In a Dark House, by Deborah Crombie, a-minus, borrowed from the Library for the Blind, but also available through audible.com. This is the tenth in the Kincaid James series.In this book we have several things going on at once, which for a while is confusing. First, there is a fire which burns down a warehouse. When the fire is out, they find the body of a woman burned beyond recognition. They have to figure out who this is. At the same time, a woman who uses a wheelchair woke up one morning and her companion was gone, never to return. So she is one of the women who turn up missing who could be the one killed in the fire. The man who owned the warehouse that burned down sees an image from the observation videos which tells him that his own daughter was in the warehouse. She seems to be missing, and he believes the body might be hers. Finally, a husband and wife are battling over custody of their ten-year-old daughter, Harriet. The husband believes that his ex-wife, Laura, is going to stop his visitation rights to his daughter, so he kidnaps her. He is having casual sex with a woman, and he asks her to take care of the little girl. She disappears with the little girl, and he is afraid to go to the police because his ex-wife will blame him and file for sole custody. In the meantime, this ex-wife has disappeared. So she might be the woman burned beyond recognition. It takes a while to sort out the DNA and determine who the woman is, why she died, and what her connection was to the arson fire that burned the warehouse. Both Duncan and Gemma are involved in their roles as superintendent of Scotland Yard and Inspector of the London police. This is a somewhat bleaker book than usual, but things sort themselves out eventually. We also have Duncan and Gemma fighting a custody suit brought by Kit’s maternal grandparents who feel they should raise him. Kit does not want to live with the grandparents and wants to remain with Duncan and Gemma. One of her best so far, and one of the longest to boot.
Three subplots are twisting and turning. Love this series... Suspenseful.In a Dark House puts Gemma and Duncan's multilayered relationship to the test, as these two gifted investigators find themselves working a brutal and complex case from differing perspectives. It starts simply Superintendent Kincaid is called in to "help" when a member of Parliament's venture into real estate goes up in smoke. At first Duncan expects that his role will be limited to keeping the politician's involvement out of the limelight. But the discovery of the body of a nude young woman at the fire scene guarantees he'll soon be doing more than damage control. Gemma comes to the case through unofficial channels, when her offer to help a friend whose lodger has vanished reveals unmistakable signs of a double life. When the M.P.'s wayward daughter disappears, Gemma and Duncan discover disturbing evidence linking that to another missing-persons case -- one where an angry father, desperate to remove his daughter from his ex-wife's care, entrusted his little girl to a virtual stranger, only to have both the woman and child disappear without a trace. Carefully, patiently, Duncan and Gemma tease out the connections between the brutalized corpse, the missing women, the kidnapped girl and a series of suspicious fires that suggest a pattern of accelerating danger.
What do You think about In A Dark House (2005)?
Another wonderful Deborah Crombie mystery. The story takes place in London, my favorite setting for Crombie mysteries, this time in Southwark. It was in this area of London that Little Dorrit was set, with the Marshalsea prison the focus of the story. Crombie has a little girl attending the Little Dorrit School (based I’m sure on the Charles Dickens School) and Winnie Montfort, the Episcopal priest, is the temporary rector of St Peter’s church (which is based on St Andrew’s.)The crimes in this story are murder and arson. The body of a woman is found in a burning warehouse and although nobody can prove it, astute fire department investigators suspect arson. Across the street is a refuge for battered women and it is a resident there who calls in the alarm. Is there some connection between the shelter and the murder?Toss in an abducted child, a rogue fire-fighter who won’t stop searching for a solution to the arson suspicions, a social worker with a guilty conscience, and assorted other puzzles . . .2011 No 108
—Mary Ronan Drew
BOTTOM LINE: #10 Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James, London; police procedural. Apparently random arson fires, several missing women, two lost children, several dead bodies, and a bit of London history, mix superbly in this slow-to-start, but ultimately satisfying entry in one of my favorite series. Crombie mixes an amazing amount of threads and bits and pieces, that seem at the beginning to be confusing and almost unrelated, into a carefully wrought tapestry at the end. I enjoyed it all very much, as the pacing was good after the slow start, and there was just enough of Duncan and Gemma’s “personal business” to satisfy without becoming an annoying drag on the cases. However, I wouldn’t recommend this as your first Crombie - the piecemeal aspect of the beginning will drive you mad if you’re not already “involved” in the series. She spins out an amazing number of “possibles” for the events before she ties everything together, and except for one slightly false step at the end (view spoiler)[ IMO her treatment of the arsonist seemed very sketchy, after having built him up for so long, (hide spoiler)]
—Abbey
In a Dark House was what I call a "filler" novel. It fills the time between major storyline events, building the suspense to major turning points. Significant "little things" happen that will ultimately be crucial. For example, Kit's preliminary custody hearing takes place, but we don't know the judge's decision yet. Kit makes a decision that will be extremely important. Gemma and Duncan independently realize something about their relationship and the direction it may need to take. But neither of them talks to each other about it. The actual plot - investigating a series of fires, a homicide, and some missing persons cases - isn't as compelling as usual, and in fact, neither Duncan nor Gemma are the chief investigators in most of the cases. One of the reasons I really appreciated this novel was the setting around Southwark Cathedral in London. Two years ago we were visiting London, and stayed in a hotel near both the Borough Market and the Cathedral. We had a great lunch from a tiny outdoor restaurant in the alley next to the Cathedral. So the setting was quite familiar! So while it wasn't the most engrossing installment, it was enjoyable.
—Deb
