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    Necessary as Blood
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    Necessary as Blood
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    Necessary as Blood
    Ebook461 pages7 hours

    Necessary as Blood

    By Deborah Crombie

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Necessary As Blood is the latest entry in Deborah Crombie’s New York Times Notable, Edgar®, Agatha, and Macavity Awards-nominated mystery series featuring Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James. A Texan frequently compared to the masters of British crime fiction—including P.D. James, Martha Grimes, Barbara Vine, and fellow American Elizabeth George—Crombie dazzles once more with Necessary As Blood—a relentlessly suspenseful tale of a vanished mother, a murdered father, and a helpless, endangered child.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateOct 6, 2009
    ISBN9780061939624
    Author

    Deborah Crombie

    Deborah Crombie's Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James novels have been nominated for the Agatha, Macavity and Edgar Awards and have received superb reviews. Deborah lives with her family in a small North Texas town. Visit her website at www.deborahcrombie.com

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    Reviews for Necessary as Blood

    4/5

    286 ratings35 reviews

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    • 5/5
      NECESSARY AS BLOOD by Deborah Crombie is Book #13 of the Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James mystery series.Book #13 focuses on London’s East End. This title is a very complex, tense narrative with many subplots and ‘back stories’. There are many memorable characters and I like that Melody and Cullen are given a lot of attention. There is abduction; murder; deceit; human trafficking; elite men’s clubs; art; social services; friendship; adoptions and weddings; and a wonderful sense of place.A very recommended addition to this series.
    • 5/5
      Another very well written story by Ms. Crombie. I'm pleased my second selection from the author's Kincaid/James series (again way out-of-order at #13), stands well on its own. At no time, did I feel left out because of "missing" character or scene history. An added bonus is the snippets from books, articles, (etc.) that begin each chapter. They effectively set the tone for the scenes to follow, and provide this American reader with glimpses into a country with a rich, deep history.
      I'd like to add that using Ms. Sterlin as the book's reader, is an excellent choice. She's very consistent in keeping the pitch/tone of each character throughout the book. Plus, she's one of the best at voicing characters of the opposite sex. Very few of the Audiobook Readers I've listened to, do the gender cross-over, as well.
    • 5/5
      This reading was very gripping. A woman (wife and mother of a little girl) went missing and nobody knows where she has gone. A couple of monthe later the husband went away and never returned. The little girl is staying with the anxiously nanny who is calling the husband's closest friend who is a friend of Gemma and Duncan and so the investigation is starting. Since a lot of rich and important persons are involved, the investigation can't be conducted straightforward. Therefore is Ducan's team working on an officially bases whereas Gemma and Melody are more going undercover. Gemma's reason to solve the crime is based on the girl's welfare which should go to live with her grandmother who is involved into drug traffic. During the investigation another major crime was discovered. Young girls, still children, from Asia were married to English men, were abused and sometimes murdered.It was a breathtaking reading and let me guessing until the very last page who are the evil ones and how all parts are linked to each other.
    • 5/5
      When Naz Malik fails to show up for an appointment and the babysitter reports he's been out longer than expected, Tim Cavendish worries about him. Naz's wife Sandra disappeared a few months before, leaving her beloved daughter and husband. Tim calls Gemma. When Naz's body is found in a nearby park, the local officer turns the case over to Scotland Yard. Duncan is in charge of the investigation. With suspects ranging from Sandra's family to members of a private, but shady club headed by one of Sandra's friends, Duncan and his partner have their hands full. Gemma and her partner help unofficially. Gemma's main interest is in keeping Naz and Sandra's daughter Charlotte out of the hands of Sandra's family. Another story line involves the pressure of Gemma's family for Duncan and Gemma to officially "tie the knot." This is an excellent installment in a long-running series. It held my interest from start to finish. I listened to the audio narrated by Jenny Sterlin.
    • 4/5
      A very entertaining British mystery and who would have thought it could have been written by an American!
    • 4/5
      Crombie never disappoints! An engrossing read from beginning to end with a plot that keeps you guessing. I love the way Crombie is able to interweave the story lines. A definate must read for any lover of mysteries.
    • 5/5
      Love this series & the characters
    • 4/5
      a good read, the story flowed well, more to the story than a missing wife and dead husband, makes the book all the more interesting. gemma, the main character, needs to solve this mystery while also facing her own personal problems and difficult decisions. all the characters are believable and i could picture them in my minds eye. a worth while read. thank you to early reviewers for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.
    • 4/5
      For those that haven’t read her, Deborah Crombie writes mysteries featuring a pair of London police detectives, Duncan Kincaid and Gemma Jones. “Necessary As Blood” is the thirteenth in the series, and is set exclusively in the Whitechapel and Spitalfields districts of London. I’d describe her books as a cross between a police procedural and a high quality soap opera. In the course of the previous volumes, Crombie has established a large supporting cast of fellow detectives, parents, friends, and children, most of whom appear in this latest episode. With other authors (Martha Grimes and Sue Grafton come to mind) I often rail against this practice because the characters make an appearance with no advancement in the plot. Crombie is one of the few who actually manages to weave these characters into the lives of Kincaid and Jones in such a way that you aren’t left asking yourself the question, “Why did she put THAT in?” However, if one were to begin reading Crombie’s latest without starting at the beginning, I think you would be missing some of the fun. The domestic issues that are dealt with in “Necessary As Blood” have their roots in previous books, though they’re explained adequately for the new reader.The mystery itself, involving disappearance of a female artist and, months later, the murder of her husband, is above average, with numerous red herrings tossed out as the investigation proceeds. As always, Crombie’s sense of place is outstanding, with atmosphere evocative enough to make me envision my second favorite city, warts and all.
    • 4/5
      As usual, Deborah Crombie does not disappoint. I enjoyed this latest installment in the Gemma James/Duncan Kincaid series.
    • 5/5
      First Line: The streets were greasy with moisture.I don't know of another mystery series that I read in which the characters' personal lives are every bit as important to me as the investigation. By this, the thirteenth book, I feel like an old family friend as I read about Scotland Yard's Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and his Detective Inspector Gemma James who works out of the Notting Hill station in London. Everyone in their families wants Duncan and Gemma married as quickly as possible, but Gemma doesn't seem to be as keen. Then something happens that puts all thoughts of marriage out of her mind.Two months previously, a talented textile artist named Sandra Gilles left her three-year-old daughter with a friend at a flower stall in an open market. She said she'd be back in a few minutes. She never returned. Now her husband, Naz Malik, is missing. When his body is found, Gemma is concerned not only with finding out what happened to Sandra and Naz, but in ensuring that their daughter is taken care of properly. Seeing her name on reports of the crime, Duncan Kincaid and his partner, Doug Cullen, decide to join in the investigation.For those who care more for the story than the characters and the characters' lives, I would imagine that this book would be a disappointment. For me, it was a feast. The actual investigation was convoluted enough that I didn't guess what had happened, and I enjoyed the background history of London's East End that was skillfully woven into the story. Marriage plans, sick parents, and two of the most realistically drawn children in fiction all added to an extremely pleasurable read.I read a lot of mystery series. I don't think there's any way in the world that I can ever finish them all. Normally it's a sign of how much I enjoy a series by how "caught up" I am. Crombie has written thirteen books in this series, and this is a review of number thirteen. The only negative thing about this Cathy-esque mark of respect is that now I have to wait for the next book to be published.Guess I'm going to have to make a dent in some of those other series, eh? Duncan, Gemma-- HURRY UP!
    • 5/5
      The action in NECESSARY AS BLOOD plays out against a very rich background that includes not just the disappearance of a young mother, and then the death of her husband three months later, but also the ongoing stories in the lives of Scotland Yard detectives Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid, their families and friends, as well as those they work with.Blended in with those stories are the changes happening in one of London's oldest communities, where old buildings are being refurbished and repurposed, new families move in, right alongside those who have little.Very readable, but I find it hard to assess how much my enjoyment was dependent on having known some of the back story from an earlier novel (#11) WATER LIKE A STONE reviewed some time ago. NECESSARY AS BLOOD is actually the 5th title that I've read in this 13 title series, so I guess in some ways that speaks for itself. I have decided that I need to track down #12.In this edition of NECESSARY AS BLOOD a detailed map was provided as part of the end papers. It showed quite clearly the confined locale in which the action takes place.NECESSARY AS BLOOD nominated for Macavity Best Novel 2010
    • 1/5
      I did not enjoy this book. The problem may have been that I have not read the prior books in the series. Regardless, the characters seemed two dimensional and I was not interested.
    • 4/5
      Although I had never read one of Crombie's works, I found Necessary as Blood very enjoyable and very well written. Crombie's portrayal of many different important characters and their counterparts were portrayed with enough details to understand them and some life events that may have taken place in previous novels. This was very helpful to me as a first time Crombie reader. As for the mystery itself, even though the underlying motives for the crime are horrific and disturbing and the reader may get an idea of what the motives might be at the very beginning, it wasn't truly brought to life until the last quarter of the book. This allowed for a bigger build-up closer to the end with many different suspects and allowed everything to tie in well. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a solid mystery with some London mixed in.
    • 3/5
      (Early Reviewers book.) This is a well-written, well-constructed mystery, in which two Scotland Yard officers investigate the murder of a man whose wife had disappeared a few months ago. Though it's very clearly in the middle of a series of which I hadn't read any other books, its incueing is skilled enough that it wasn't at all a burden to start with it. There were three things about it that bugged me, though. First, there's quite a bit of description of interior decorating that seemed intended to illuminate characterization; it did not do so for me. Second, the narrative voice seemed to approach London as a tourist would, which given that the characters all live there--and so far as I can tell are supposed to have grown up there--was a bit jarring. Finally (spoilers rot13ed) vg'f irel zhpu n cneg bs gur "zheqrere vf cher rivy naq ivpgvz vf n fnvag" fpubby bs zlfgrevrf, naq V'z zhpu zber n sna bs gur "ivpgvz vf cher rivy naq zheqrere vf znlor nyzbfg whfgvsvrq" fpubby.
    • 3/5
      A nice addition to this series....my only complaint is that i think Crombie goes slightly overboard with British pop culture references. Perhaps it is an effort to add credibility (since she's from Texas) but in this instance it became a distraction for me.
    • 4/5
      I was strongly reminded of Elizabeth George's Inspector Linley novels as I read Deborah Crombie's Necessary as Blood. Since I have not read her work previously, I felt as though I didn't know the characters as well as I should have - clearly things have been going on in their lives,but the necessary pieces were provided and the mystery was enjoyable. I shall be looking for the first book in this series and look forward to reading through it.
    • 4/5
      This is the 13th volume in Deborah Crombie's Gemma James/ Duncan Kinkaid series. Gemma and Duncan are both police officers in London, and in a long-term committed relationship. For that reason they no longer work in the same office, but they both get drawn into a case of a murdered man whose wife had disappeared some months previously. The murdered man was a friend of a friend of theirs, and they get concerned as to what will happen to the three-year old child of the couple.Crombie is one of my favorite authors. This book is quite good. Not my favorite of the series, but well worth reading.
    • 3/5
      It took me a lot of effort to get through this book. I was excited when I got it because I tend to enjoy mystery novels. However, there wasn't anything that really pulled me into this story. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't the right mystery for me.
    • 4/5
      I found Crombie's Necessary As Blood to be a solid and generally enjoyable novel, but it didn't blow me away. Basic plot: Detective Inspector Gemma James becomes involved the case of Charlotte, a 4 year old girl whose artist mother Sandra Gilles mysteriously disappeared some months back, when her father Naz Malik also goes missing and is then discovered dead in a London park. Gemma's emotions and personal relationships complicate the investigation, and the ultimate resolution involves a much larger and more sinister crime than anyone investigating it anticipated. I have not read any of other books in the series, so there were times when I felt that there were references to previous plotlines that I was missing. That said, I generally liked all of the characters and the way they interacted with eachother. For me the weakest part of the book was that there was too much build up to an ending that was consequently somewhat anti-climactic. The strength of this work is the detailed way Crombie describes elements such as the East London neighborhood in which the book is set, the artwork of the missing Sandra Gilles, and all of the children (such as Charlotte the daughter of missing Sandra Gilles and Naz Malik, and Gemma James' own children Toby and Kit). All of these descriptions are lovingly, and quite vividly rendered. Overall, a good but somewhat un-outstanding read.
    • 4/5
      This was a good story, but sad, and I thought the villain was a bit unrealistic (I hope). A wife and mother goes missing, and a few months later her husband is murdered, leaving behind an almost 3-year-old girl of mixed race. A lot of the story was about Gemma and Duncan's personal life and impending wedding, which I enjoyed as usual. There was also a lot of information about the Bangladeshi part of London, which was interesting. Recommended for readers already familiar with the characters.
    • 2/5
      I was a little disappointed in the ending when I finally got there. Throughout the book I hit points that seemed to take forever to get through and I had other moments where I couldn't put the book down. While I liked some aspects of the plot, I thought others were very unnecessary and didn't give the story more depth but made it more confusing. I really wanted to like this book and was excited to read it but was a little let down at the outcome.
    • 4/5
      I received this book as part of the Early Reviews program, and it was my first introduction to the James/Kincaid mystery series.I lived outside London back in the early 1980's and spent a lot of time in central London, so it was nice to return there 20+ years later through the eyes of Deborah Crombie. It is obvious from her descriptions of the City that she loves London. She also does a good job of putting a face to the racial tensions of East London between the immigrants from the remnants of the Empire and the white Anglo-Saxon residents.The story is a police procedural revolving around the disappearance of a young artist, the murder of her husband and the aftermath for their young daughter. The story starts out slowly, but picks up steam fairly soon--not from the murder, which doesn't take place until well after the beginning of the book, but by the interplay between the main characters, their friends, family and co-workers. For the most part I enjoyed the characters, though I'm not sure there isn't too much American author in the dialogue. There are lots of false clues, chases down rabbit holes and the inevitable "ah-ha" moment when the story pulls together. Surprisingly, one of the high points of the book was the author's descriptions of Sandra's art. It really gave me an image. I wondered if the descriptions were based on something she has actually seen because they were so vivid.I did think the ending was a bit too much treacle, and a push for the continued soon concept of series, but other than that, I would recommend the book to anyone wanting a mystery set in modern London.
    • 4/5
      This was the first book I have read by this author. I was enjoyable. I will definitely look for other titles by her.There were a lot of different characters with a lot of sub-plots going on which kept my interest. Believable characters. I had not figured out who the "bad guy" was by the time it was revealed, which was a plus.
    • 4/5
      Although it took me some time for me to get comfy with the many British terms/places, I really did get into this book. OK, I was up past 2am, reading! Very fast paced story, and you have to pay attention to details, which I like, even though sometimes I had to go back a few pages to check. (I'm ashamed to admit)The characters are likeable and interesting, making you care about what happens to them. There are even heart-warming scenes popping up in various places in the story, even when the mystery is at it's heaviest. Nice touch.I really enjoyed this book and will recommend it to friends.
    • 5/5
      Necessary as Blood is the next installment of Deborah Crombie’s murder mystery series featuring the characters Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid. Ms. Crombie’s lyrical writing style and character development make this book flow like hearing a story from an old friend. When you sit down to read this book it’s easy to fall into a page turning trance and the next thing you know you’re halfway through the book.This series of books are set in modern day London, the main characters are detectives, Gemma in Notting Hill and Duncan with Scotland Yard. We join them living together planning a wedding. During this time, Naz Malik a friend of a friend is found dead only months after his wife Sandra Gilles turns up missing. Gemma takes it upon herself to make sure Naz and Sandra’s daughter, Charlotte, is put with a family who loves her and won’t exploit her situation or hurt her. The idea of anguish over child exploitation is a main theme throughout this book. So the reader not only travels through the police investigation into the murder and disappearance but also through the drama of keeping Charlotte safe. This is the first book written by Ms. Crombie that I have read, but it certainly won’t be the last! She expertly weaves the story in such a way that when the reader learns who the culprit truly is it sheds new light on seemingly inconsequential bits of the plot line. I love stories that have hidden little gems that don’t really become clear until the end!!Ms. Crombie also seems to have a very lyrical writing style. The best example I can give is when she describes the coroner’s office on page 125-126:“Books covered the shelves, made towers on the floor, and overflowed the surface of the desk, where a computer monitor looked as if it were fighting for its life. File boxes were interspersed with the books, and the only visible spot on the wall was cover with an intricate bit of graffiti art. There were no chairs other than the one behind the desk.”Although Ms. Crombie was born and raised in Texas, she has spent much time in England. This intimate knowledge of the English culture beautifully informs her work. The use of English colloquialisms adds to the setting of this book in an indispensible way.This book will keep you guessing until the end! If you’re a lover of murder mysteries then definitely be to pick up Necessary as Blood.
    • 5/5
      Necessary As Blood is a police procedural, but it is much more than that. The reader is presented with the mysterious disappearance of Sandra, and her husband Naz, and their story revolves around their beautiful three year old daughter Charlotte.Sandra is a British artist with a family background that is so distasteful to her that she has cut all ties from them. Naz is a solicitor of Pakistani descent, and when he goes missing, the mystery begins to take off.In writing about the art of Sandra, the missing mother, Ms. Crombie reveals her own artistic abilities by making the collages, fabrics and photos come alive with words. Her descriptions of the meld of culture and society of the new Great Britain make three dimensional the challenges facing the incoming immigrants and the population that must absorb them.The story is set in London and environs, and martial and relationship troubles mingle with racial and class tensions. The author lives in Texas, but British colloquialisms and local vernacular abound. This does not detract from the story, however, but only makes it richer.I really liked this book, and found the characters to be well developed. Each one had his or her own unique challenges, certainly no superheroes here. Real people, real cops, real relationships, real parents, real kids. Yet all of it captures the reader, and the plot moves along nicely.If you like a good mystery/police procedural with novelistic elements of marital and commitment issues, written with style and distinction, then this is the book for you. I, for one, am excited to see that Deborah Crombie has a good, solid backlist, and I am looking forward to exploring her other titles.
    • 5/5
      I am a long-time fan of the Gemma James/Duncan Kincaid series, and it's been awhile sinde the last book came out. I was really looking forward to reading this book and it sure didn't disappoint. In the book we see Gemma's and Duncan's relationship progressing. They are also brought into a missing mother case when the husband is found dead. Gemma and Duncan are racing against time to try to solve the two cases since a little girl's life is hanging in the balance. On the way they meet some pretty despicable characters and the case begins to get complicated. This is fictional crime writing at its best. Crombie is a master storyteller, and this series is a winner - both hard hitting and softer too as it develops relationships between the returning characters. Loved it
    • 3/5
      I really wished that the mystery of this book was more fleshed out. I felt the book was more about Gemma and the drama in her life, then the murder she was trying to solve. Though it was interesting and well written it was not the style of mystery I prefer. I did enjoy the way the author showed how one person can touch so many people during their lifetime. And the ending was totally unexpected. Still I prefer a book more focused on the crime then the drama.
    • 4/5
      This book reminded me of my time in the British Isles. The stories description of the weather, country side and crowded cities and streets were fun to recall. I enjoyed the authors character development, interaction and growth. I had not read a British mystery sine Sherlock Holmes and found this story development polie work and surprise ending made this story captivating. I will find other of her books in this series.