Review: Now May You Weep

Now May You Weep, the ninth installment of Deborah Crombie’s series featuring Gemma James, explores conflict between cousins on a visit to Scotland. When Gemma’s friend Hazel Cavendish decides to take a cookery class in Innesfree, she persuades Gemma to come along with her, hoping this will distract Gemma from her recent miscarriage. It seems this trip will supply plenty of distraction, but none of it involves cooking.

Hazel is returning to the Highlands after a long absence. Her leave- taking was precipitated by a Capulet meets Montague relationship with Donald Brodie, the son of a local whiskey distiller, that drove her from her homeland and into England. There she built a comfortable, married life and began to forget about the love she had once known. Until Brodie re-enters her life. Now she’s torn between her family and her life’s passion. But, there are many lives that intersect within Innesfree and Brodie is the only one pleased at her return. Everyone is staying at a Bed & Breakfast run by John and Louise Innes, who don’t take well to be home-wreckers. But John has his private reasons for wanting Brodie happy. Brodie’s manager and Hazel’s cousin, Heather Urquhart, is after Brodie’s shares of the distillery. Alison Grant is a one-time lover of Brodie’s who’s found herself on the outs with him since Hazel’s return. And Hazel’s husband, Tim, is well aware of where she went for the weekend and why.

When a shot breaks the still of early morning, Gemma instincts tell her to seeks its source. She finds Brodie laying in a stand of trees, dead from a point-blank shotgun wound to the chest. Gemma is in investigation mode in minutes. There are no defensive wounds and she realizes he must have known his killer.

But, with Chief Inspector Alun Ross in the role of lead investigator, Gemma is in the uncomfortable role of civilian under suspicion with her own suspicions unwelcome. Duncan Kincaid, Gemma’s Detective Superintendent boyfriend, takes a train up to join her off the record inquiry. He’s pushed aside his own worries about losing his son, Kit, in a custody case with the boy’s grandmother to help Gemma and Hazel find Brodie’s killer in the uncongenial Highlands.

Woven through the entire novel is a tale that began in Cornmore in 1898. Told through snatches of remembered dreams and a diary, it details the events, good and bad, that bound the Brodie’s with the Urquharts. And it is this story that leads to the climatic end. Unfortunately, this end smacked with cliché after requisite red herrings and broad clues. The tie in with the related history of the families could have had emotional impact and an impassioned conflict. Instead, our heroine is put mortal danger, cut off from all help as she confronts an angry antagonist bent on relating the whole story. Crombie’s rabid fans will no doubt be well sated by this book. I would have liked to see Crombie raise the bar with her dénouement.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Jennifer Jordan

Please Note: Books reviewed are usually provided by the publisher, author, or an agent. Reviewers usually get to keep the book.

Book Review: Now May You Weep

Please Note: Books reviewed are usually provided by the publisher, author, or an agent. Reviewers usually get to keep the book.