Sound of Broken Glass (Crombie) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
The Sound of Broken Glass, Deborah Crombie’s 15th mystery featuring the Scotland Yard detectives Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid, is new on the hardcover fiction list at No. 9. These books are as British as Downton Abbey, so it’s a bit surprising to learn that Crombie still lives outside her hometown, Dallas.
Gregory Cowles - New York Times Book Review


Bestseller Crombie puts together past and present in her solid, finely controlled 15th novel featuring married police detectives Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid (after 2012’s No Mark upon Her). While Duncan looks after their three-year-old foster daughter at home, Gemma and Det. Sgt. Melody Talbot investigate the murder of barrister Vincent Arnott, found in a seedy hotel in London’s Crystal Palace area, naked, tied with a belt, and strangled. When the body of a second barrister, killed in exactly the same way, turns up, physical evidence proves the same person murdered both men. Gemma and Melody painstakingly and methodically unravel the clues, finding connections that began 15 years earlier in the Crystal Palace area. Flashbacks show how the meeting of a lonely 13-year-old boy and a recently widowed teacher had grave consequences. The unfolding domestic relationship between Gemma and Duncan softens and humanizes them. The city of London, foggy, blustery, and historic, provides a seductive background.
Publishers Weekly


Friendships go seriously awry.... DS Melody Talbot spends the night with guitarist Andy Monahan, a witness and possibly even a suspect in a murder case.... Andy had argued with barrister Vincent Arnott, the victim, between sets at a pub in the Crystal Palace area. Could the musician have followed Arnott to the sleazy Belvedere Hotel, plied him with drugs, stripped him naked, trussed him up, then strangled him with a scarf?.... When another barrister, Shaun Francis, is murdered in identical fashion, the only link between the two dead men seems to be Andy.... Another solid outing for the reliable Crombie, who turns a judicious eye on secrets that can overwhelm what they're meant to protect despite the best intentions.
Kirkus Reviews