Rating: 
Summary: Series gets better & better
Review: I am reading all of the Kincaid-Gemma books in chronological order. This is the best one yet. I like Crombie's books better than Elizabeth George's. Her characters get on with the crime solving & don't indulge in such navel-gazing & endless angst over their relationships the way George's do. I think the reader should just take this book for what it is -- fiction -- a good mystery & not get onvolved in analyzing the poetry, the letters, & who is supposed to represent whom in real life. Just enjoy it! I can't wait to read the next one.
Rating: 
Summary: A Sylvia Plath-like character & Tartt's 'Secret History'
Review: I don't read a lot of murder mysteries, and I've never read any of Deborah Crombie's other books, so I am a little at a disadvantage. Overall, the book is well written, and the characters are realistic, especially Duncan and Gemma, who are both interesting and likeable. Unfortunately, Lydia Brooke, the poet turned suicide/murder victim is the weakest character in the book. A not-very-thinly-disguised Sylvia Plath, with a-not very-thinly-disguised Ted Hughes-ish ex-husband, Lydia is weakly drawn and not particularly compelling. Perhaps that's because I kept comparing her with her real-life counterpart, Plath, who was - and still is- a very compelling person. Crombie's imitation of Plath's gushing "Letters Home" rings false, and her rendition of Plath's 'Ariel' in the 'voice' of Lydia Brooke is cringe-inducing. The introduction of a Donna Tartt-esque ending, a la "The Secret History" was over-the-top and not particularly believable. As for Crombie being the most British of American mystery writers, I found her over-use of "cheerio", "bloody", "love" , etc., irritating - exactly the sort of words an American would use when writing 'British' characters. I wish I could say that I will seek out more of Ms. Crombie's books, but I doubt that I will, given that I didn't enjoy this one.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic, her best yet!!
Review: I have read all of Ms Crombie's books and enjoyed each one more than the last. She keeps getting better at developing the relationship between Duncan and Gemma, while at the same time leading us in detail through a new case. I can't wait for the next book in the series!
Rating: 
Summary: Another British murder mystery
Review: I though this book was entertaining and well written. It is another in the slew of mystery novels featuring Britiesh gentlemen detectives, combining crime solving with personal dilemmas. This is similar to books written by Ruth Rendell. What I liked best about the book was the descriptions of Cambridge, which brought back my own university days. What I liked least was the murder plot - this writer is so good that I don't think she needs to rely on formula. She would do just fine writing straight literary fiction.I read this several years ago and then reread it - I didn't realize that I had already read it till half-way through, so I guess it is not a particularly memorable book.
Rating:
Summary: A disappointment
Review: I was prepared to like this book very much indeed, having seen it recommended by a number of ordinarily trustworthy reviewers. Unfortunately, the novel doesn't live up to its widespread good press. Others have ably described the derivative nature of the 'literary' characters Crombie bases this story upon, so I'll say no more about that, but I must reemphasize the pure corny-ness of the whole premise. Crombie's own literary sense is poor; she caricatures 'literary types', especially the British subspecies, in the guise of stereotypical Cambridge "Doctors" who study Very Sensitive Writers. Her attempts at inventing letters written by Lydia, the VSW around whom the plot turns, are excruciating. "Dearest Mummy" indeed! Equally painful are Crombie's attempts at English dialogue. Here is her recipe: each chapter must contain four "bloodies", three "cuppas" (her characters must live in their toilets), two "bollocks" (they always come in handy pairs!) one "give me a ring" and either a "posh" or an "I dare say . . ." The plot is tired, and the potential culprits are so blandly drawn that you're not really bothered about which is guilty come the denoument. Not recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Contrived
Review: I was rather disappointed by this entry in the Kincaid / James mysteries. The plot of his ex-wife calling him out of the blue and him trotting back to her like a dumb puppy do work for me. Just unbelievable that there would be no recriminations of any kind on either side. Silly, actually. The mystery was too contrived and the personal revelations at the end were sad. I do not care to see so many women shown to be so cold and selfish.
Rating:
Summary: Eh, not outstanding
Review: I'm not shocked to see a reviewer bring up the subject of Plath with regards to Crombie's book. I, too, found Lydia Brooke to be a flat, imitative character. Too much about her and the audience she held with her psycho-sexual ego rang of Sylvia Plath. Although, in the case of Lydia Brooke, it resulted in a bad imitation, thanks to Deborah Crombie. What was even uglier was the continual reference to the supposedly destructive relationship between Rupert Brooke and Virginia Woolf. All in all, too many things pointed at the Huges/Plath relationship. If Crombie wanted to detail the life of Plath, couldn't she have written another boigraphy, without disguising it in this awkward mystery? What kept me reading this book was the likeability of Gemma and Duncan, and an empathy for the young son of the murdered Brooke-biographer. Beyond that, this book rounded out into an atrocious ending, with no satisfactory motive, that left me feeling dissatisfied and positive I wouldn't seek out Crombie's other mysteries. I agree that 'bloody' was used far too much, sometimes twice in a sentence. Ugh!
Rating:
Summary: Compelling and riveting
Review: I've been a fan of Ms. Crombie's since I first picked up one of her books but this is by far her best. I felt every emotion her characters felt and found myself not wanting to put it down, even at one in the morning. The writing in this book is on par with the great P.D. James and I anxiously look forward to Ms. Crombie's next book.
Rating:
Summary: A Rewarding Read on Many Levels
Review: Let me first admit to having had several reservations before starting to read Dreaming of the Bones: the blurb told me Miss Crombie is an American writer, from Texas, writing an "English Mystery"; the protagonist detectives are of different social levels; and the word "bones" is in the title (a personal foible). The word "formula" began echoing in my mind, but having the book in hand with crisp pages full of promise is a strong antidote to untested doubt and the reading proved itself rewarding on many levels, the most pleasurable being the superb quality of the writing itself.
The story can be read first as a straight who-done-it with sufficiently engaging plot subtleties to give casual readers enough doubt to pull them through to the end, all the while wondering and in the end being truly surprised. For the mystery afficionada, this is genuine goods and well worth the investment.
On another level, the skillful and very effective weaving of the intriguing plot with character's past and present histories, snippets of a book being written by one of the characters, along with the on-going lives of the detectives themselves is seamless and masterful, particularly given the ambitious task Miss Crombie posed for herself as a writer to make it look "easy" to the reader. Not only does she succeed, but she created an avid admirer in the process. This book frequently leaps out of the mass-market mystery genre, with its often over-pared editorial limitations, into the literary mystery, bringing to my mind a comparison to PD James and her scrupulous attention to detail. A fine first read for me and well recommended for those who love "English Mysteries".
Rating:
Summary: Her Best Yet!
Review: New readers and fans of Deborah Crombie will not be disappointed with her fifth installment of the Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James detective team from Scotland Yard. When Duncan receives a call from his ex-wife, Vic, after a twelve year separation, it can only be trouble. Vic, recently abandoned by her husband for a younger model, is writing a biography about a semi-popular poet, Lydia Brooke. During the course of Vic's investigation for her book, she comes across some disturbing evidence that the poet may not have taken her own life five years ago and seeks out Duncan's professional connections for more details. Duncan decides to help Vic, much to the distress of Gemma, Duncan's partner both professionally and personally. Duncan assures Gemma he plans on only obtaining a copy of the police report, but once Vic turns up dead Duncan decides to take a leave of absence to further investigate. Gemma stands by her man and they set out to find her murderer. They conclude that the key to finding her murderer is to determine who didn't want her to continue her exploration of Lydia Brooke's death. As with some author's who keep the reader in the dark about key pieces of information as a means to disguise their inability to write skillfully, Deborah Crombie unveils the facts to the reader as Duncan and Gemma learn them. This skillful writer intersperses letters written by Lydia to her mother as well as private conversations that take place outside of Duncan and Gemma's ears and still pulls off "I can't believe that's who did it" at the end. Deborah Crombie's books are categorized as police procedurals, but within each successive book in the series she adds a dimension to the growing relationship between Duncan and Gemma. While finding Vic's murderer (as well as the murderer of Lydia Brooke) brings closure for Duncan, what Vic leaves behind will change Duncan and Gemma's personal relationship forever. I hope Ms. Crombie doesn't take too long to finish her next installment as readers will be anxiously awaiting to see how Vic's legacy will impact Duncan and Gemma.
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