Leave the Grave Green

By: Deborah Crombie

Narrated by: Michael Deehy

Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's Summary

When a body is discovered floating in a Thames river lock one dreary morning, Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and Sergeant Gemma James are summoned from Scotland Yard to Chiltern Hills. The dead man is Connor Swann, son-in-law of two of London's most renowned opera personalities. And prints on the corpse's neck suggest that Swann was strangled. As Duncan and Gemma explore the quiet woods above the Thames and the flamboyant world of London opera in search of answers, they discover a tangled web of family secrets and hidden emotions. And when Duncan finds himself dangerously drawn to a suspect, he and Gemma must sort out their complicated feelings for each other.

©1995 Deborah Darden Crombie (P)2008 BBC Audiobooks America

Interesting Character-Driven Mystery

Any additional comments?

The pleasure of this mystery is in watching the author develop her characters layer by layer, with the clues coming from Kincaid's and James' successive discoveries about the personalities in play. Readers who like smart British mysteries with a minimum of gore will enjoy this extremely well narrated story---not as spectacular or byzantine as P. D. James, but within that tradition.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

This will NOT be my last Crombie!

Confused by other reviewers' remarks and curious as to why some could not get into the characters of this novel. Thoroughly enjoyed this one, got more into the characters in this one than in book #2, which I also enjoyed. Looking forward to starting book #4 next week.

Will be interesting when I get to the audios that change narrators to the Gemma James character as the primary. Normally pass up women narrators (not because they are not good - some are the best) because I don't hear a high voice as well as a low one and tend to miss words.

I'd recommend this series of non-violent murder mysteries to all that like that genre. And, thanks to Audible for adding the "Series" feature, makes it easy to go through them.

10 of 11 people found this review helpful

Leave the Grave Green

I could not into the characters, the story was just OK. I which there was something more to this book all the way to the end. The reader did a find job with a weak book

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

My last Crombie for awhile

I usually enjoy this series by Crombie. This particular book is early in the series, and I was not previously familiar with the background of the relationship of the two continuing characters. Unfortunately, I was not charmed, and in fact was a bit bored both by the two of them and by the plot. The narrator is fine; the underlying book is rather boring, in my view.

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

Good!

I read the reviews and so gave this one a skip until I read another one of Ms Crombie's books, and thought it was great, so back I came to this one (and all the rest as well). In this case, it was just too bad that the other readers weren't impressed, because I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you like your mysteries less gruesome and more cerebral, you'll probably enjoy it too.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

I thought that drawing room murder mystery's had gone out of style with Agatha Christie

Apparently not! Nicely written was pleasant characters and good tension. However this was a very old story often toll and certainly not the best version.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Not one of her best .

I really enjoy most of the books in this series, though I've read them out of order. This is the first one that actually bored me. It just seemed to drag. If this had been the first I'd read in this series I doubt if I would have read another.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Very enjoyable traditional British who-dun-it

Any additional comments?

A thoroughly enjoyable British murder mystery in the Scotland Yard traditional vein. Not violent but relying more on clues and putting it all together which was enjoyable and kept you thinking along with the two DI's. A touch of romance, wining and dining, and even lust made the story more interesting and enjoyable. I love stories where there is more than one layer on interest going on. All in all, a well written story and I will certainly avail myself of all the series.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Satisfying!

So far I have read six of the books in this series and I've enjoyed every one of them.

For me the books have just the right mix of a good mystery and well defined, interesting characters. The settings in this book are described with enough detail that I can "see" them in my mind. When I finish one of these books I feel satisfied and eager to read another of the series.

The first Deborah Crombie book I read was the first in this series. I've read the other five books out of sequence. That hasn't affected my enjoyment of the books. However, there is a developing relationship between the two main characters that might be best enjoyed if read in sequence.

Michael Deehy's narration was excellent for me.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Oh, the Tangled Webs We Weave . . .

When the son-in-law of two famous opera personalities is found dead, floating in the Thames River, Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and Sergeant Gemma James from Scotland Yard are on the case. And as usual, NOTHING is as it appears . . . secrets, lies, and cover-ups abound . . . and Duncan is not above getting stars in his eyes (once again) sigh . . . with the young, beautiful widow of the dead man . . . Gemma learns that she loves the voice of the retired opera singer (this I can deal with) . . . Book three in the series is marginally better than book two, but lags behind book one . . . I had high hopes for the series based on the first in the series, but I think this will be the last of this author's books for me for a while . . . I like the mystery, the interaction between Gemma and Duncan, the search for the killer, but I find all the other stuff tiring . . . at Duncan's age, he needs to be more focused, more mature and should have learned from his divorce . . . Gemma's struggles raising a young son single handedly are touching, interesting and of more substance to me . . . overall, the story is good, conclusion satisfying.