Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James Books in Order
Part ofDeborah Crombie Books in OrderExplore the Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James series by Deborah Crombie, with books in order, plot summaries, series background, and advice on the best reading order.
Last updated: January 16, 2026
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Publication Order
19 books
A Killing of Innocents
by Deborah Crombie
2023
Trainee doctor Sasha Johnson collapses in Russell Square after a seemingly random knife attack. Working with a knife crime task force, Kincaid and Gemma trace her hidden connections through hospitals, flatmates, and family until a second stabbing reveals a stalker moving far closer to home than they feared.
A Bitter Feast
by Deborah Crombie
2019
Invited to a country weekend at Melody Talbot's family estate in the Cotswolds, Kincaid and Gemma are swept into a fatal crash outside a village pub. As a celebrity chef's death leads to more killings, they probe simmering rivalries in both Viv Holland's kitchen and the elegant house above.
Garden of Lamentations
by Deborah Crombie
2017
A young nanny is found dead in a locked Notting Hill garden, drawing Gemma into the complicated lives of its privileged residents. At the same time, Kincaid quietly investigates disturbing deaths within the police, as both cases hint at a conspiracy that could endanger their family.
To Dwell in Darkness
by Deborah Crombie
2014
Recently transferred to Camden, Kincaid confronts the aftermath of a fiery attack at St Pancras station when a protest smoke bomb becomes something far more lethal. Untangling activist networks, missing witnesses, and troubling orders from above, he and Gemma face threats to both public safety and their own careers.
The Sound of Broken Glass
by Deborah Crombie
2013
In London's Crystal Palace neighborhood, a barrister is found strangled in a shabby hotel, soon followed by a second, identical killing. As Gemma and Melody investigate, the case loops back to a teenage guitarist and a widow whose choices years earlier shattered more than one life.
No Mark Upon Her
by Deborah Crombie
2011
Detective and Olympic rowing hopeful Rebecca Meredith never returns from a solo training row on the Thames. Called to Henley, Kincaid and Gemma navigate the brutal world of elite sport and police politics, where ambition, jealousy, and buried accusations create dangerous currents.
Necessary as Blood
by Deborah Crombie
2009
Artist and young mother Sandra Gilles vanishes from London's East End, leaving her toddler behind. When her lawyer husband is murdered, Gemma and Kincaid delve into Brick Lane's galleries, markets, and immigrant communities to protect the missing couple's child and unmask a ruthless killer.
Where Memories Lie
by Deborah Crombie
2008
When a diamond brooch stolen from refugee Erika Rosenthal decades ago resurfaces at a London auction house, Gemma agrees to help trace it. A clerk's hit and run death and an unsolved postwar murder force Gemma and Kincaid to confront what the war left behind.
Water Like a Stone
by Deborah Crombie
2007
Hoping for a quiet Christmas with his family in Cheshire, Kincaid instead faces a mummified infant discovered in a barn wall and the recent drowning of a local boy. Canal life, old grievances, and buried crimes converge on the Shropshire Union waterways.
In a Dark House
by Deborah Crombie
2004
A warehouse fire on the South Bank reveals a murdered woman, a missing hospital administrator, and a kidnapped child. Working parallel leads through fire scenes, hospitals, and a shelter for abused women, Kincaid and Gemma uncover an arson spree hiding something far more personal.
Now May You Weep
by Deborah Crombie
2003
Gemma's weekend cooking course in the Scottish Highlands turns dark when a local chef is murdered near a historic distillery. As family feuds, old affairs, and village loyalties surface, she must clear her friend's name before suspicion hardens into a wrongful charge.
And Justice There Is None
by Deborah Crombie
2002
Newly promoted Inspector Gemma James leads the inquiry into the stabbing of Dawn Arrowood, a pregnant antiques dealer's wife in Notting Hill. When the crime mirrors an earlier unsolved killing, Gemma and Kincaid follow a trail through Portobello Road that tests both their partnership and sense of justice.
A Finer End
by Deborah Crombie
2001
A series of eerie events in Glastonbury, from automatic writing to unsettling visions, draws Kincaid and Gemma to architect Jack Montfort's ancient city. As spiritual messages turn deadly, they must separate genuine faith and history from manipulation, fear, and murder.
Kissed a Sad Goodbye
by Deborah Crombie
1999
When tea heiress Annabelle Hammond is found strangled in an East London park, Kincaid and Gemma trace her lovers, her powerful family, and a wartime evacuee story rooted in the Isle of Dogs. Long buried choices still drive jealousy, loyalty, and present day violence.
Dreaming of the Bones
by Deborah Crombie
1997
Kincaid's ex wife asks him to revisit the supposed suicide of Cambridge poet Lydia Brooke, a case closed five years earlier. What begins as a favor turns into a labyrinth of literary rivalries, old betrayals, and a fresh murder that tears open Kincaid and Gemma's personal lives.
Mourn Not Your Dead
by Deborah Crombie
1996
A high ranking but widely hated police commander is found bludgeoned to death in his Surrey village home. As Kincaid and Gemma probe his tangled past and the villagers' grudges, their own uneasy relationship collides with a case built on resentment and abuse of power.
Leave the Grave Green
by Deborah Crombie
1996
The drowning of charming but troubled Connor Swann eerily echoes the earlier death of his wife's gifted brother. Investigating the powerful Asherton family, Kincaid and Gemma uncover rivalries, buried resentments, and a past tragedy that refuses to stay in the grave.
All Shall Be Well
by Deborah Crombie
1994
When Kincaid's terminally ill neighbor Jasmine Dent dies in her sleep, it looks like a peaceful suicide. Small inconsistencies and her private journals instead suggest murder, drawing Kincaid and Gemma into a quiet London mystery about old loyalties and hidden guilt.
A Share in Death
by Deborah Crombie
1993
On holiday at a Yorkshire time share, Superintendent Duncan Kincaid's rest ends when a fellow guest is found dead in the whirlpool. Surrounded by strangers with secrets and dismissed by the local police, he quietly investigates before another attack comes.
Series background & context
Deborah Crombie's Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James books follow two Scotland Yard detectives whose working lives are as tangled as their personal ones. The series begins with A Share in Death in the early 1990s and now stretches to nineteen novels.
At the outset Duncan is a seasoned superintendent, newly promoted and used to working on his own, while Gemma is the sharp, ambitious sergeant assigned as his assistant. Most investigations start from a classic crime setup, whether it is a suspicious death at a Yorkshire time share, a neighbor's quiet passing that may be murder, or a body found in the Thames. What distinguishes the series is the way the cases uncover whole communities, and how each book nudges Duncan and Gemma's relationship forward.
Crombie sets most of the novels in and around London, using specific neighborhoods as a spine for each story. Readers move from Notting Hill's antiques trade to the Isle of Dogs docks and tea warehouses, from Southwark warehouses and refuges for abused women to the East End streets around Brick Lane, from Crystal Palace hill to the literary squares of Bloomsbury. Other books step out into Glastonbury, the Scottish Highlands, Cheshire canal country, or the Cotswolds, but they keep the same close attention to local history, daily routines, and architecture.
Many plots braid present day crimes with older secrets. A dead Cambridge poet, wartime evacuees, the legacy of the Holocaust, long running family feuds, and hidden political scandals all surface as Duncan and Gemma dig into motives. The investigations are solid police procedurals, but Crombie lets witnesses and suspects feel fully human, and she is willing to let consequences ripple through several books rather than tying every thread off neatly at the end.
Over time the detectives' lives change along with their jobs. What begins as a strictly professional partnership slowly turns into a complicated romance, then a marriage, and eventually a blended household with children, friends, and pets folded in. Later novels see Duncan moved from Scotland Yard to a borough posting and drawn into questions about corruption inside the force, while Gemma steps into more leadership, takes on cases ranging from nanny murders to knife crime, and builds a trusted team around her.
Throughout, the tone stays grounded and character driven rather than flashy. Books like Water Like a Stone, No Mark Upon Her, To Dwell in Darkness, Garden of Lamentations, A Bitter Feast, and A Killing of Innocents balance tightly plotted investigations with family dinners, school runs, and small moments of grace. The result is a series that rewards reading in order, letting you watch two detectives, their city, and the people around them change over time while each mystery still works as a satisfying story on its own.
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