The murder of a physician-in-training turns out to mark the midpoint in a trail of crimes that stretches from the past to the future. Who could possibly have had a motive for stabbing Sasha Johnson to death? Her parents insist that she had no enemies. So do her co-workers at London's Thomas Coram Hospital even though at least one of them, senior ward manager Neel Chowdhury, is so unwilling to cooperate with Det. Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and his detective sergeant, Doug Cullen, that he seems worth murdering himself. Before Kincaid's wife, DI Gemma James, can bring herself to admit that she's so overburdened with child care and her job tracking knife crime in Greater London that she needs a nanny and a new position, Chowdhury too is stabbed to death. As usual, Crombie weaves a dense web of suspects, relationships, and revelations, some of them involving series regulars like Gemma's friend and co-worker Melody Talbot and her boyfriend, guitarist Andy Monahan, some involving Kincaid's team at Holborn CID. Inquiries into the current whereabouts of Sasha's unsavory brother, Tyler, and of Rosalind Summers, the best friend of Sasha's flatmate, potter Tully Biggs, who vanished 10 years ago, alternate with dire hints about Tully's brother, Jonathan, who managed a Soho club before he went AWOL, and Sandra Beaumont, the late nurse whose newspaper obituary was found in Chowdhury's pocket. Readers who crave more will find italicized flashbacks to an agonizing medical emergency and updates on the problems of the children Kincaid and Gemma are struggling to bring up to something remotely resembling normal lives. A rich brew whose plot is consistently subordinated to a world that teems with all the haphazard life of an ant farm. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James (married to each other) return in the nineteenth entry in this series, tackling a baffling stabbing death on a busy London street. As Duncan and his sergeant have a pint in a Bloomsbury pub near the British Museum, a young woman doctor is stabbed within yards of them. The stabbing, done in one well-placed thrust, has none of the frenzy and randomness usually attached to such deaths. Gemma, who has been analyzing knife crimes in London, brings a wealth of knowledge to the case. The investigation expands from the victim's personal life into the hostile workplace of her hospital, climaxing with another stabbing murder. Crombie, as usual, presents a fascinating puzzle, loaded with twists and a grand dose of London atmosphere. One of the fascinations of the series has been Duncan and Gemma's evolving relationship, but new readers may be confused by the overabundant details about their family life. Still, this is a worthy excursion into the lives of a popular sleuthing duo.

Afterwards, Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid wonders if he could have prevented the murder of the young woman he saw in the pub. Twenty minutes later, Dr. Sasha Johnson is stabbed to death in London's historic Russell Square. Kincaid calls his wife, Gemma James, because she's working on a project analyzing stabbing deaths. But Sasha's death doesn't seem to fit the pattern. She's not in a gang; not a drug user. She's a trainee at a nearby hospital. As Kincaid's team interviews witnesses, they discover Sasha has secrets unknown to her parents. And she's not the only staff member at the hospital who transferred there under a cloud. Residents of London are scared when there's another stabbing death, but Kincaid recognizes the link to Sasha. He suspects there's a personal connection to a killer that his team hasn't uncovered yet. VERDICT Crombie is as skilled as Louise Penny or J.D. Robb in developing characters while entwining personal lives with riveting police investigations. With four years since A Bitter Feast, the previous book in the series, the author's fans will be eager to catch up with her characters.--Lesa Holstine

Bestseller Crombie's skillfully plotted 19th police procedural featuring the husband and wife team of Det. Supt. Duncan Kincaid and Det. Insp. Gemma James of Scotland Yard (after 2019's A Bitter Feast) perfectly balances the investigative action with the characters' true to life personal problems. The duo and their colleagues are called to Russell Square, where Sasha Johnson, a trainee doctor at Thomas Coram Hospital, lies dead, stabbed in the chest. The victim's assailant acted swiftly and efficiently, fading away into the crowd before even she realized she'd been mortally stabbed. Why would anyone want to murder the respected and much loved doctor? The stakes rise after the nurse in charge of Sasha's ward at the hospital is fatally stabbed in Soho Square. Once again, there are no witnesses. What's the connection between the two murders? Crombie provides plausible suspects and motives amid entertaining interplay, including some friction, among the members of the squad. This entry can be read as a standalone, but it will give special pleasure to fans who have grown fond of the couple over the years. Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary. (Feb.)