Heavenly days!!! Elizabeth George is amazing. This book looked daunting when I got it as it is 690 pages!!! I wanted to feel that she could have told the story in half that but, of course, she couldn’t. We needed every bit of it to solve the crime(s), examine all the players and come to a typical Lynley/Havers conclusion. This book is tremendous.

Vintage Lynley and Havers. Solid mystery with a seemingly endless array of disconnected storylines. However, in the hands of Ms George, all will be revealed. I never doubted it. A fifth star was earned because there is a lesson of redemption for Havers and her archenemy Isabelle Ardery. Unfortunately the fifth star was lost because the end of the initial mystery was rather mundane. What was not were George’s brilliant characterizations. This characterization of her oh so faulty humans may earn b...

Ok, the irritants first: George's American-writing-about-England still gives rise to mistakes that really a UK editor should have picked up (er, we call them fridges not coolers, you know) and some weird London geography: it's incredible that Dorothea and Havers travel from New Scotland Yard in St. James to a weekly tap-dancing class in Southall which is on the edge of London and not even on the tube map (despite them walking erroneously to the nearest tube after class). There is also some reall...

I've read all the Inspector Lynley books and sadly I have to say this will probably be the last. I've been tempted to give up on the series a couple of times recently but this one has pushed me over the edge. Barbara Havers is one of the best characters I've run across in any mystery series. The level of angst Ms. George created around her became almost intolerable a couple of times in recent books, but I stuck with both the character and the author because... well, because the writing is so dar...

4+ starsI love Elizabeth George’s Linley and Havers mystery series. She does everything I like in a mystery. She has great leading detectives who’s lives evolve as the series goes on. The mystery itself is complex and steeped in real life issues. And she gets deep into her characters by writing the story from different perspectives. But reading the next instalment in the series is No small feat because all of her books are massive bricks. The Punishment She Deserves is almost 700 pages long, and...

I read the series with Lord Asherton from time to time, and decided to give The Punishment She Deserves a chance not long ago. The mystery of an alleged suicide of a clergyman is intriguing and there are several other plots which are well developed, however, I cannot stop thinking this novel could be at least 200 pages shorter without injury to the story ...

In this 20th book in the 'Inspector Lynley' series, Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and Sergeant Barbara Havers look into the alleged suicide of a deacon. The book can be read as a standalone, but familiarity with the characters is a plus.*****In the English town of Ludlow, Community Support Officer Gary Ruddock handles minor infractions, like kids binge drinking and the like. So when an anonymous caller accuses the local deacon, Ian Druitt, of pedophilia, Ruddock is instructed to bring Druitt...

Like a mediocre muffin dotted with delicious chocolate chips were Lynley and Havers in this nearly 700 page tome. I used it for upper arm workouts during breaks from reading. There is an interminable quantity of uninteresting storyline here involving binge-drinking college students, screwing and blowjobbing college students, and an Anglo-Indian family falling apart. The Isabelle Ardery thread was surprisingly welcome. We hate her because she is a termagant and has a sexual past with Lynley, and

 Who is the She?Who is the "she" in Elizabeth George's title? There are many possibilities. First, the irrepressible, insubordinate, ill-kempt, Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, who is my favorite character in the whole series for her colorful way of saying off-color things, brilliant instincts, and believable background. Barbara has managed to piss off many of her superiors at Scotland Yard, and at the beginning of the book she is sent off to Shropshire on an investigation with Detective Chief...

Ian Druitt was a respected deacon of the Church of England. When he turns up dead while in police custody due to an accusation of pedophilia, it’s up to Detective Chief Superintendent Isabelle Ardery to sort out whether it was suicide or murder. She reluctantly teams up with DS Barbara Havers and they set off to historic Ludlow to investigate. Ardery is battling more demons than a possible murderer. She’s fighting with her ex-husband who is determined to move out of the country with their two so...

As a fan faithful of Elizabeth George’s, it is an exquisite pleasure to again open one of her lengthy tomes and know that I will be lost to her words- lots of them- for a fair while AND blissfully happy meeting up with one of my favourite literary anti-heroes, Lieutenant Barbara Havers. This time ‘round, George does not disappoint and the novel is as serpentine as the best of those written by her in past time, bringing Havers into messy moments as usual and offering Thomas Lynley up with his typ...

Elizabeth George is my new go-to crime writer - looking forward to making my way (backwards) through this series

A multilayered, well-plotted mystery with a bunch of characters — trust the author, it all ties together in the end. Don’t let the 700-page length, or the fact that story is a reinvestigation of a reinvestigation of an investigation into an investigation of an apparent suicide, daunt you: Elizabeth George’s writing is smooth and her plots are intricate but clear and well paced. The pace is not breathless, but you get so into the story you hardly realize you’ve just read 50 pages. Inspector Lynle...

When a Member of Parliament shows up at New Scotland Yard requesting an investigation into the suicide of the son of one of his constituents in the beautiful town of Ludlow, the Assistant Commissioner sees two opportunities in this request: the first is to have an MP owing him a favour, and the second is to get rid of Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, whose career at the Met has been hanging by a thread for quite some time.Another good plot with Inspector Lynley and Sgt Barbara Havers acting in...

I listened to this book on audible.com. The narration was brilliant especially Havers who gave me some laugh out loud moments. I’m a bit surprised to see so many 5 star ratings . I found it all a little tedious at times. Who was doing what to who? I thought it got bogged down a bit in binge drinking, casual sex and was all a bit teenagie even though that isn’t a word! We love to hate Isobel Adery but I found her dialogue often repetitive, I did get tired of her saying ‘Stop calling me Isobel’. I...