With No One as Witness

Oh my, I had forgotten how compelling Elizabeth George's books can be. Although this book is long (627 pages) I plowed through it, often reading far into the night. George's main characters, DI Thomas Lynley, DC Barbara Havers and DS Winston Nkata, felt real to me. I agonized with them through their problems and exulted when they had some success.

In this book, Lynley is heading up a serial killer investigation. Adolescent boys are being killed but it isn't until the fourth boy that the police twig to the fact there is a serial killer at work. That's when New Scotland Yard is called in and Lynley and his team start to do their thing. It is Barb Havers (recently demoted to the rank of Detective Constable) who discovers the connection show more between the boys and an organization called Colossus. This organization is devoted to turning boys and girls from a life of crime but it appears that someone is determined to kill them instead. Even while the situation at Colossus is being investigated two more boys are killed. Assistant Commissioner Hillier is feeling the pressure from the press and he agrees to have a journalist imbedded in the investigation. Lynley and Hillier, already at odds, argue about this but Hillier is adamant and the journalist wants to start with an article about Lynley. The Inspector agrees to this in order to keep the journalist from hindering the investigation but when the killer calls him after the article is printed and mentions his wife Helen, Lynley wonders if that was a wise strategy. As Havers and Nkata continue to investigate and the head of Colossus is doing her part to determine if the killer is someone inside the organization, Lynley has his hands full with the journalist and the profiler Hillier insisted upon. Slowly, slowly the pieces start to come together but Lynley has a personal tragedy to deal with and can't help. The ending is worthy of a movie but not an American thriller with Bruce Willis, more of an English movie with Sean Connery. show less

I've struggled with the last few Lynley/Havers stories, but somehow Elizabeth George is right back on track with this one.  The characters are actually working together, the mystery actually starts right at the beginning, and I actually never had to force myself to keep on reading.  It's not the very traditional mystery structure of most of her other novels, as in this case Lynley is put in charge of a big Scotland Yard effort to stop a serial killer at work in London.  But it works despite that; indeed, the parts of the novel that work least well are the most traditional, as Havers talks to person after person in a youth outreach program.  It takes a better writer than most to make the internal politics of a youth outreach program show more interesting.  But the rest-- the methodical, slow hunt for evidence, often grasping at straws, as the killer operates with impunity-- makes for good reading.  It's horrifying at times, but that's George at her best for you.  Havers gets a chance to shine here, more than she has in any of these novels for what feel like a long time.

I still wonder why she hates Havers so much.  I mean, Lynley has his faults, but they're the kind of faults that aren't really faults: he's too forthright, he cares too much, he's too responsible.  Oh, how dreadful for him.  On the other hand, Havers's inability to dress herself reaches new heights of absurdity in this installment.  Cut the poor woman a break and let her wear a nice pair of pants without a ketchup stain on them, okay?

There's a big "shock" at the end, or rather there would be if I cared about any of the characters who weren't Lynley, Havers, Taymullah, Hadiyyah, and Nkata.  Okay, that's more than I thought, but why is the rest of the supporting cast so... insipid? show less

With No One as Witness. Elizabeth George. Each time I think George has written the best Inspector Lynley book ever, she surprises me with an even better one. Everyone is here. Lynley is put in charge of a serial murder case with racial overtones, by the obnoxious,Assistant Commissioner Hillier. Hillier promotes Winston and drags him into the spotlight just because of his race. and includes Havers only because Lynley insists. And St. James is called in as a consultant. Hillier makes mistake after mistake and he and Lynley are always at odds. In addition to managing the investigation, trying to keep Hillier from ruining it, keeping Havers in line and protecting Winston and Havers from Hillier, Helen, Lynley’s wife is pregnant, and he is show more concerned about her. And the murders continue. Suspenseful and poignant. Do read this series in order to get the full flavor. show less

Brilliant writing, fascinating characters, and a challenging mystery, as usual--this time with the added "bonus" of a shocking and unexpected tragedy.

Helen Clyde/Lynley is such an awesome character. She is lighthearted but never flippant, emotional but never histrionic, introspective but never self absorbed.

The body of an adolescent is found arranged in an almost ritualistic manner. A sign left in blood on his forehead indicates that the murderer may be a serial killer. And indeed, once the death is looked into, several other similarly arranged bodies have been found - and no connection has been made because of the boys' race.

The investigation is assigned to aristocratic Superintendent Thomas Lynley and his team (including the newly demoted Constable Barbara Havers). To ward off allegations of institutional racism, Winston Nkata has been hastily promoted to Sergeant and must now attempt to fend off the press who want to make the most of his tragic background and the allegations that he is just the administration's golden boy.

I haven't show more read any of the other books in this series, but I felt like I got a good feeling for the characters and their motivations despite not having been around to experience their backgrounds. I enjoyed reading about the investigation, especially the fact that the detectives followed dead ends or leads that led to crimes not really related to the serial killings. I also liked the glimpses into the characters' personal lives apart from the investigation.

However, I found the parts from the point of view of the serial killer didn't really add much to the narrative. Unlike in similar books (Silence of the Lambs, for instance) these sections didn't really build up the tension or give a sort of twisted insight into the character. He just didn't feel...real to me. And I felt that the end was pretty rushed and not terribly satisfying.

Nonetheless I'm definitely interested in reading other books in this series. Not a new must-buy author, but just the sort of procedural that I've been looking for recently. show less

I don't even know what to say here. I think I am still just ticked. George had too much happening this book and I really think that she would have been better off just sticking with Lynley and Havers third person points of views. Adding in Winston, the bad guy, a woman, and several others started making me twitchy. With the book setting up a showdown with Lynley's new superior and then the book jumping to something totally unexpected (and made no damn sense) makes me wonder how this series continued after this. George does not seem to care for married couples (see St. James and Deborah) and she even showed that Lynley was hesitant after marrying Helen. It's so weird to me to just basically see that all of the people are 100 percent show more exhausting and then there's murder thrown in to make you want to bang your head a thousand times.

"With No One As Witness" follows Lynley on the trail of a serial killer. Lynley is also dealing with Webber's replacement, Hiller, who has an ax to grind against Havers and wants to use Winston as the "face" of the police force due to the serial killer targeting mixed race boys. George though not satisfied with this throws in some other things going on besides this.

Havers is dealing with getting her neighbor's child in trouble and fighting with the father about how he treats her. I seriously did not care about this story-line at all.

Winston is dealing with a well earned promotion, but knowing it comes with a lot of strings attached. He is also still thinking about the woman, Yas, he met in one of the prior books. The whole thing read too stalky for me so I was not happy about this story-line.

Lynley and Helen are preparing for the birth of their baby and Lynley is dealing with the machinations of Hiller. Hiller just sucks and there's no other word for it. Lynley is doing what he can to make sure Havers can get her rank back, but with Hiller throwing up roadblocks with journalists and a profiler, it doesn't look like it's happening.

Of course St. James and Deborah are in this and I still dislike Deborah. No she didn't do anything wrong in this one, but I just can't stand this character.

The writing was a chore to get through. I felt my attention wandering a lot. And then we had a plot twist thrown in that made me feel like I was reading a totally different book. And then it didn't work at all as a whole.

The ending...yeah. I got no words. show less

Totally flabbergasted by the climax which really came some way before the end of the book. I enjoy the interplay of the characters and their backgrounds - don't read them just for the crime solving but for the ongoing character development. Unfortunately one character is finished and another profoundly changed.