A Bitter Feast

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.