Deception on His Mind

Elizabeth George has to be one of the best mystery writers practicing today, and ironically, as an American writing about British settings and characters. Sgt. Barbara Havers plays a dominant role in this book that rivals Ruth Rendell’s Simissola in its treatment of racial issues. Barbara is convalescing from a particularly severe beating when she learns that her neighbor Taymullah Azar, a Pakistani university professor, and his daughter have left for Balfordle- Nez to assist with a family matter related to the murder of a fellow Pakistani who was to be married to Sahlah, daughter of his cousin Muhammad Malik. The Maliks are wealthy owners of a famous mustard factory. Afraid that Taymullah will be in over his head with the local show more constabulary and racial tensions in the town, Barbara decides to follow along and volunteer her services in the investigation. The local DCI (Detective Chief Inspector) is Emily Barlow, a friend of Barbara’s, and soon Barbara and Azar are swept into competing roles as they are drafted to act as spokesmen for their respective groups. Muhammad is convinced the police will cover up any Anglo killer and try to pin the murder on a local Pakistani. The dreaded “Pakis” are hated by most of the local community, and by the local DCI, as Barbara soon realizes to her dismay. George does a great job of building suspense, dealing up a host of possible suspects, and the book simmers with racial unrest. George shows racial perspectives from all sides and the cultural differences leading to assorted suspicions are nicely portrayed. I listened to this book on tape on assorted weekends. It’s very ably read by Donada Peters, who is rapidly becoming one of my favorite readers, and I must admit to mowing a little more than necessary in order to complete a chapter. The ending regretfully leaves us hanging for George’s next book, In Pursuit of a Proper Sinner to discover what will happen to Barbara following her extraordinary actions in the boat chase at the end of the novel. But I’m already revealing too much. You will not be disappointed. show less

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 show more 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”. show less

Despite liking the series overall, I almost didn’t finish this one for a couple of reasons. First was the overarching theme of racism and hatred. It’s so pointless and, in this case, rich coming from the Brits whose own countrymen invaded, corrupted and politically bankrupted many countries in the Indian subcontinent. They weren’t the only ones though, the Asians did their share (it’s odd to think of Indians or middle-eastern people as Asian since Americans use that term for people in Asia proper, not elsewhere.) After a while I skimmed and skipped a lot of the hateful bits, especially with Yumn and the twisted Mrs. Shaw.

The second thing was Havers herself; is she supposed to be a simpleton? She’s overly backward and idiotic show more and without Linley to reel her in, she’s off the leash. A haversack FFS? An 8-year-old as her only friend?

But I persevered.

On the plus side was the fact that I figured the guilty party well ahead of the reveal. I also knew Querashi was gay and doing his best to indulge and hide it. That made me think of the only person who would benefit if he was dead. Salah disgraced and more imprisoned than ever. If she got out, Yumn would be at the bottom of the pecking order and she couldn’t tolerate that. I don’t know how any of them do it, frankly. It’s inhumane and only keeps the whole society down.

What is it with British books featuring an all asshole cast? Seriously, no one was sympathetic apart from Salah, but she wasn’t exactly likable. She was a doormat. I couldn’t stand Rachel she was such a blind, interfering jerk. Malik, well he’s repulsive and I also figured that he had to be a human trafficker; nothing else besides drugs could make him that rich that quickly but the circumstances didn’t line up with drugs. DCI Emily Barlow got to be a reactionary hothead. There really wasn’t any one to root for or to like. Well, I guess there was the little neighbor girl. I think I’m going to hang up this series for a while. show less

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 show more 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) show less

This is my favorite in the Lynley series after the first one, A Great Deliverance. I didn't find it quite as powerful, that first book in the series moved me to tears. In this one Inspector Thomas Lynley is off on his honeymoon so his partner Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers--who was battered emotionally and physically in her last case--is on her own. And instead of taking the rest Lynley urged on her, Havers heads to Essex where a murder case is setting off racial tensions between English and the immigrant Pakistani community. One involving her neighbors Azhar and his eight-year-old daughter Hiddayah. And involving as well Emily Barlows, an up and coming Detective Inspector heading the case who Havers greatly admires.

I did miss show more Lynley. I think Havers and Lynley are at their best together. I don't mean that in a shippy way, but that as characters I think they play off each other beautifully. However, even when missing from the action, Lynley has a constant presence in Havers's mind, and it's even more evident in this book than past ones he's had an influence on her--that she's learned from him. On the other hand, Lynley has some baggage--the St Jameses and Helen Clyde--and given I'm none too fond of them, I did find it a bonus that Lynley's absence meant we didn't have to deal with them or the soap opera aspects they bring with them.

And I loved Haddiyah, and what she brings out in Havers. The last 70 pages or so were suspenseful and moving and if you can be proud of a fictional character, well I'm proud of Havers at the end. She's come a long way from the character we met in A Great Deliverance. show less

the one in which barbara havers leads the way! this was so enjoyable. save for the briefest of moments at the beginning, lynley is not in this one, and george moves the story to the essex coast, for a summery-hot mystery.

muslim culture and racism serve as the anchors, when a recent pakistani immigrant is found murdered in an english seaside town. havers, on leave recovering from injuries, follows her neighbours - azhar, and his daughter hadiyya - when they leave london suddenly, to help with a 'family matter.' a race riot in essex has been on the news, and the timing seems too coincidental for havers. leading up the investigation in essex is emily - an old police college classmate of havers' - and emily allows havers onto the case.

as show more with her stories, george spins quite the web, with characters and strands coming and going. i had actually figured this one out fairly early on (the whodunnit part, anyway), but george still manages to create surprises along the way. one aspect of the plot felt too unresolved for me sahlah is raped by her brother (because he clues into the fact sahlah and theo (a white man) are in love) and becomes pregnant... and while her brother is guilty of human smuggling, takes off for Germany by boat in escape, and is rendered non-existent by his family, what happens with sahlah and her pregnancy is not revealed. sahlah had wanted to get an abortion to save her family the shame. she tells theo the truth about her pregnancy... but then what? does sahlah's family then know their son raped their daughter?? does she abort? what happens to theo? this arc needed much more clarity for me. still, havers is a delight in this one, and she manages to land herself in way more hot water than usual. as well... is there romance in the cards for havers?? tune in next week, folks! 😊 show less

This Inspector Lynley mystery picks up not long after the end of the previous installment, In the Presence of the Enemy, with Havers injured and Lynley getting married. As a result, the book features a lot of Havers on her own, which works against one of the main joys of the series: the interplay between Lynley and Havers. Neither character is as interesting when by themself. As a result, Deception on His Mind is a fairly standard mystery novel, with the usual twists and turns and false leads. It is annoying that the characters spend a lot of time chasing down a lead the reader knows is clearly false from the prologue. Also, there's a lot about racial tensions between the "English" and some Pakistani immigrants in a seaside town, and show more the novel seems to want to be a hard-hitting examination of racism, but it doesn't really succeed, since all of the racist characters are just all around awful people. I did quite like the character of Azhar, though, and Barbara gets a great moment in the story's climax, which really worked for me. show less