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Mixed feelings on this one. Lynley and Havers are fascinating characters, complex and marvelously well-drawn (except for one somewhat gratuitous Lynley interlude). I love the way Havers is allowed to express her resentment and how her inbred distrust and dislike of nobility is thwarted by Lynley's compassion and decency. There are some interesting secondary characters, as well, my favourite being the little girl, Bridie, and her pet duck, Dougal. However, at times the book is too description-hea...
First the superficial. I'm having a hard time getting over how annoying a couple of the characters were. The horribly caricatured American tourist was too much - I ended up skipping any passage with him. And felt he was completely unnecessary to the plot. It's difficult to enjoy a book when you have such antipathy to ridiculous characters. I did like Lynley, but his partner... I'm sure that she will get better as the series progresses, but did she really have to shriek and shrill so much? And sh...
UPDATE 2/1/17 ...I found "A Great Deliverance" as outstanding on second read as I did the first time around. My 5***** rating remains unchanged. George's ability to present an evolving and developing character is outstanding for any genre, but even more so for a mystery story, where character is often far subordinate to plot. This is especially true of the characters who continue in George's series but also for the the main one-off's. We don't ever get it all at once, but in pieces, each one add...
A 61 yr old farmer lies in his barn, brutally murdered, his head chopped off......the head lying a few yards from the body, where it had rolled after being severed. His grossly obese daughter sits beside his headless body, seated on a stool, holding the bloody axe that killed him and says “I did it. I’m not sorry.” Or did she......?Two unlikely detectives from New Scotland Yard are paired together to solve the case. Inspector 'Lord Asherton’ Lynley is a wealthy upper class handsome man, while Se...
I had the terrible misfortune of reading this book this weekend, and I fervently wish that I could unread it so I could have two days of my life back. You, too, could read it, if you want the nonstop sex of a Law & Order: SVU, the shocking ickyness of a V.C. Andrews, and the fascinating character development of a basket of sock puppets.This aggravating novel stars:- Man Too Rich and Sexy For His Own Good (Who Can't Have the Woman of His Dreams :( boohoo)- Stubborn Woman With No Sex Appeal and Th...
I was surprised by this story for more than one reason.First, I didn't expect this story to be so dark. The resolution of a few threads is really somber. For some reason, I expected it to be something of a cozy mystery. Although I am not sure why. The fact that Lynley and Havers are solving the case where the daughter killed her father by chopping his head off with an ax should give some hints. Motivations of the various characters are often quite dark, and the secrets that come to light are als...
This is a series I have been meaning to start for ages and I am so glad I have got around to it at last! This book is great! It has everything I like in a mystery.1. A really attractive, talented, charismatic main character who knows exactly what he is doing. And so far he does not appear to be an alcoholic or have any other unappealing trait as most MCs in crime books do these days. (although as this book was written in 1988 nearly everyone smokes all the time)2. Due also to the date it was wri...
I've been in a book slump for the longest time. Well, I've been in a slump in general, for the longest time. I'd been having "one of those days" for the past couple of weeks, and this book got me out of it. I was apprehensive about starting this book after the disappointment that was J.D. Robb, but this did not disappoint. Elizabeth George is an exceptional writer. She pens what seems, from the onset, a cosy mystery, a la Ms. Marple or the likes, but gradually turns out to be something much dark...
This is a novel that had been sitting on my tbr list for some time. Though the idea of picking it up really peaked my interest, I think the fact that a number of books in the series are quite long put me off. Since I’m retired, I finally figured if I was ever going to read long books, now’s the time. This is a terrific British tale, surprisingly written by an American author. Elizabeth George is a wonderful writer. Her prose is reminiscent of old-time British writing, though not as stilted. Ever...
Surely a great next step in my exploration of the mystery genre would be to read a book by the great Elizabeth George, right? Nope.This was the most atrocious book I have ever read. The novel started off badly enough, with no central character's journey to follow and a series of disjointed, head-hopping scenes. About halfway through, the story started to pull together, but we'd still take lurching jaunts off into the utterly boring and irrelevant backstory and activities of minor characters who