A Bitter Feast

August 1, 2019
A fatal accident that tangles the fates of three ill-assorted people when two cars crash into each other outside a Gloucester village raises urgent questions about the living. Hours after being ejected from the Lamb, Viv Holland's pub in Lower Slaughter, her former boss Fergus O'Reilly, who's turned up without warning and pressed her to take a new job 12 years after she quit his Michelin-rated Chelsea restaurant, is found dead after a collision outside the village. Nor is he the only victim: Nell Greene, the Lamb patron who'd picked up Fergus when she saw him walking uncertainly along the road to drive him to the hospital, has also died at the scene. And there's evidence that Fergus was fatally poisoned even before the crash. The Met's Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and his wife, DI Gemma James, are on hand to investigate because they've accepted an invitation to stay at Beck House, the home of DS Melody Talbot's wealthy parents, Sir Ivan and Lady Adelaide Talbot, for whom Viv has agreed to cater an elaborate charity luncheon. But Kincaid, who was driving the car Nell struck and survived the collision only to see Nell die as he looked on helplessly, isn't himself either physically or mentally, and the solution seems a long way off. There'll be another murder, a series of increasingly revealing flashbacks to Viv's stint at O'Reilly's 12 years ago, and endless updates on the sexual histories of the suspects with the victims, each other, and the police. Through it all, Kincaid and Gemma (Garden of Lamentations, 2017, etc.) keep stiff upper lips even when the dark revelations reach into Beck House. Leisurely, conscientiously plotted, smoothly written, and more surprising in its details than its larger arc.

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August 26, 2019
In bestseller Crombie’s sturdy 18th novel featuring Det. Supt. Duncan Kincaid and Det. Insp. Gemma James (after 2017’s Garden of Lamentations), Det. Sgt. Melody Talbot invites Gemma, Duncan, their children, and Det. Sgt. Doug Cullen to spend a weekend in the Cotswolds, where her parents are hosting a charity luncheon catered by Viv Holland, a talented pub chef. The day the guests are to arrive, a car accident injures Duncan and kills the other driver. Another fatality is the other driver’s passenger, Viv’s former boss, celebrity chef Fergus O’Reilly, though an autopsy reveals that Fergus perished before the collision, from poison. Before the understaffed local PD can answer the myriad questions sparked by the crash, a hit-and-run kills yet another person with ties to Viv, prompting Gemma and company to join the investigation. Broadly drawn secondary characters erode the tale’s emotional underpinnings and the denouement strains credulity, but a strong sense of place and the core cast’s easy camaraderie provide ample distraction. Crombie fans and cozy aficionados will be well pleased. Author tour. Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary.

Starred review from August 1, 2019
A weekend in the country turns into more work than play for Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James. Melody Talbot, Gemma's detective sergeant, invites the couple and their three children to the Cotswolds estate of her parents, Sir Ivan and Lady Adelaide Talbot, on the occasion of an upscale charity luncheon to be catered by local chef Viv Holland. Things go awry from the start when Duncan, traveling to the Talbots' alone in the family car, is hit broadside, and the other driver dies as the slightly injured Duncan holds her hand. But attention centers on the passenger in that car, identified as former London celebrity chef Fergus O'Reilly, who's found to have died before the crash. So, what was intended to be a relaxing sojourn turns into a murder investigation. As the detectives pitch in to help at the luncheon and confer with local authorities, another person close to Viv becomes a victim, and the history between the chefs is gradually revealed. The eighteenth entry in this best-selling series is notable for its portrayals of Duncan and Gemma's children (especially the oldest, Kit), and for the addition of food as an item of interest, a factor that will extend the appeal from the series' procedural-loving fan base to the foodie mystery crowd. This character-driven series just continues to get better.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

September 1, 2019

Can Scotland Yard DS Duncan Kincaid and his wife, DI Gemma James, sit back and enjoy their Cotswolds weekend at fancy Beck House? Not when a car smashup and several unexpected deaths proclaim anxiety for the celebrated chef catering a glittery charity luncheon at the estate. With a 100,000-copy first printing.

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