Hello All,
No Mark Upon Her by Deborah Crombie is an excellent entry in the Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James series. Duncan and Gemma's relationship continues to grow, their blended family shows the natural ebb and flow of children at different ages, and both their careers take interesting turns.
Rebecca Meredith, at age thirty-five, is perhaps preparing for her last chance at the Olympics in rowing when she is found dead in the river. She is also a Metropolitan detective, one who can get very focused on her work. Duncan, returning from vacation, and his junior partner, Doug, end up working on Rebecca's case. They aren't sure it's murder, but due to her skills at rowing and other evidence, it becomes clear that Rebecca didn't drown.
Gemma, who is just finishing up family leave time for their foster daughter, follows up on another angle of the case, that of Angus Craig, a former senior officer with the Met, who resigned under a cloud. Rebecca had reported him for rape, and Gemma had a long ago run in with Craig also, but without the same results. Gemma and her junior partner start unofficially investigating Craig as a possible serial rapist.
More suspects are added to the mix, such as an ex-husband of Rebecca's, and her current lover. Who would have wanted Rebecca Meredith dead? Was it personal, related to her detective work, or because she was going to test her skills for the Olympics? The path to the resolution twists and turns with interesting results.
I enjoy this series by Deborah Crombie thoroughly, and love both the mystery and the personal lives of Gemma and Duncan. This entry in the series stands very well on its own; no need to start at the beginning. Unless you want to...
Happy Reading!
Patti
No Mark Upon Her by Deborah Crombie 2012 William Morrow ISBN 9780061990618
This book was sent to me for review by William Morrow; no other compensation was offered or accepted for this review.
