To Dwell in Darkness by Deborah Crombie

Good morning, readers! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Deborah Crombie's To Dwell in Darkness, the sixteenth Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James mystery!

DS Melody Talbot was all set to enjoy her boyfriend's performance. Andy and Poppy were to kick off the musical festivities at London's historic St. Pancras Station. Unfortunately the press and the crowd were a draw for more than just music fans: a protest group planned to use the opportunity to get attention for their cause with an explosive finale of their own. But what was supposed to be a smoke bomb turned out to be a white phosphorous grenade that left one man dead and many others terribly injured. Duncan Kincaid and his team take the lead and quickly find that there's more to the case than a protest gone wrong. 

Meanwhile, Gemma James has an overflowing plate what with a sick toddler, a pack of stray kittens, and a case of her own. While Melody is mixed up with the station incident, Gemma is faced with finding enough evidence to nail a child killer. 

Three books into this long-running series and things are getting much smoother for me! This is, as mentioned above, the sixteenth installment. I'd begun just two books back with No Mark Upon Her noting that while the book works fine for readers new to the series I'd felt I was missing out on the characters' backstories.

The same would likely be the case were I beginning here with To Dwell in Darkness but because I've got a bit of a head start I found I was much more comfortable with everyone. I suspect this will continue to be the case as I read more of Crombie's work (and I definitely plan to do so).

Anywho! Again, if you're willing to forgo some of the character details and ignore the carry overs and references to previous cases (the plot behind Kincaid's transfer, for example) you'll do fine here. The mystery is wonderfully compelling and the history bits that are interwoven into the plot add a depth that any Anglophile will greatly appreciate.

Rating: 4/5

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Deborah Crombie and her work (including a full series list) you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.