into Ms. Crombie at a book signing at Barnes & Noble. I chatted with her, got an autograph (feeling kind of bad that it was an old hardback I bought off the discount rack instead of her new novel, which I assume she was there to sell), then promptly went home and picked up where I'd left off in her now 12 book series.

How was it? Quite good, actually. Murder mysteries have never really set me on fire, as they tend to be a bit too formula for my taste. And while I've enjoyed the slow characterizations Crombie has developed for her two leads, Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid, the plots of the previous four volumes have been pretty much what I've expected: cops traipsing around the countryside interviewing a dynamic cast of suspects, winnowing the list of would-be culprits down to size only to have the murderer revealed to be an unexpected killer for an unexpected motive! Despite the formula, Crombie remains readable because she does seem to go out of her way to develop her list of suspects into unique characters with interesting motivations. Also, and this is really something that impresses me, she can flawlessly recreate the British voice. You'd never realize she was born and raised in the states, particularly in Texas. Its kind of uncanny.

Anyway, "Dreaming of the Bones" managed to transcend my meager expectations, demonstrating that Crombie is not a one-trick pony. To begin with, this is easily the most densley plotted of her works thus far. She was still introducing new characters (and pretty well-rounded ones to boot!) halfway in to the page-count. She also made this novel far more personal for the two detectives, using the mundane, but thorough, characterizations laid by the previous four works to build some conflict and complexity with a few plot-twists that not only throw the reader, but seemed to genuinely throw the characters as well. I know that plot-twists are a staple of murder mysteries, but the workman-like manner in which she has demonstrated her knowledge of the genre in the past leads you to expect the same here, and the twist isn't so much in the plot, but in the way Crombie herself applies it to her lead characters.

Finally, this mystery is set against the backdrop of literary academia, with poets and literature professors and chaotic university English departments providing the fodder for the investigation. In this setting, Crombie seems to have been inspired to show off her actual writing chops. You don't typically step back and admire the prose in series murder mysteries. The author, here, reminds us that she's a real writer.

I'm actually kind of anxious to see what happens in the next novel. Not so much concerning the who's and what's and how's of whatever mystery lies in its pages, but to see if Deborah Crombie presses forward and evolves further as a writer. I hope so.(less)

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Jul 05, 2012 Stephanie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I started reading Crombie out of order with "Now May You Weep" and really loved that one, so wanted to go back and read earlier ones. I consider myself a fan of the way she writes, but not always of the book as a whole. In this one, "Dreaming of the Bones", it was predictably slow, which I expect, because it is so "English". I've even gotten used to her writing unlikeable characters, but it makes it hard to get involved enough in the story. At one point, I counted at least eleven viable suspects...more

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Jul 08, 2012 Nancy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

A top notch mystery with characters I cared about and a dramatic twist in the ongoing personal stories of Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James. While it is a good mystery that stands on its own, Dreaming of the Bones is best enjoyed if read in order as part of the series.

The story unfolds in Cambridge. Ms. Crombie hits just the right balance to bring classic academic stereotypes to life. Are scholars at odds over if and how a biography should be written also personal enemies for other reasons? Will Du...more

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Jan 17, 2012 Susan Anderson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: british-mystery, mystery

This is not a proper review, only my random thoughts as a reader having just finished Dreaming of the Bones by Deborah Crombie. In my mind, there's a difference between reader ramblings and book review. And also, I just finished listening to the unabridged audible version. I haven't actually cast my eyes upon the words. (That begs the question, "What is a book?" but the answer to that is a mighty one and for another day.)

You know, I really love Deborah Crombie's writing and DREAMING OF THE BONES...more This is not a proper review, only my random thoughts as a reader having just finished Dreaming of the Bones by Deborah Crombie. In my mind, there's a difference between reader ramblings and book review. And also, I just finished listening to the unabridged audible version. I haven't actually cast my eyes upon the words. (That begs the question, "What is a book?" but the answer to that is a mighty one and for another day.)

You know, I really love Deborah Crombie's writing and DREAMING OF THE BONES exceeded my expectations.

I'm not going to get into the intricacies of its plot except to say that it involves Victoria McClellan, Kincaid's ex, who asks him to investigate the mysterious death of the poet Lydia Brooke and the effect that investigation has on all the characters. So that's the still point of the turning novel, at least in the beginning: Kincaid and current lover, Gemma James, pitted against the relationship between Kincaid and Vic. And I like the time Crombie takes with the tangled emotions between and within those three characters. Right there we have opportunity for interior conflict, nice and juicy, and the possibility of growth. Another murder deepens the emotions, ups the stakes. More characters with common history add to the conflict and plot complexity.

And in this book there are lots of relationships going on—the living with the living, the living with the dead, the dead with the dead, walking forward, stepping back, lots of backstory interleaved, having words, characters conflicted or not, being loving together or not. And a child's emotions, too. Add to this mix the poetry of Rupert Brooke (There is a rumour and a radiance of wings above my head ... ) All of that percolating while the who-done-it goes on. Oh, it's a delicious stew. I gobbled it up, totally. Sad to see it end.

But one thing I have to say is that I guessed the perp. Doesn't happen very often but it didn't spoil the book for me at all. I think there was a strong clue about 75% of the way through, I won't tell you what form it took, but I didn't know until the very end that I was right.
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Apr 17, 2013 Nancy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the first book by Deborah Crombie I have read--I will definitely be reading more. At first I had trouble keeping the characters straight as Crombie alternated the stories between various characters. But after about 50 pages I was hooked on the story. Duncan Kincaid (a Scotland Yard Superintendent) is asked by his ex-wife to investigate the suicide 5 years before of a poet Lydia Brooke. During Kincaid's investigation, and following a second murder, the reader becomes immersed in the chara...more

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Apr 28, 2013 Susan Waldron rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am really enjoying this series, involving (yet another) polished, educated male detective and his working-class female partner. But this series is shaping up very nicely, as the characters change, grow and are, in fact, falling in love.

This book adds another layer as it involves Kincaid's ex-wife, whose academic delving into the life of a famous female poet sets off a series of murders and uncovers another series of murders in the past. I enjoyed that much of the book is about Kincaid's relati...more

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Jun 21, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fabulous story, especially for a person interested in the poets of The Great War. Rupert Brooke plays a major role; his work is used for epigraphs for the chapters, and his presence at The Old Vicarage is evoked several times. Finally, he is the inspiration for a group of characters, and their behavior is an essential part of the books full arc. I'm reading the Kincaid/Gemma books all out of sequence, but I don't mind...I love all the secondary characters and their complementary settings. This b...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Julie added it · review of another edition

Shelves: british-mystery

crombie is one of the best writers of british mysteries. and yet she is not british. another master of the genre is elizabeth george - who also is not british - what's up with this!

dreaming of the bones is well-written, compelling. she builds characters you care about and want to get to know better. you read the first in the series and know you will read all the others. she is not formulaic. and there are many layers to the stories. they are complicated but not so complicated that you have troub...more

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Sep 12, 2010 Marwan Asmar rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: become-a-fan, favourite-authors, favorite-authors

The mark of a good book is characterized by its characters dancing on the page. Despite the intensity of Dreaming of the Bones, such characters, starting with the detectives down to Kit, and the rest of the clan, seemed so real, that the story and the narrative, proved a compelling read, time after time, and page after page. There was balance in the dialogue, imagination, ideas, and the threads to imply that the author had thought deeply about the plot and created the infrastructure in her head...more

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May 16, 2010 Deb rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-books-read

This series just keeps getting better and better! Duncan Kincaid gets a call from his ex-wife Vic McClennan who has been writing a biography of Lydia Brooks, a poet who ostensibly committed suicide. Vic believes instead that Lydia was murdered. When another unexpected sudden death occurs, Duncan and Gemma James decide that perhaps Vic is right. Both Kincaid and James have their lives turned upside down as a result of the investigation. Aside from the engrossing novel, I learned a lot about anoth...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Abbey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: series, myst-fems-project, myst-set-andor-auth-uk

BOTTOM LINE: #5 DI Duncan Kincaid/Sgt Gemma James, Oxford and rural England; cosy police procedural/professional as amateur sleuth. Duncan’s ex-wife calls him after twelve years’ silence, seeking professional information about a poet who may have been murdered five years ago. Duncan’s need to help his family, and the changes in his relationship with Gemma help make this a rich and intriguing mystery that’s at times heartbreakingly sad.

Duncan's wife is writing a biography of the poet - at least...more

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Jan 19, 2013 Donna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, read-in-2013

This fifth book in the series is darker than its predecessors. Duncan's ex-wife reappears in his life asking for help, putting a strain on his relationship with Gemma. An intriguing plot twist in the overall series arc occurs and I'm interested to see where it goes. While I enjoy the relationship between Duncan and Gemma, I do have a problem with its plausibility--given that they work together and he is her superior, would it be allowed? I enjoy these books so much though that I let it go. Looki...more

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Jul 06, 2010 Victoria rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, mystery

Didn't know this was the fifth of a series devoted to Kincaid/James, whom I didn't even know were the chief characters. So the first person by McClellan in the first half was engaging, and the change to the Kincaid/James story was startling. It was a fine book even though it took me a couple of tries before I got deep enough into it to finish; the writing was competent and very British sounding in its sort of dry detachment; the story interesting and the literary connection intriguing.

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Apr 09, 2013 Susan Rappaport rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love the characters of the detectives. This writer really gets into characterizations of the people. Even after she solved the mystery of the poet who was murdered, I miss the people, their lives, their stories. This book started me on the author just so I can find out how their lives proceeded. The two detectives have a working relationship which does turn into a love arrangement... Well-written book. The author is from Texas even though she writes all about London.

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Dreaming Of The Bones (Duncan Kincaid & Gemma James #5)

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