A Finer End, by Deborah Crombie
I don’t often read something published as a traditional mystery, thriller, and even police procedural that I think my friends who are into paranormal or urban fantasy might like, but this just might be the book to bridge that gap.
Set in contemporary Glastonbury (well, almost contemporary: it was published in 2002) at the foot of the fabled Tor, this is Book Seven in Crombie’s “Kincaid and James” series of British mysteries, but it most definitely will stand on its own.
Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James are experiencing both personal and professional upheaval in this book. They move out of their roles as professional partners and explore their personal relationship–wherever it may be going–while Gemma faces a challenging new professional assignment and Duncan copes with the loss of his erstwhile sergeant (Gemma, who’s been promoted) and begins to learn how to parent Kit, the twelve-year-old son he only recently discovered he had.
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| Is the mysterious Glastonbury Abbey monk Edmund for real? |
When Duncan’s cousin Jack Montfort asks him to come to Glastonbury for a weekend to help with a rather unusual matter, Duncan and Gemma hope spend some pleasant, relaxing time with him and each other.
But when Jack’s “unusual matter” turns out to be mysterious automatic writing from a twelfth-century monk named Edmund of Glastonbury, in far more literate Latin than Jack could manufacture on his own, the weekend takes a decidedly unusual turn.
And that’s before the murder of artisan tile-maker and former midwife Garnet Todd upends everything. What was Garnet’s odd obsession with the runaway pregnant teenager Faith Wills, and why is Faith seemingly compelled to climb the Tor, despite her delicate condition? Did someone also try to kill Jack’s girlfriend, the local vicar Winnie Catesby?
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| Why does the pregnant teenager, Faith, keep trying to climb the Tor? |
Ancient violence, contemporary murder, and intertwining mysteries reveal themselves through the eyes of many viewpoint characters, and spin into a gripping climax and resolution that you will not see coming.
I’ve been following Deborah Crombie’s work for several years (fairness disclaimer: she’s also a valued friend), and in 2015 I made it a project to read all 16-and-counting titles in her “Kincaid and James” series of mysteries set in Great Britain (a rewarding experience for me, both as a reader and as a writer).
This book in particular is a master-class in juggling more than the usual number of POV characters while keeping all of them distinct and interesting, and weaving past and present, myth and police procedure, analytical logic and mysticism into a fascinating, multi-dimensional tapestry of story.
IMAGES: Many thanks to Amazon, for the book cover image; unfortunately, A Finer End is out of print, but Amazon still has copies available. The beautiful photo of the Glastonbury Abbey ruins is from TripAdvisorUK, and the evocative photo of Glastonbury Tor is by the AP photographer Peter Morrison, via Fairyroom.
