George crafts a careful tale where characters are slowly developed to show their multiple facets and secrets. There is nothing splashy about this novel, but it leads the reader through various assumptions and reversals which keep the rhythm going. This minutia helps create the final shock, expected but emotionally charged and thoroughly appalling.
While I would have preferred less details about tea and daily routines, I did very much enjoy the slow pace and the many story lines that converge nicely. ( )

(2015)George is back with the solid writing and storyline that I used to love. Lynley and Havers try to figure out how two women have been poisoned. An employee, Caroline, has been blackmailed by the author she is working for and devises a plan to keep her quiet. The deed she is covering up is the fact of sexual abuse of her sons in the name of keeping seizures from overwhelming them. The courtly Inspector Lynley and rougher-edged Sgt. Havers meet again for another adventure in genteel mayhem.Is anyone in England happy? Not to gauge by this latest yarn of George's (Just One Evil Act, 2013, etc.), which ranges from the white cliffs of Dorset to the whiter districts of London. Young William Goldacre, on the face of it, is aptly named: he has a girlfriend who's affectionate, if ?a pierced and tattooed creature? with an unusual-enough look to scare the country gentry, and he's a wizard in the garden, ?expert, visionary, artist, and laborer.? So why did Will sneak off and throw himself into the churning sea as if an extra in Quadrophenia? That's a question for psychologists to ponder. If, that is, they have a minute to spare, for the self-help author caught up in events turns up dead, too, and those on whom suspicion falls have problems of their own: the author's editor goes around with a PAD„a ?psychological assistance dog,? that is„while Will's mum, who's bound up in all this mess, may or may not be a pathological liar with a murderous streak. Meanwhile, Inspector Lynley, who knows his way around a martini glass and the Tate, finds himself in conversations about just why Sgt. Havers never bothers to fix her hair. Caught up in the slough of despond, the assorted cast should barely have energy to commit crime and cover it up, much less solve the mischief. Yet they manage to pull themselves together and do that heavy lifting. Heaviness, too, figures into the tale, as does depression, madness, jealousy, and the ordinary misunderstandings„a trademark George scenario, that is, including apparent mishaps that have more sinister causes.In her 20th mystery, George delivers just what she always has: storylines that take a long time to resolve and narratives that are a shade too long but that in the end are always satisfying.Pub Date: Oct. 27th, 2015ISBN: 978-0-525-95433-0Page count: 736ppPublisher: VikingReview Posted Online: Aug. 16th, 2015Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1st, 2015

Swedish review

Oanade konsekvenser Àr den första Thomas Lynley och Barbara Havers boken jag har lÀst pÄ flera Är, men det kÀnns inte alls som om jag har missat nÄgot trots att jag Ätminstone inte har lÀst de senaste 10 böckerna om inte fler. Jag mÄste erkÀnna att jag var lite tveksam till boken innan jag började. Men sÄ Àr den över 600 sidor lÄng och av erfarenhet vet jag att för att lyckats fÄ lÀsarna att inte tröttna mÄste berÀttelsen hela vÀgen ha ett flyt och tursamt nog hade boken det. Dock, mÄste jag erkÀnna trots att den inte pÄ nÄgot sÀtt var trÄkig sÄ saknade jag nÄgot med berÀttelsen, trots den intressanta storyn sÄ kÀnde jag att jag aldrig riktigt fÀngslades av berÀttelsen.

Barbara Havers har tydligen begÄtt grova klavertramp i ett tidigare fall och polischefen, Isabelle Ardery, hotar med att förflytta Havers om hon pÄ nÄgot sÀtt gör nÄgot överilat och det pÄverkar berÀttelsen dÄ hon mÄste bete sig exemplariskt. Men, hon har Lynely pÄ sin sida som en rÀddande riddare som försöker fÄ deras chef att förstÄ att Havers mÄste fÄ vara Havers, för det Àr dÄ hon Àr som bÀst som polis. Men Ardery Àr inte den lÀttaste att övertala, trots att hon och Lynely en gÄng i tiden tydligen var vÀldigt, vÀldigt nÀra varandra.

Fallet med den mördade författaren Clare Abbott Àr intressant Àven om det kÀndes som om det tog en lÄng tid innan allting kom igÄng, under de första 250 sidorna hÀnde det inte sÄ mycket förutom att Abbotts personliga assistents son tog livet av sig. Men sedan efter mordet pÄ Clare Abbott sÄ kom berÀttelsen igÄng och trots avsaknaden av spÀnning sÄ Àr boken ÀndÄ mycket vÀlskriven och intressant att lÀsa.

Efter att ha lÀst Oanade konsekvenser Àr jag Àr vÀldigt sugen pÄ att lÀsa om de böckerna som jag har lÀst och sedan ta itu med de som jag har missat. FÄr se bara nÀr jag fÄr tid till det...

Tack till Norstedts för recensionsexemplaret!

English review

This is the first Thomas Lynley and Barbara Haver book I have read in years. However, it did not feel like I have missed that much despite that I haven't read over 10 books (probably more). I was a bit doubtful towards the book before I started to read it. It's over 600 pages long and I know as a reader that the author really needs to be able to write a story that keeps the reader interested all the way and a 600-page book is tricky. Fortunately, the book manages to keep my interest all the way through. However, I must admit that I felt that something was lacking with the story. It was interesting to read, but I never felt totally engrossed with the story. But, I enjoyed reading about Lynley and Havers again.

Barbara Haver has apparently done something wrong in a previous case and Isabelle Ardery, the police chief is threatening to have her transferred if she does anything wrong again. And, that means that Havers have to behave and that's hard for her (but quite fun to read about). Fortunately, she has Lynley on her side like a knight in shining armor and he is trying through the book to make Ardery understand that Havers need to be Havers to work, but Ardery isn't easy to convince, despite that Lynley and she once upon a time actually were pretty close.

The case with the murdered author Clare Abbott was interesting, but it felt like forever for the story to get started. Not much happened during the first 250 pages of the book except that Abbott's personal assistant's son killed himself. But the story got more interesting after the murder of Clare Abbott. And, despite the fact that the book lacked any real thrilling moments was the book well-written and I enjoyed reading it.

I feel that now after reading A Banquet of Consequences do I want to read again the first book in the series and then read the ones that I have missed. I just need to find some time for that...

Thanks Norstedts for the review copy!
( )

I like Elizabeth George and her Lindley- Havers books, but not this one. The pace was slow,, and Haver's character is distorted so it is unlike anything in the other books in the series. I listened to only about 40% of the book. Maybe it got better, but I did not enjoy the experience and I have many good books to read, so I stopped. ( )

Great book. Keeps you guessing. Not as great character development as in previous books. Author kept using full name of Winston Nkata as well as Linley's car. Enough all ready. Just call him Nkata and a car. ( )