These Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James books are becoming difficult. The plots; particularly the duo's involvement in the crimes under investigation; are increasingly tenuous. Gemma acts with increasing frequency like a loose cannon rather than a senior police investigator, and Duncan seems willing to go along with whatever hare-brained idea she comes up with next. The cerebral dividends are now spread very thinly indeed.

However, the emotional payoff keeps me coming back for more. I can't get enough of Kit, Toby, the dogs, their friends and the comfortable domesticity at the heart of the stories. I signed up for a series of detective novels, but now I'm addicted to a family saga. Sigh.