First, a disclaimer….I’m a big fan of Debrorah Crombie’s series featuring two detectives, Duncan Kinkaid and Gemma James, who also happen to be married to each other.

In the eighteenth book in this series, the detectives and their three children are looking forward to a long weekend in the country. Their hosts are the parents of one of Gemma’s detectives, Melody Taylor. While the focus of the weekend is a charity harvest luncheon hosted by Melody’s mother, a car accident and a series of seemingly-related deaths mar the almost picture-perfect event. Kinkaid and Gemma find themselves part of the investigation as it begins to reveal long-ago secrets that involve a local chef.

Once again, I found Ms Crombie’s mystery to be intriguing, well-written, and very hard to put down. She is a master at developing her characters, who are varied and interesting (even the children), and her descriptions of everything from the food to the landscape truly make this an enjoyable book. It is a tight, very-well developed police procedural that I highly recommend. And, I can hardly wait for the next one!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

If anyone asked me to name my top five mystery series, Deborah Crombie's Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James books would be on that list. A Bitter Feast is an absorbing mystery with an added bonus or two: one, Kincaid, James, and their three children get to leave London for a while; two, readers get to wander along the narrow lanes of a beautiful area of England; and three, any foodie worth their salt is going to appreciate the mouthwatering menus Crombie serves up.

It is my firm belief that Deborah Crombie has been liberally sprinkled with fairy dust. She has a way of telling a story that quite simply makes it a pleasure to read. The mysteries are always good, and the one in A Bitter Feast is no exception. A fatal car wreck ratchets up the tension, not only concerning the identity of a fatality but also concerning the well-being of one of the main characters.

But I have to admit that a lot of Crombie's fairy dust has been sprinkled on the power of her characterizations. Her ensemble cast is superb, and at the moment, I cannot think of anyone else in crime fiction who does it better. By this eighteenth book in the series, these characters have become personal friends. Readers have seen them grow. They've seen them overcome tragedy and experience extreme happiness. Moreover, readers have watched Duncan and Gemma's three children grow. Each child has his or her own personality and life, and each one is fully capable of adding to the story without taking it over. In A Bitter Feast among other things, they provide quite a contrast to Viv Holland's troubled young daughter.

Crombie fans, rejoice! The wait is over and you have another wonderful mystery to carry you off into your happy place. For those of you who have yet to experience a Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James mystery, there's no time like the present. Since the characters' lives are central to the series, I recommend starting with the very first book, A Share in Death. You have so much wonderful reading ahead of you that I'm a tad envious!

Series protagonists Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James head out of London with their three children for a respite in the beautiful English Cotswolds. Their imagined holiday takes a dive for the worst when Duncan's car is broadsided, he is badly banged up, and the occupants of the other car have unusual deaths.
This wonderful series, on its 18th book, maintains its high quality and compelling plot line by strong character development, a charming family life, and an excellent procedural story line. But it excels with the addition of varying settings and interesting situations and secondary characters; in this book, the descriptions of commercial kitchens and the dynamics of chefs and other restaurant staff are fascinating.

Melody Talbot has invited her boss, Gemma, and her family to the Cotswolds for a special charity luncheon. Gemma and daughter Charlotte drive down with Melody. Her husband, Scotland Yard Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid drives himself down after work. There is a lot of traffic and he is delayed. It is dark as he nears Beck House. Suddenly he sees car lights and things go dark. He is hanging upside caught in his seat belt. He finally manages to get out and sees the car that hit him. The young woman driving is not doing well, and the man beside her looks dead. When they get to the hospital, both those in the car that hit Kincaid's car are dead, and it becomes a case for the police.

The chef Viv Holland arrives the next morning to prepare for the lunch, and she gets help from all the family. The luncheon is a resounding success, but DI Booth shows up near the end to say the man had digitalis in his system. He was the famous chef Fergus O'Reilly from London, and actually the father of Viv's daughter. Both Nell, the driver of the car and O'Reilly were in the pub before the crash the previous evening. However, they weren't seen conversing and didn't leave together. In spite of his pain and injuries, Kincaid works with Booth to figure out what happened.

There are several suspects, including Viv, but the team keeps working until they finally solve what happened and why. Complicating things at the end, Viv's daughter, Grace, disappears while she plays an important role in the mysterious events.

I have not read anything in this series for about 15 years, but the characters are so well developed in the current book that there is no need to have read previous books. I can't wait to go back to read the others!

Thanks to Netgalley, for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I have enjoyed all books in this series, and this is no exception.

For a change, we've moved out of London, to one of the crimes that Duncan and Gemma become accidentally involved with (as opposed to in the course of their work). In this one, they're guests of the Talbots (Melody's parents), along with Melody and Doug - so, we have an entire police team available to help solve the murders.

In many ways, it's a bit of a relief to get away from the previously ongoing police corruption plot. But, of course, Duncan still winds up in danger - this time, at the beginning of the book, he's in an auto accident, with head and rib injuries, and an injured hand that just gets worse and worse.

We also see more of the personal sides of more minor characters, Melody in particular. Ivan and Addie (Melody's parents) play a much bigger part in this book and are extremely likable. Kit is also showcased in this book, demonstrating a great amount of maturity and competence, both in acting as an assistant chef when need arises, and in accurately assessing a situation with Grace, a young girl who plays an important part in the book, and in showing the good sense to tell Gemma about the situation.

The mystery is well played - I had a couple other suspects in mind before all was resolved, although the final solution was not out of the blue.

Like the previous books in this series, most of the characters are good people - leaving aside, of course, the bad guys! I enjoy reading books where most of the characters are in fact decent people and people I would like to know. Very enjoyable read.

I was thrilled to receive this novel from NetGalley and HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review. I have read every book in this series of very British mysteries that, surprisingly, are written by an American author who lives in Texas. A Bitter Feast is book 18 in this fine series that has deepened over time. If you can, read the books in order for the people, the history and the relationships but, if you can't, this could be read as a standalone.

Detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma Jones, who married many books ago, are invited to the country with their three children (Backstories on the children appear in earlier books as only one is the shared child of both Gemma and Duncan). They are invited by another police officer, Melody Talbot (again backstory in earlier novels), to her parents beautiful Cotswold home for the weekend. The descriptions of the countryside and the house will make you wish that you could hop a plane, unless you already live in Britain.

Of course, there are murders. There is also lots of food as chefs are important characters in the story. Why was a famous chef murdered? Why was his demise followed by others? And of course, whodunnit? I thought that I knew but I was wrong.

My only regret upon finishing A Bitter Feast was knowing that I now have to again begin the wait for the next book by this author. If you like traditional British mysteries/police procedurals, I highly recommend this one.

This is the 18th in Deborah Crombie’s Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James series. It is the first one that I have read…how did I miss her all these years?

Set in the Cotswolds, the Kincaid/James family has been invited to the estate owned by the parents of Melody Talbot, Gemma’s DS, for a weekend featuring a charity luncheon. A local chef, once an up and coming culinary star in London who has retreated to a quiet life in the country, has been tapped for this event. When a character from her past shows up and ends up dead, the mystery begins. A car accident, a hit and run, and an attempted murder ensue.

I enjoyed this police procedural. It was a fast, engrossing read. Crombie captured the ambience of life in the Cotswolds and featured some colorful characters. Nothing too heavy here, but a step up from “cosy” mysteries….although there was a lot of tea served!

I realize that by the 18th novel, the author should expect readers to know the characters’ backstories, but I do wish I knew more about the histories of the Kincaid/James children. Although there were some hints, there was an air of mystery about how the family came to be. I guess I will have to go back and read this series from the beginning!

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A chef prepares a meal for a luncheon and is faced with a man from her past. Three deaths are suspicious and the manner in which the characters are tied together leads to an interesting conclusion.

This is a nice entry in Crombie’s long running series. Once again she brings her main characters to life, even if some others are painted more as props than with any depth. The mystery here is not complex or hard to solve, yet Crombie takes us through all the steps of this procedural, rather breezily and easily.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've read all of the Gemma James/Duncan Kincaid novels, and by now they are like old friends. These books are all well-written, and this one is no exception. The main event is a charity luncheon, catered by Liv, a chef who got her start in one of London's most famous and trendiest restaurants, though she left it all behind to get away from her former boss. Crombie's characters are great when they're fleshed out; character development is one of her strengths. When they're not, it's less great, but the story clips along so nicely that I will forgive her pretty much anything. Plus, past experience tells me that I might see more of one or more of these less-fleshed characters in a future book, and more will be revealed. I'm cool with that.

Less interesting are some of the B-plots that float around this book. It's been a while since the last installment, and I found I don't really care much about Melody's dopey musician boyfriend and how their relationship suffers because one or both of them is too stubborn to have an actual conversation. Likewise, Doug is an OK character, but he's not particularly interesting. I suffer through their blah stories in order to get to the next plot point. I'm not sure if Crombie likes these characters or finds them interesting - Melody is fine enough, Doug somewhat less so, Melody's boyfriend is just irksome - I almost get the sense that she felt she needed to toss some new characters into the mix however many books ago, and now we're stuck with them. Maybe I just miss Hazel.

Good thing they don't take up much of the story, which is quite a good one. Liv is an interesting character, Melody's mother is intriguing in a particular upper-crust English society lady way, and of course I love Gemma and Duncan interacting. I felt like I noticed A LOT of various people watching the kids for them so that they could crime-solve, and Kit being dispatched to manage Liv's sullen, pre-teen daughter a bit more than seemed necessary. The presence of the children seemed perfunctory, like the story could have been more streamlined if Gemma, Duncan, Melody, and Doug were on an adult weekend with the kids at someone's granny's house and that would have worked better.

I saw some reviews that said that the ending of the book strains belief. I don't usually have a problem with that, and I didn't even notice it in this book. I feel like that happens in most mysteries; it certainly happens in most movies and TV shows. It felt true to the book, and fitting to me. Overall, I enjoyed the book immensely.

I didn't realize this was #18 in a series when I requested it from Netgalley, but in spite of my ignorance, I didn't find it hard to follow. The mystery was well-done and I liked all of the characters. I will have to go back to the beginning!

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

Once again, time away from London includes murder for the Gemma James & Duncan Kincaid family. A car wreck with fatalities leads to even more mystery. While not her strongest Kincaid/James novel, it continues the threads of the story arc. I must admit I'd lost touch with this series, a mistake since rectified and not to be repeated.

I love it when Deborah Crombie takes Scotland Yard Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid, his wife, D. I. Gemma James and their family out of London into the countryside. In A Bitter Feast the family, along with Detective Sgt. Doug Cullen, are visiting Melody Talbot family’s country home, Beck House. Melody is Gemma’s friend and Detective Sergeant.
The Talbots own a powerful newspaper. Melody has spent much of her professional and way too much of her personal life hiding this posh background. The latter will eventually come back to bite her thanks to Doug.
While they are visiting, Melody’s mother, Lady Adelaide plans on hosting a charity luncheon featuring an extremely talented local chef, Vivian Holland.
The visit gets off to a tragic start when Duncan is injured in a double fatality car accident. The visit really goes downhill when the police realize one of the car accident victims was actually murdered. Although they have no official status, Duncan and Gemma manage to involve themselves in the investigations.
Crombie presents delightful settings that include Beck House in the Cotswold’s, with its magnificent gardens; the tiny village and a pub beginning to attract a lot of notice for its food.
Duncan and Gemma’s oldest son, Kit, is starting to come into his own as he assists Chef Vivian at the charity luncheon and later at the pub kitchen where she puts out her renowned food. There are fascinating flashbacks of Chef Vivian working in a restaurant kitchen actively on the hunt for a Michelin Star. I now appreciate the complicated ballet of fine dining even more. Maybe some day I will come up with the extra $300 bucks just to be seated in the kitchen at The Inn at Little Washington. Yeah, right.
The secondary characters; of Melody’s family, the people who work at the pub and other villagers are once again the result of Crombie’s artistry with words. In all her books the characters are tied with the central mystery which is tied with the settings as most important for a Michelin Star. Oh wait wrong awards.
Although I have been reading this series for close to 20 years, it was still an amusing jolt for Crombie’s reminder that in GemmaDuncan world the series has only covered about six years. It is a neat trick and Crombie has handled the two time lines of reality vs GemmaDuncan world quite adroitly.
I searched high and low for something to be critical about in this review; the best I can come up with is I think Melody acted uncharacteristically a few times.
Read the series or at least some of it so you don’t miss following this compelling couple who have figured out how to combine family, new children, new pets and interesting, loyal friends with their careers. A Bitter Feast does work as a standalone, Crombie knows how to fill in the back-story.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A Bitter Feast reminded me of the early Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James novels. The action starts very early in the story and there is a nice web woven to fit the plot. Lots of interesting details about the supporting characters as well. It’s great to see Kit finally getting some attention in the books, and in a good way. He’s shaping up to be a great man.

As usual Crombie serves up a twisty mystery plot with fun writing. Very readable and good for a relaxing afternoon.

This book made me revive my craving for a vintage Land Rover.

The Bitter Feast drew me back into the family with further confirmation of the power of love and the importance of communication. We are always hoping Duncan and Gemma navigate through the unusual challenges their careers and personal challenges bring.
I look forward to seeing Kit's character develop.

This latest Crombie title finds Gemma, Duncan, the kids, Melody and Doug in the countryside at Melody’s family home, for what doesn’t turn out to be a very quiet weekend. We learn more about Melody’s background, step inside the world of chefs, intrigue and country pubs. And some interesting local cops are introduced. Fans of Crombie will be pleased with the latest installment, also works as a stand alone title.

This was my first time reading a Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James novel, but from what I know about the series, it's a bit of a departure. Whereas most of the Kincaid and James novels are set in London, this installment moves the action to the English countryside.

Kincaid and James, along with co-worker Doug, have been invited by fellow cop Melody Talbot to spend a long weekend at her parents' idyllic home in the Cotswolds. While there, they team up with a local detective named Booth to investigate the mysterious death of a celebrity chef. There is also a bit of relationship drama between Melody and her rock star boyfriend Andy.

In this book, I felt author Deborah Crombie did a great job of creating a sense of place and developing her characters. This is just speculation on my part, but it seems like she might be setting up a spin-off series, as a significant portion of the story was devoted to introducing us to the local characters. The mystery aspect was solid, and I was not expecting it to be resolved the way it was. If I have one complaint, it's that the first half of the book moves a bit slowly, but it gets much more engaging in the second half.

I would recommend this novel to fans of the series, as well as to anyone who likes police procedurals but also enjoys an English cozy mystery. While there's a bit too much sex and violence for this book to be considered a true cozy, it does have some elements of that genre.

Great read! Engaging characters with better than average mystery. Excellent addition to this series.

This is a great series with engaging characters and good descriptions of the family lives of the detectives, whether in London, or in this case, the Cotswalds. The mystery of the murders kept me guessing.

Scotland Yard Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid, his wife, Detective Inspector Gemma James, and their three children have been invited for a relaxing weekend in the tranquil Cotswolds, They are staying with the parents of Gemma's sergeant Melody Talbot, who are having a charity luncheon prepared a local chef.
When an auto crash the night before injures Duncan and turns out not to be more complicated than anyone could imagine and is followed by another suspicious death, Duncan, Gemma, Melody & Doug all step in to help the local constabulary find out who is responsible.

Deborah Crombie is one of my top writers, I love this series and was thrilled to get an advanced copy. The mysteries are always solid, the family life is written with thoughtful compassion, and the settings make me want to go to the UK.
Bitter Feast is a wonderful edition to the series. It would be possible to read this as a standalone, but I don't recommend that. Read them all for the development of the main characters. You won't regret it.