Scotland Yard Superintendent Duncan Kincaid is tired. He’s been working hard on a case that’s just wrapped up, and all he plans to do is go home and get some rest. But when he arrives at his flat, he discovers, much to his dismay, that his downstairs neighbor Jasmine Dent has just passed away.

Though the news is sad, it’s not especially shocking. Jasmine has been in the latter stages of cancer, and though her passing seems to come a little earlier than anyone expected, the home health nurse seems to think there’s nothing unusual about it. Things get a little strange when Margaret, a young woman who befriended Jasmine at work, shows up for her regular visit. She becomes very distraught over Jasmine’s death and tells them that Jasmine recently requested her help in ending her life early, though Margaret had decided that she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Now she blames herself for not sharing that information with someone, and wonders if Jasmine was depressed enough to commit suicide.

Only Duncan Kincaid begins to suspect that not all is as it seems. He can’t seem to rest content with either death from natural causes or by suicide. Certain things just don’t seem to add up properly in either equation, though it’s hard for him to pinpoint the reason for the strength of his conviction. Trusting to his instincts as well as his training, he enlists the help of his faithful sergeant, Gemma James, and begins to look into other possibilities regarding Jasmine’s death.

All Shall Be Well is the second Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James mystery by Deborah Crombie, a series that now numbers fourteen books. I’ve only recently discovered Crombie and her wonderful characters, and I’m happily along for the ride now – though I’ve got a long way to go. Of the three I’ve read so far, I think this might be my favorite installment.

This novel is marked by all the things I’m coming to associate with Crombie’s writing: interesting and believable mystery plots, strong sense of setting (in various parts of England), and the dynamic camaraderie between Kincaid and James. That working partnership/friendship, explored fairly well in the first novel, begins to blossom here in earnest. We begin to see how much Kincaid counts on Gemma’s loyalty, unfailing good sense, and commitment to their mutual work. She’s inspired by his talent as a detective, but she doesn’t orbit around him, basking in his shadow or afraid to speak her own mind.

This time out she gently tries to help him untangle the mystery while cautioning him, as a good friend would, not to let his own emotions carry him away so that he sees things that aren’t there. The evidence that Jasmine’s death is murder is very slim and Gemma quickly realizes that the depth of Kincaid’s friendship for Jasmine may be coloring his view. She doesn’t let that stop her from trusting her boss’ good instincts and helping him ferret out the truth.

Crombie does an especially fine job of “layering” this story. There’s the upfront story of Kincaid’s investigation and the unfolding mystery, and the back story of Jasmine Dent’s identity. Kincaid, in charge of the investigation, finds himself reading his dead friend’s diaries – journals she has kept since her youth. Jasmine was a very private person. Although they are carefully worded and sometimes not overtly revealing, he begins to understand things about her past, with its griefs and trials, that help him to understand the quiet, centered person Jasmine became.

As Kincaid reads the entries, and we read them over his shoulder, we come to understand and like Jasmine too, which lends both a sense of urgency to wanting to find out who may have harmed her, and a deeper sense of mystery to the people Kincaid begins to question – former neighbors and co-workers, Jasmine’s brother Theo, even the stalwart, gentle Major who lives in the downstairs flat. He and Jasmine used to visit in his garden, mutually admiring acquaintances, but in reading Jasmine’s journals, Kincaid turns up a possible connection in their very distant past. It’s those sorts of connections, which he continues to unearth, that keep the reader turning pages and wondering.

The ending is both plausible (in terms of plot) and wistfully satisfying, giving one a sense that Kincaid has done a good service in serving Jasmine’s memory.

All Shall Be Well, the second Kincaid/James mystery by Deborah Crombie, was actually my introduction to the series. I’m glad it was, because such a strongly written story with such likable characters ensured that I would go back for more.

~befus, 2012

Recommended: Yes