A BITTER FEAST Redux and a Little Armchair Travel

DEBORAH CROMBIE: A BITTER FEAST, the 18th Superintendent Duncan Kincaid/Inspector Gemma James novel is out in paperback today!!

And never have I wished more for a little bit of magic to transport me to another time and place! When the book came out in hardcover last autumn, I was already missing the Cotswolds. This part of England, encompassing parts of Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Worcestershire (like the sauce), was one of the first places I ever visited in the UK, and those green rolling hills and golden villages cemented my lifelong love of everything English. The Cotswolds are idyllic, they are the Shire, they are "the green and pleasant land" of Blake's Jerusalem.

And the Cotswolds also seemed like the perfect place to set a mystery. But first I had to find the perfect village! This took me one research trip, then I had to go back twice more to really immerse myself. 

What a sacrifice that was! Not.

On that first trip, I chose a village I remembered from that very first Cotswold visit with my parents, Lower Slaughter. How could I resist the name? And there's an Upper Slaughter, too. The name doesn't mean what you might think, however, but is derived from "slough", referring to wetlands. The River Eye, a tributary to the Windrush, runs through the center of the village. (And aren't those names right out of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings?)

So, if a year ago I was already pining for that green and pleasant land, it at least seemed within reach, a plane ticket away. I could imagine having afternoon tea at the fabulous Slaughters Manor House in Lower Slaughter. (Drooling...)

Or having a drink in the cozy bar of the Red Lion Inn in Long Compton. (One of my favorite pubs anywhere.)

Or walking through a beautiful English garden.

Now that all seems like a dream!

What to do??

Open the pages of the book, of course, and transport myself. I think we need a better phrase than "armchair travel," because that sounds so dull compared to the magic of visiting another place and time through a book. Suggestions, anyone?

And, REDS and readers, what favorite place would you revisit, if you could wave your magic wand?

In the meantime, you can travel with Duncan and Gemma to Lower Slaughter on a beautiful autumn weekend, eat amazing food, smell the English roses, and even try some Cotswold Dry Gin!

Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and his wife Detective Inspector Gemma James have been looking forward to a relaxing weekend getaway in the beautiful Cotswolds. But after a tragic accident and unexplained deaths, things in the country take a deadly turn…

Duncan, Gemma, their children, and their friend Doug Cullen are guests at Beck House, the family estate belonging to Melody Talbot, Gemma’s trusted detective sergeant, in the picturesque village of Lower Slaughter.  The centerpiece of the weekend is a posh charity luncheon catered by rising local chef Viv Holland, a Glouscestershire native freshly returned from London. Attended by elites and critics, the event could make Viv a culinary star. But when things go terribly wrong, the detectives are pulled into the investigation, and each new piece of information makes it clear that the killer has a connection with Viv’s pub—or, perhaps, with Beck House itself.

New York Times bestselling author Deborah Crombie is a native Texan who writes crime novels set in the United Kingdom. Her Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James series has received numerous awards, including Edgar, Macavity, and Agatha nominations, and is published in more than a dozen countries to international acclaim.

Crombie lives in North Texas with her husband, German shepherds, and cats, and divides her time between Texas and Great Britain. Her latest novel, A Bitter Feast, is now available from William Morrow in paperback.  She is currently working on her nineteenth Kincaid/James novel.