Avon Books, New York 2003

This is a first mystery by Crombie. And she works hard and fairly successful at writing it in true Agatha Christie´s whodunit-style, although Crombie is from Texas and consequently lacking the indigenous stiff upper lip of the British.

Her Scotland Yard´s Superintendent Duncan Kincaid has booked a week´s holiday in a luxury time-share in Yorkshire. The setting turns out to be very convenient for some good old-fashioned murders, as there are quite a few suspects around. And, of course, a bully of a local Detective Chief Inspector, who is messing up investigations.

Kincaid more or less stumbles along without any real insight, but a lot of attention for the members of the fair sex. In the second part of the story his assistant Sergeant Gemma James appears on the scene and in the end - surprise - the case is solved, and it makes pleasant reading. Both Kincaid and James will turn out to be serial detectives, I´m sure.

At a reading Deborah Crombie disclosed her love for Britain and everything British, even after writing 17 Kincaid/Jones mysteries. She said she spent at least half her time in Britian, doing research for her stories.