One by Deborah Crombie; One by Margaret Maron

Necessary as Blood by Deborah Crombie continues the adventures of Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid, a series I always enjoy.

Why would a young woman leave her child with a friend for a short time with every intention of returning and then disappear completely?  When her husband, the usual suspect, turns up dead the case becomes more involved.

For some reason, although I always enjoy this series, this one didn't quite measure up to previous books.  The character development, an element I usually appreciate in Crombie's work, felt more two-dimensional.  So...not my favorite, but not a bad.

Mystery.  2009. 384 pages.

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The Buzzard Table is the first novel I've read by Margaret Maron, and although the first few pages didn't grab me (I almost abandoned it), my interest grew pretty quickly thereafter.

This is the 18th installment in Maron's series about Judge Deborah Knotts, so perhaps coming so late to the series was a bit detrimental initially.  At any rate, I did end up liking this mystery enough to want to read more, and it is always nice to find that there are plenty more to read.

The novel also includes a character from another series by Maron about Sigrid Harald, a NYC police detective that I may also explore.

Mystery.  2012.  print version 320 pages.