Yep, deception was on many minds. Lynley is off on his honeymoon and Havers has to solve the case. Well, no, actually she doesn’t, but she’s going to stick herself in this one whether anyone wants her or not. ( )

This is a delightful book on a number of unpleasant subjects: murder, of course; internecine conflict between the Pakistanis and English in England; discrimination against homosexuality; and above all, deception, by just about everybody involved.

Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers from London uses her supposed vacation time to help out on a case in Balford-le-Nez on the coast of Essex. A Pakistani man, Haytham Querashi, in England for an arranged marriage, has been murdered. Barbara’s Pakistani neighbors, Taymullah Azhar and his eight-year-old daughter Hadiyyah, have headed up to the scene of the crime, and, as it happened, the DCI in charge - Emily Barlow - is an old classmate of Barbara’s.

In spite of the complex plot with lots of characters (many of whom quite believably become suspects), George manages to lay it all out in such a way that one is rarely lost, or driven to map out the characters, as in other mysteries. I did, I admit, have occasion to resort to an online British-American dictionary. And who knew there were so many words for “gay”?!!!

George’s style is clear, witty, and perceptive. In describing Ferguson, who is Emily Barlow’s supervisor (or “guv”), George writes, “He’d always been the sort of man who claimed women’s hands had been shaped by God to curve perfectly over the handle of a Hoover.” Agatha Shaw, a rotten old lady in the story, “had never been one to demand of herself the same dedication to expunging one’s defects of character that she demanded of others.” And when Barbara and Emily discuss the meeting of the suspect Kumhar with Pakistani community representative Muhannad Malik and Azhar (acting as a legal advisor to Malik), they had this conversation:

“I’m heading to a connection between these blokes. Kumhar took one look at Azhar and Malik and nearly wore brown trousers.”

“You’re saying he knew them?”

“Perhaps not Azhar. But I’m saying that he knew Muhannad Malik. I’m saying it’s dead cert that he knew him. He was shaking so badly, we could have used him to make martinis for James Bond.”

This book is over 600 pages, but I wasn’t bored once.

(JAF) ( )

Sergeant Babara Havers has to solve the murder of a member of the small Asian community living in a heat-withered seatown on the North Sea coast of Essex, without her longtime partner, Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, who is on honeymoon. It is not too revealing to note that the "Deception" of the title, is "on his mind" in more ways than one: the Self is the first to be deluded.
Scotland Yard’s Barbara Havers temporarily leaves London and Supervising Inspector Lyndley to help the legendary Detective Emily Barlow solve a murder of a Pakistani immigrant in the decaying North Sea beach resort of Balford-le-Nez. Sergeant Havers enlists the help of colorful townspeople with competing agendas, and who happen to be simmering in off-season hot weather and what threatens to be a religious race war.
The author loves words, and the things words do, especially with people of passion. One of the nice bits for those of us who love Elizabeth George and her crime mysteries, is the introduction of her neighbor Taymullah Azhar, a single father with lawyer-like talents who is caring for an adorable child, Khalidah Hadiyyah. While working the familiar sinews of an untethered and de facto virginal heroine, the author artfully sharpens the knife edges of Barbara Haver’s family and lover-loneliness on the leather of her longings. The Sergeant’s edge is keened by the fact that Detective Barlow requires sexual servicing – it is discreet – as a matter of course.
The solution to the crime – finding the murderer – is both simple and elusive. The usual suspects formula is applied – line up the suspects who have motive, means, and opportunity. What is wonderful is the way the author actually hides the murderer under the noses of everyone.
Written in 1997 – 5 years before 9/11 – the book is also a prescient warning about the destabilizing stresses of young people trapped between traditions, religious convictions, and the demands of “honor” as old values come into play in new places.
The book fearlessly brings major contemporary conflict themes into play: land development opportunities changing old ways; the role of women; child-care by single parents; discrimination against homosexuals; the experience of immigration; the politics of police-work; racial inter-marriage; and the sidelining of the elderly who do not want to go quietly as a “paralyzed pilgarlic”. All of these cultural artifacts and prejudices are woven into the mystery, and are used to keep the perpetrator hidden in plain view.
Elizabeth George never talks “down” and she has little patience with characters who indulge in obscurities – her heroine is a no-nonsense Sergeant working for a Supervisor who brooks no fools. However, without pretension, there are plenty of words unfamiliar to some of us which are drawn from the argot of the place–the street filled with new immigrants. Along with the “English” scarpered, slag, coif, aggro, suss out, caff, rozzers, poofter, rolling in lolly, bricking it, done a bunk, cosh, recce, ginger look, we also have Pakistani meri-jahn, dupatta, lena-dena, and the traditional references, Allahu Akbar, J’uma, halal, mirab, shahada. We also have a smattering of German and French, where an international smuggling operation is unraveled. We are given the wonderful pun using fete and fait accompli.
The hero, Barbara Havers, juggles her job, her hopes, her loyalties. But she uses words to mean what they say, despite the complications in her immediate circumstances, and “despite the uncertainty they gave to her future”. ( )

The elegant Lord Lynley is on his honeymoon so Detective Sargeant Havers takes over in this murder mystery that highlights racial tensions and the Pakistani experience in a shabby English seaside village. A young Pakistani bridegroom is found murdered just days before his arranged wedding to a young English woman of Pakistani descent. Barbara Havers must navigate the prejudice of both the locals and the Asian community leaders in order to solve the crime. Elizabeth George is a master at her craft but I found that the story was overwritten and much too long. ( )

BOOK # 17

REVIEW: This is my third George novel, and, once again, I really enjoyed it. I think my favorite part of her books are the characters. While the murder is the catalyst for the novel, it is really driven by the characters- major and minor alike. I love getting to know each player intimately without bias. I also enjoy how no one is free from speculation- even characters you begin to enjoy can end up on the doggy side of things.

FAVORITE QUOTES: In her presence- even at a distance and in the growing darkness- Barbara felt as she'd felt when they'd taken their courses together: a candidate for liposuction, a wardrobe makeover, and six intense months with a personal trainer. // She liked to consider herself a bird whose moral fiber wouldn't allow the rank dishonesty of doing anything more than pinching the cheeks for a bit of colour in the face. But the truth was, given a choice between painting her flesh and sleeping for another fifteen minutes in the morning, she'd spent a lifetime selecting sleep. In her line of work, it seemed more practical. Thus, her preparation for the current day took less than ten minutes, and four of these she spent digging through her haversack, cursing, and looking for a pair of socks. // "Yes. Well," Barbara said, "I'm sure the motorway of your life is completely littered with sexual roadkill and all of the corpses are grinning ear to ear. At least in your dreams. But we aren't dealing with dreams, Trevor. We're dealing with reality, and reality is murder." // So, the compromise was accepted, as are most compromises: Everyone agreed to it; no one liked it. ( )