Review: A Share in Death

A Share in Death is the first in the Kincaid and James series by Deborah Crombie.  I was looking to start a new mystery romance series and most of the reviews for this series were great so I grabbed the first one with high hopes.

First off the synopsis from Barnes and Noble:

A week's holiday in a luxurious Yorkshire time-share is just whatScotland Yard's Superintendent Duncan Kincaid needs. But the discovery of a body floating in the whirlpool bath ends Kincaid's vacation before it's begun. One of his new acquaintances at Followdale House is dead; another is a killer. Despite a distinct lack of cooperation from the local constabulary, Kincaid's keen sense of duty won't allow him to ignore the heinous crime, impelling him to send for his enthusiastic young assistant, Sergeant Gemma James. But the stakes are raised dramatically when a second murder occurs, and Kincaid and James find themselves in a determined hunt for a fiendish felon who enjoys homicide a bit too much.

In this delightful new series, Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid of Scotland Yard takes a holiday at his lovely Yorkshire time share. But before the stress of crime-solving begins to disappear, a body washes up in the whirlpool bath. Kincaid won't be able to relax until the killer is sent packing.

This was a good book and I did enjoy it.  It was a fairly familiar plot where the characters are all in a central location and seem to be picked off one by one until the detective figures out who the killer is.  I found myself liking the main character of Duncan Kincaid but I didn't feel that the author spent much time describing him so I have a hard time picturing him in my mind and for me, I need to have that mental image to really connect with the story.  I had a better picture of his assistant Gemma and she was not a huge part of this first book which was a bit disappointing because I went into the story thinking there would actually be a romance but apparently, the romance doesn't ignite until the third or fourth book.  Not sure if I have the patience.

The plot was fun.  The minor characters all had unique and interesting personalities and their roles in the story were meaningful.  I loved the banter and sarcasm between Kincaid and the local constable.  When the constable was finally put in his place by his own superior, I laughed out loud.  I did have to backtrack in the story once or twice to remind myself who was who because there were so many characters.  I probably should have written them down.  There were several twists and turns in the story that kept me turning the pages and when I got to the end of the story, I finally understood the title... lol.

I was really looking for something like the Mary Russell Mysteries by Laurie R. King and this just wasn't what I wanted.  I just loved the Russell series and haven't quite found anything similar that grabs me like it did.  I guess I will have to be patient and wait for the next Mary Russell mystery, whenever that may come.  

You will enjoy A Share in Death if you like a mystery and don't care about the lack of romance.  I just wanted more.