Deborah Crombie, A BITTER FEAST

I thoroughly enjoyed this character-driven mystery set in the Cotswolds, UK. This book, the 18th in Deborah Crombie's series, rides the line between police procedural (as the MCs Gemma and Duncan are detectives in London; and two other characters are police as well) and cozy, as the action all takes place within a small village. As with most cozies, it's the relationships among the characters that matter; a good deal of our reading pleasure is in discovering the backstories that connect the characters, the knots behind the tapestry, as it were. I love that the secondary characters are psychologically coherent, varied, and imperfect. Characters who are wonderfully talented still make meaningful mistakes; those who seem misanthropic or strange are capable of loyalty and honesty; those who are young and impulsive are also capable of thoughtfulness and empathy. The prose is pleasing, without being "writerly" or self-consciously poetic, which resulted in me feeling as though I were looking through a transparent window into the little village and watching the events unfold. Would recommend for fans of Louise Penney, Martin Walker and Charles Finch.