Showing posts with label L. Show all posts
Showing posts with label L. Show all posts

Thursday, 9 August 2012

Leave the Grave Green by Deborah Crombie

Lord Asherton and Dame Caroline's son-in-law, Connor Swann is found dead in River Thames. Lord Asherton and Dame Caroline are renowned opera singers. Presumably upon Asherton's request Duncan Kincaid and Gemma are asked to investigate the case. Was Swann murdered? Was his death accidental? Did he commit suicide?

This is the third book in the Gemma and Kincaid series. I haven't read the first two books. The story starts with the death of young Mathew, son of Lord Asherton and Dame Caroline in the River Thames. The shadow of the event haunts the present case too. Was Mathew murdered? Or was it a accident? Is there a connection between both the cases?

I hear a lot about Deborah Crombie and wanted to pick a book to see if it works for me. I would just say it is a good mystery. There are details about lives of artists, Opera Singers, costume designers and the stage. One of the reasons I couldn't really get involved in the story was because of all the use of the best police, Swann's death could have been accident. I had the same problem with P D James' The Black Tower. I read these books around the same time. Maybe I should stop plunging in middle of a series, then probably I would enjoy more.

Why don't people answer the questions police ask? Okay, these people are celebrities but when the police are asking simple questions like what you were doing at a particular time, doesn't it make sense to establish an alibi rather than beat about a bush or talking something irrelevant? I suppose they are celebrities and they can get away with it.

There are some unexpected twists, and turns. Pool of suspects is really small and you can work out who long before, Kincaid and Gemma work it out. I should try another Deborah Crombie to really decide whether I want to read her books or not.

My post for Crime Fiction Alphabet L.

Friday, 13 April 2012

L is for Lord Jim

Lord Jim is one of my favourite books written by Joseph Conrad. Lord Jim tells the story of Jim, a romantic boy who dreams of adventures in a ship, of rescuing people from a shipwreck and becoming a hero. In reality faced with similar circumstances as his dreams, he fails to become a hero. This inability haunts him all his life. Years roll by he becomes a Governor of an Island but his failure haunts him. I absolutely love this book.

Have you read this or any other book by Conrad?