Inspector Lynley turned in his badge at New Scotland Yard and went back to Cornwall. When the story opens, Lynley is trying to deal with the death of his wife, Helen, by walking the cliff-side paths around Cornwall. When he comes upon a young man dead at the bottom of a cliff, he breaks into Daidre Trahir's cottage to call the authorities. However, she does not have a phone and comes home while he is in her house. She is a veterinarian in London, but has some secrets that seem to implicate her in the murder. After cleaning himself up from over a month of walking and sleeping rough, Lynley is asked to help in the investigation, particularly with Deidre's secrets. He asks Barbara Havers to look into her background, which Barbara does on her way to Cornwall, but does not tell him that she has been sent to help with the investigation and keep an eye on him. The lead investigator is a divorced woman, DI Bea Hannaford, with a 15-year-old son, Peter, who wants his parents to get back together. She has an interesting relationship with her ex-husband, Ray, an Assistant Chief Constable. The victim, Santos Kerne, was murdered by someone tampering with his cliff climbing equipment, a crime almost impossible to solve since there were many people who could have wished him harm. He had just broken up with his girlfriend, Madelyn, who had been pregnant with his child, due to his promiscuous ways. Lynley decides to look into the background of Santos' father and discovers another death of a teenage boy 30 years prior. The book moves at a glacial pace with much description of the surroundings, the weather, preparation for the tourist season in the area, and surfing. Again, I was not happy with the ending, as I was not happy with the previous book. It is not as bad as the previous one, but not anywhere near her earlier efforts. ( )

(2008)Pretty good installment in Lynley/Havers series that finds the former Inspector Lynley on a ?walkabout? and discovers the body of a climber at the foot of a cliff who has apparently been murdered by tampering with his equipment. This story is less about who did it and more about characters, especially Lynley and DS Bea Hannaford who is the lead detective locally on the case. They must team up despite suspicions on both sides.Library Journal: This is the book Inspector Lynley fans have been waiting for ever since George dropped the bombshell of Helen Lynley's murder at the end of With No One as Witness. Thomas Lynley, grief-stricken in the wake of the death of his wife and unborn child, sets off walking around the southwest coast of England. On the 43rd day of his walk, Lynley comes upon the body of a young climber who has fallen to his death. When police discover that the equipment of the fallen climber has been tampered with, Lynley gets caught up in a murder investigation. New Scotland Yard sends Lynley's old friend and foil Barbara Havers to help with the case (and to keep an eye on Lynley). The victim 16-year-old lothario Santo Kerne had many enemies in the small Cornish town of Casveyln, so the investigation of his murder is satisfyingly intricate. In keeping with George's standards, both the inspectors and their many suspects are complex, fascinating folks, and, also as usual, they all have dramatic, if a bit unbelievably dire, back stories. Highly recommended for all mystery collections.

Listened to this on audiobook. Enjoyed the British accent of the reader. :P As for the book... Mysteries aren't really my thing. I honestly usually find them incredibly tedious. Elizabeth George, however, I do actually like. Her writing style is a cut above most of the genre fiction I've read (in her word usage, dialogue, and sometimes cinematic descriptions of scenes.) and Inspector Lynley is genuinely likable, imo. (I like to imagine him as a young Jude Law. Shut up! Don't ruin it for me. I don't care what he looks like in the show!)

Anyway, the mystery in this one? Eh. I kind of guessed who it was and then the ending sorta just fizzled out. There wasn't a twist or anything exciting at the end. It was just...sort of...over.

I would read more of hers, but this was just meh. ( )

Lynley, still recovering, is hiking when he runs into the body of a boy who's fallen from a cliff while climbing. Things, as usual, aren't what they seem.

Lots of characters to care about and suspect, and Lynley, broken as he is, struggling to deal with it all ( )

Least enjoyable of the P. George books. Too much about irrelevant subplots. ( )