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    Water Like a Stone
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    Water Like a Stone
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    Water Like a Stone
    Audiobook15 hours

    Water Like a Stone

    Written by Deborah Crombie

    Narrated by Gordon Griffin

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    When Superintendant Duncan Kincaid takes Gemma, Kit and Toby to visit his family in Cheshire, Gemma is soon entranced with Nantwich town's pretty buildings and the historic winding canal, and young Kit is instantly smitten with his cousin Lally. But their visit is marred when, on Christmas Eve, Duncan's sister discovers a mummified infant's body interred in the wall of an old dairy barn; a tragedy hauntingly echoed by the recent drowning of Peter Llewellyn, a schoolmate of Lally's. Meanwhile, on her narrowboat, former social worker Annie Lebow is living a life of self-imposed isolation, preparing for a lonely Christmas, made more disturbing by an unexpected meeting earlier in the day. As the police make enquiries into the infant's death, Kincaid discovers that life in the lovely town of his childhood is far from idyllic, and that the dreaming reaches of the Shropshire Union Canal hold dark and deadly secrets...
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherW. F. Howes Ltd
    Release dateJun 1, 2009
    ISBN9781407440439
    Author

    Deborah Crombie

    Deborah Crombie is a native Texan who has lived in both England and Scotland. She now lives in McKinney, Texas, sharing a house that is more than one hundred years old with her husband, two cats, and two German shepherds.

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    Reviews for Water Like a Stone

    4/5

    260 ratings17 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This story takes place at Christmas when Duncan, Gemma, Kit and Toby visit Duncan's parents for the holidays. Their family intricacies mean Kit finds it hard to accept Duncan's parents as his grandparents, while Toby, not blood-related, comfortably settles in as a grandchild. The story involves the people who live on narrowboats and travel the canal system as employment opportunities demand. Naturally - this is a crime novel, after all - there are some nasty characters around. In fact Christmas isn't so cosy at all. It is an excellent story, written with Crombie's typical flair and knowledge, but I'm just glad my holidays are not spent with the Kincaids.
    • 5/5
      WATER LIKE A STONE is Book #11 of Deborah Crombie’s Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James mystery series.Duncan, Gemma, Toby, Kit and their two dogs travel to Duncan’s parents’ home in Cheshire for the Christmas holidays. Soon after arrival, Duncan takes a call from his sister, Juliet. She is at her work site and has shockingly uncovered an infant interred in a wall of an old dairy barn. Police inquiries bring Duncan together with childhood friend, Chief Inspector Ronnie Babcock of the local police force. And Duncan must face the unraveling of sister Juliet’s marriage and troubled daughter; a local drowning; a retired social worker’s isolation on her narrowboat and the ever complicated relationship with his partner Gemma and son Kit.I quite liked the many-layered plots of this title which included - family dynamics; interred bodies; murder; wayward teenagers; resentment; lies and manipulation; arson; corruption and greed; British Social Services; a truly psychopathic young boy and interpersonal relationships. Whew! Quite a list!This series intrigues me as it is part mystery; part crime drama; part police procedural; and part local lore and history (read travelogue).The information about the waterway/canal system; the canal boats and the ‘boat life’ was very interesting.I was a bit disappointed about the lack of a map. (I love the maps.)I liked Chief Inspector Ronnie Babcock and his assistant Shelia Larkin and would like to meet up with them again.I would heartily recommend this book and this series.
    • 4/5
      Another strong entry in the Kincaid/James series. This time around, Duncan and Gemma take the boys and the dogs and travel north to Cheshire to spend Christmas with Duncan's parents. Of course they get mixed up in some local murders while they are there. One of the most striking things about this series is how strong both the character elements and the mystery elements are. Most mystery series authors tend to be good at one or the other, but Crombie manages to write appealing characters and believable mysteries as well.
    • 5/5
      An excellent series!
    • 4/5
      This is my first book by this author and I enjoyed it. It took a while to get used to the Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James characters. The story takes place over the Christmas holidays at Kincaid's family home. The story revolves around a family living on the canal system in a narrow boat and the murder of a local social worker.
    • 4/5
      I usually try to read series in the order written, but here I was with Book 11 of the Kincaid/James series, the first I've ever read of Deborah Crombie. This American author has a gift of writing British dialogue and describing the lifestyle and landscape extremely well. Her ability at fleshing out her characters was exceptional. This novel is as much about relationships as it is about the crimes. The number of crimes and their interconnectedness strains credulity a bit, but the clever plotting brings it all together with finesse. Water Like A Stone can definitely be read as a stand alone. I think I'll go back to the start of this long series soon as I found this one well written pleasurable reading.
    • 5/5
      One of the best in the series. Not only do we get to delve more into Duncan's childhood and background, but we get to learn about the series of canals woven around London, and the long-boats that are so unique to those canals.This would be an especially nice one to read at Christmas time -the setting is perfect. As usual, Crombie continues to advance relationships, weave mystery with history and culture and give us a wonderful look into a little known facet of English life.
    • 4/5
      Duncan, Gemma and family go on holiday to Duncan's parents in Nantwich,. Plot includes narrowboats and canals and Duncan's sisters marriage and the discovery of the body of an infant entombed in a farm wall.
    • 4/5
      A very good entry in the Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James series. Duncan, Gemma, Kit and Toby (and the dogs!) go to Cheshire to spend Christmas with Duncan's family, and are almost immediately plunged into family turmoil and local mysteries. There's a lot about narrowboats (English canal boats) in this book, too, reminding me of Andrew Garve's THE LONG SEARCH. Highly recommended, but probably one should start the series at the beginning.
    • 4/5
      I rarely read mysteries but here's one especially suitable for Christmas holiday time reading.A contemporary police procedural featuring Duncan Kincaid of Scotland Yard and Gemma James of the Notting Hill Metropolitan Police and their blended family.In this book, they leave their London digs to go visit his parents over the Christmas holidays in Cheshire when Kincaid's sister, Juliet Newcombe, finds the mummified corpse of an infant in the wall of a building she's renovating. The horrifying discovery sets the stage for a tightly knit, two-pronged tale, which has a retired social worker at its heart.Duncan's teenage son, newly come to live with his father and Gemma, and Duncan's sister, whose family is disintegrating, are in sharp focus here, as is a canal-boat family whose suffering reminds Duncan and Gemma of recent losses of their own.Less a traditional procedural and more of a modern social study within the Kincaid households and the lives of the narrow boat family. Good stuff. Recommend this book as literate mystery by an author who writes about distinctly different and highly actualized characters.
    • 5/5
      This is the first mystery by Deborah Crombie that I have read, and I was very favorably impressed.The characters are well developed and believable. The multiple plotlines are woven together well, the characters reflect a range of realistic relationships with each other, and the mysteries are resolved to my satisfaction. I'll look for other mysteries by this author.
    • 5/5
      It's Christmas. Duncan, Gemma, and the boys go to visit Duncan's family. When Duncan's sister Juliet discovers a baby mortared in the barn she's renovating, she immediately turns to Duncan for help. Although it is up to the local officials to solve, Duncan's unofficial involvement seems natural. When another member of Duncan's family stumbles over a body on a canal path, Gemma also becomes involved unofficially as well. The local chief is a friend of Duncan's from school. The book's setting along the canal and with the narrow boats that navigate it plays an important role in the book as well. This book had a lot of layers, and although I suspected the person who committed the murders fairly early, it kept me reading. There were certainly lots of suspects and motives to go around, and none of them could be easily discounted. This is definitely one of my favorites in the series!
    • 5/5
      First Line: Mist rose in swirls from the still surface of the canal.Duncan, Gemma, the boys and the dog are all spending the Christmas holiday in Cheshire with Duncan's parents. Duncan has always spoken of growing up outside the town of Nantwich as though it were heaven on earth. London born and bred, Gemma's not so sure of this, and she's a bit nervous at meeting Duncan's parents and sister. However, they're barely have time to walk in the door and take off their coats before everything starts going pear-shaped.Duncan's sister, Juliet, has begun her own business as a builder. Staying late one evening to finish up some tasks in an old barn she's renovating, Juliet discovers the mummified remains of an infant. The investigation calls to Duncan like the Pied Piper of Hamlin, and whenever "his whiskers start twitching", he can't resist leaving his family just to see how things are going. This soon wears thin with Gemma: "Don't you even think about leaving me home like the little woman," she spat out. "I'm going with you, and you'd better not say one bloody word about it."Duncan takes the hint... and then a woman living on a narrow boat in a nearby canal is murdered, and Duncan's family is in danger.This is another wonderful entry in the series. It's almost impossible for me to leave these books alone. I want to read one right after the other as quickly as I can, but if I do that, I'll be caught up and waiting impatiently for the next to be published.Crombie's plots are always layered and intricate. Once she hit her stride at about book #4, I just can't puzzle out whodunit ahead of time. But this series is much more than a collection of complicated plots. It's peopled by one of the absolute best cast of characters to be found anywhere in fiction. Duncan and Gemma's relationship feels like the real deal. Their son, Kit, could be a living, breathing teenager beset with all sorts of problems that are (eventually) dealt with in the best possible way. When I sit down to read one of these books, I'm smiling because I'm amongst friends who change, who make mistakes, who grow, and who don't live in a bell jar. These characters are just as apt to come to harm as any of us. Their creator doesn't shield them, just as we are not shielded.Crombie spends a few months each year in the UK to research her books. For Water Like a Stone she researched life on the narrow boats and canals that crisscross the island. (A photo of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is to the left.) If you're anything like me, as you read this book, you're going to find yourself checking for the books she mentions, and firing up your search engines because it's a fascinating subject to weave into her story.Only two books left before I'm completely caught up. I don't know whether to be happy or sad because it will be torture to wait for each book to be published! Do you have a series of books you feel passionately about?
    • 5/5
      Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and his domestic partner, Detective Inspector Gemma James, are taking a week's break from their London jobs. Duncan, Gemma, Duncan's son, Kit, and Gemma's son, Toby, will be spending the Christmas holidays with Duncan's family in Cheshire. Their arrival at the Kincaid farmhouse coincides with a frantic call from Duncan's sister, Juliet. As she was finishing up one last task in the dairy barn she is renovating for a client, Juliet made a disturbing discovery -- an infant's body encased in the mortar of the wall she was demolishing. Duncan and Gemma are curious about the case, but are content to leave the investigation of the baby's identity and cause of death to the local constabulary. However, they're soon drawn into the investigation of a fresh crime when another body is discovered and members of Duncan's family appear to be in danger.I think this book could very well end up being my favorite of the series. The plot involves canal boats, and I've been fascinated with them ever since I first spotted a group on the river in Stratford-upon-Avon. I've been to Cheshire a few times (although never to Nantwich) and it's one of my favorite parts of England. The description of Nantwich and its architecture, especially the church, captured my imagination, and I was ready to hop on the next plane to see it in person. I had to settle for Google Images, though, where I found some nice photos of places described in the book.I think this book could work as a stand-alone, although I would recommend first reading Dreaming of the Bones and And Justice There Is None. Series fans won't want to miss this one!
    • 4/5
      What sets Deborah Crombie apart from other authors of police procedurals is her rich characterization. Her regular cast of Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James and family are, of course, well developed over the course of the ten previous volumes, but she does well with the entire cast of characters she assembles. In “Water Like a Stone” the mystery itself is not particularly difficult to figure out, but as we become intrigued by the dramas in the lives of Crombie’s characters, the mystery becomes of secondary interest. The more important thing is to see that all of the “good guys” are alive at the conclusion.There is a lot of information about English canals in this volume, and I found it quite fascinating. Crombie obviously enjoys her research and does it well. The setting, Cheshire, is one I’m unfamiliar with, and I always enjoy a bit of travelogue with my mystery. Full marks.
    • 5/5
      The first Christmas with your partner's parents is never an easy one, and Gemma James is not sure she is looking forward to the one that she and Duncan Kincaid and their two boys will be spending with his parents in Cheshire. However on the eve of their arrival, Duncan's sister Juliet finds the mummified body of a baby concealed in the wall of a barn she is renovating, and everything takes on a different twist. Duncan finds the investigating officer called to the scene is someone he was at school with. Despite the setting in the small Shropshire town where Duncan Kincaid grew up, WATER LIKE A STONE has a big canvas feel to it. There are a number of threads, at least one murder, a couple of mini-mysteries to be solved, and plenty of action, all taking place in the holiday season of Christmas to New Year. Most enjoyable read. #11 in the James/Kincaid series
    • 3/5
      Good plot and good ending. A little long.