What Came Before He Shot Her (original 2006; edition 2006)

It was a book that cought me from the first page and did not let go untill I read the final page... I saw it coming, the things that were happening in the book, but did not mind that at all. It was more that the book took me with it, along the path of the main characters and led me with them to the end.
For me certainly worth reading again. ( )

audiobook. Disappointed. Not usual Elizabeth George type story ( )

This is the second time I've read this novel, and I'm puzzled as to why I gave it 3 stars instead of 2. I will downgrade it this time. This is the 15th in the Inspector Lynley novels, and it is by far my least favorite. There is very little mystery here and only the briefest of mentions of the characters I know and like from the other novels. We learn all there is to know about the young boy who is accused of the murder in the previous book, With No One As Witness. I got tired of reading nothing but how poor and pitiful this boy is. Yes, I understand, but by the end of the book, I felt like I'd been beat over the head with it. It just isn't that good of a read. I would not recommend this one at all. ( )

Book 14, in the Inspector Lynley series

Ms. George has given her beloved protagonists a long and deserved rest and moved forward to explore in depth and meticulous detail the darkness of violence, the unfortunate choice of very troubled individuals. This novel delves into events leading to the brutal death of Helen Lynley who met a tragic end in the last pages of “With No one as Witness “. The method used is different from her other novels, this one ties up loose ends, a story stemming from another story.

I must admit I had a hard time getting into this mystery, it never gelled from the get-go however it may have been an off day for me. The story follows the path of three mixed-raced children from the Campbell family and how each one of them deals with the feeling of rejection after learning their grandmother abandoned them on their aunt’s doorstep and left for Jamaica. As a reader we see how each character addresses the constant struggle to survive and the individual choices they made as they spiral down the road of no return.

This is a drawn out story with page after page of uneventful details, it reminded me of a 900 page essay I had for a school project. The black argot of London dialogue was hard to follow and required more concentration than I was willing to give, I found myself skipping paragraphs and feeling I had not missed a thing. I enjoy Ms. George’s insight and her ability to draw verbal pictures of people caught on the edge creating an entertaining psychological drama but this time I was rather disappointed and I also miss the atmosphere the characters Lynley and Havers normally bring to the table. I like this series but from time to time it seems the ball is dropped and I am left with an OK… what is next feeling. ( )

A kind and well-loved woman was brutally and inexplicably murdered—the pregnant wife of a respected police inspector—and her death has left Scotland Yard shocked and searching for answers. Perhaps most horrifying of all, the trigger of the weapon that killed her was apparently pulled by a stranger . . . a twelve-year-old boy.

The anatomy of a murder, the story of a family in crisis, What Came Before He Shot Her is a powerful, emotional novel full of deep psychological insights, a novel that only the incomparable Elizabeth George could write.