This was my second Elizabeth George book; I really enjoyed In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner before it. But somehow I didn't get the same thrill from this: it started out well, but lost its appeal in the second half. It seems as though George gives equal weight to each of the suspects, so in the end I lost interest in who had actually done it. Probably good for a long journey or holiday, though: if you keep the reading pace up then it should keep you entertained. ( )

I am trying to find other authors to read, and picked Elizabeth George's book up at a book sale. Alas, I couldn't get into this at all. Maybe later in life, but right now, my need for a book to read is stronger than trying to figure this book out. ( )

Gideon, a smart young boy, with great musical talent has lost his abilities. Two or three hit-and- run murders happen and detectives are baffled as to who committed them. The plot revolves around the murder/death of Gideon's little sister several years prior. This sister had down syndrome. The ending indicates that the father committed the murders trying to hide the cover-up the earlier murder of his child. ( )

Am I alone in thinking that this book was too damn long, that perhaps Elizabeth George could have cut the manuscript by 400 pages and still have maintained a brilliant plot? For certainly, it is a gripping plot, however many disagreeable characters it may contain.

When you pick up a Lynley/Havers mystery, you expect to see Lynley and Havers at their finest. Instead, we're taken into what may be one of the creepiest and dysfunctional families in literature. You could hardly sympathize with any of them, even poor Eugenia, the victim of a hit-back up-hit again-and run. It seemed that every outside person this family would touch would be tainted with their lunacy.

The most redeeming thing about this book, however, was the cheerfully ambitious Winston Nkata. He's really coming into his own character in the series, and I think he compliments the teamwork of Thomas and Barbara admirably.

Of course, at the end is the ever expected moralizing between Lynley and some other character he seems to be neurotic about at the moment. Those can be expected in every Elizabeth George novel, and boy howdy, can I be dead-pan and state that I can't wait for the next enlightenment in the next novel?

The very ending, you know, the last page or so...well, it wasn't very clear what happened exactly, but I like to think it came to the worst possible conclusion. Some people just annoy me, and the female character in question really needed a good punch in the mouth, or something similar.

Not bad at all, a bit infuriating considering you're sick of the book by page 700 and you have another 300 pages to go, but worth the read if you have plenty of time to kill on one book. ( )

This one was harder for me to read of her books. There was no resolution in the end, not that there really could be, but it was emotionally draining. I also found the format - switching between the narrative and the diary distracting. ( )