All Shall Be Well

ALL SHALL BE WELL by Deborah Crombie is Book 2 of the Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James series.
Duncan Kincaid’s terminally ill neighbor, Jasmine Dent, passes away in her sleep. But was the death natural? suicide? aided suicide? or murder?
ALL SHALL BE WELL is a quietly passionate story. The characters are all very multi-dimensional.
Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James are very interesting main characters. In this 2nd book, readers get a more in-depth look into their backgrounds and personalities.
The plot is also interesting and provides some tension.
I want to call this series a police procedural, but Kincaid and James spend little time in their professional offices. Most of their detecting (so far) seems to be in their ‘off’ time.
A good sense show more of place.
I am very pleased with this title and this series. show less

Enjoyed more than 1st book in series. I like Crombie's describing Kincaid's and Gemma's feelings about the victim, those they interview, their families, and themselves. For me it helps flesh them out, develop their characters.

Kincaid and Gemma have a good working relationship but Kincaid is beginning to feel more for her.

Requested next book.

At the start of the book we are introduced to Jasmine Dent, a fifty year old Englishwoman born in India who is dying of lung cancer. She lives in the apartment directly under Scotland Yard Superintendent Duncan Kincaid's flat. He knows she has been ill and stops by to see her nearly every day. One evening when he checks on her, he finds her dead. Her death resembles suicide but Duncan feels uneasy and orders a postmortem. The autopsy reveals an overdose of morphine, prompting him and his sergeant, Gemma James, to initiate a more thorough investigation.

There are plenty of suspects. Jasmine's co-worker and shy friend Meg who helped Jasmine prepare suicide plans, Meg's good-for-nothing boyfriend Roger, the home care nurse, Felicity, show more Jasmine's brother Theo, and Jasmine herself, who had been hoarding her morphine. Duncan and Gemma carefully begin to dig into the questions of motive and opportunity.

Duncan finds Jasmine's collection of journals and starts to read them, first for clues and then to know more about her. Kincaid's feelings for Jasmine add depth to the story. Although Jasmine was much older than Duncan he was attracted by her intelligence and wit and feels he owes it to her memory to find out for certain what really happened.

“All Shall Be Well” had excellent writing, wonderful characters and good mystery. The characters of Duncan and Gemma are well drawn, believable and likable. I will definitely read more of the series. show less

No. 2 in the Kincaid/James detective series. Something doesn't feel quite right to Duncan Kincaid when his terminally ill neighbor is found dead in her bed. Did she, despite telling a friend she had changed her mind, go through with a plan to end her own suffering with a lethal dose of morphine? Or did cancer simply take her a bit sooner than expected, so gently, in her sleep? Neither explanation works for Duncan, and the postmortem he orders confirms that it wasn't a natural death. But if Jasmine Dent killed herself, why didn't she leave some message behind for those who knew and cared for her? And where were the empty morphine vials? A satisfying page-turner.

Duncan Kincaid’s neighbor, Jasmine, was in the late stages of cancer when she was found dead in her flat. It appears she may have passed away in her sleep, until Duncan learns Jasmine had discussed assisted suicide with her friend Meg but later changed her mind. On the other hand, there is no evidence at the scene indicating suicide. Duncan orders a post-mortem and enlists his partner Gemma in the investigation.

The duo focuses on the people closest to Jasmine who all appear equally likely and unlikely to have done the deed. There’s also one bad apple who may or may not have played a role in Jasmine’s death, and digging into Jasmine’s past leads Duncan and Gemma to both dead ends and potential connections.

This was a fairly show more standard mystery, and not particularly suspenseful or exciting. But as the second book in a series, it does a nice job of further developing the two detectives into interesting, likeable investigators. I’ll keep going in hopes the mysteries strengthen as the series progresses. show less

When Duncan Kincaid's downstairs neighbor dies, it might be natural (she has terminal cancer). It might be suicide. Or, as Duncan suspects, it might be murder. But who would murder a dying woman -- and why?

In this second volume of the series, we get to see a little more of Gemma, which is nice. I thought the investigation moved rather slowly, but it might just be the format (I listened to the audiobook). I guessed "whodunit?" before the solution was revealed, but not the motive behind it. Everything came together in a satisfactory manner. This is shaping up to be a solid series; I'll keep reading.

Glad to see the first book in the series, A Share in Death, wasn't just a fluke. This is another intriguing mystery written in the classic style made popular by Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers. It expands on the dynamics between Scotland Yard detectives Supt. Duncan Kincaid and Sgt. Gemma James as their investigation unearths dark secrets from the past. My only complaint is that a key element of the case was held back until almost the end of the book. Still, once it was solved all the pieces fit together perfectly and I was especially pleased by the hint of a future together for two of the minor suspects.