e latest entry in Deborah Crombie's New York Times Notable, Edgar(R), Agatha, and Macavity Awards-nominated mystery series featuring Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James. A Texan frequently compared to the masters of British crime fiction--including P.D. James, Martha Grimes, Barbara Vine, and fellow American Elizabeth George--Crombie dazzles once more with Necessary As Blood--a relentlessly suspenseful tale of a vanished mother, a murdered father, and a helpless, endangered child.