Cathy C. (cathyskye) - , reviewed on 2/28/2010 + 2267 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

First Line: The day was utterly miserable for early May, even considering the expected vagaries of English weather.


When a diamond brooch, stolen decades ago, turns up for sale in a London auction house, the owner, Dr. Erika Rosenthal, turns to her friend Inspector Gemma James for help. Rosenthal and her husband escaped Nazi Germany, and the brooch was stolen on their journey to England. Gemma barely begins to investigate when a young auction house employee connected to the sale of the brooch is killed. Soon anyone who had anything to do with the brooch seems to meet a fatal accident.

Woven in with this mystery is the unsolved murder of Rosenthal's husband in 1952, but in many ways, this book has more to do with the personal lives of the characters than the mystery... at least it felt that way to me. This is not a complaint because Crombie's characters are some of my absolute favorites, and their lives are just as important to me as the mysteries they solve. Fortunately Crombie is quite skilled at providing intriguing mysteries while advancing the lives of her characters.

Although I deduced the killer about halfway through the book, if I'd twigged to one small clue, it would have been much earlier. Once learned that one small clue seemed so obvious that I feel I should turn in my Junior G-Man badge in shame.

If I ever have any sort of reading slump, I've become accustomed to turning to Crombie to get me back on the rails. Unfortunately I have only one book left in the series before I'm all caught up and forced to wait for the newest one. You may not be able to tell from there, but I'm sitting here pouting.

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