I'm finally starting to forgive Elizabeth George for the events of With No One as Witness. I'm still not entirely convinced that I will ever return to my light hearted enjoyment of the series, but she's got her main characters surrounded by misery, as she best likes them to be, so I think there's some stability for now.
Altogether a pretty good read, and Lynley finally starting to be present in the investigation again, hooray. Very convoluted plot on this one. ( )

What to write about a big book like this? There are a few things.
First of all: I absolutely dislike Isabelle Ardery. What a character to bring into the series. I hope she'll either come round or will disappear in the next book.
Lynley probably has lost his way. I'm glad he's back in business, but starting an affair, and with HER of all people? No, no, no,no....

And then the other part of the book, where 3 young boys take and murder a toddler. So very like the happenings of several years ago when this happened in real life. Reading those parts sent shivers down my spine.

Al in all I enjoyed the book, it was what I expected of a book from this series: it's big, it's interesting to read for more than one reason and it's a thriller.
Look forward to reading another :-) ( )

One of her best that I've read so far. Lots of twists, but I confess I did begin to figure it out before the end. But why Thomas Lynley has to get involved with Isabelle Ardery is beyond me. ( )

Elizabeth George and PD James are my favorite crime writers. They are both wonderful writers who write complex, psychological suspense novels with well drawn characters.

Having said that, George’s latest Inspector Linley novel falls somewhat short of her previous work. Her new character, Isabelle Ardrey, acting superintendant, is barely developed at all. About all we find out about her is she is an abrasive, ambitious woman who is out of her depth in this case, has a drinking problem, and becomes the love interest of Thomas Linley (why mystery/suspense authors feel their main characters have to have a love interest in each book is a mystery to me). I am assuming she will be popping back up in the next installment, and perhaps her character will be more developed henceforth. We find out even less about the actual killer. The motivation for the killing is rather convoluted and flimsy, and you don’t even get a hint of what the motivation might be until about three-quarters of the way into the almost 700 page book. And that’s another problem with this book-it’s too long for no good reason. While I understand she doesn’t want to tip her hand in pointing out the killer too soon, there is too much wasted time on things that do not move the story forward, do not add to any character development and are of no interest to the reader.

The only character of any real interest is Det. Sgt. Barbara Havers. Barbara, the disheveled, chain smoking, socially inept, politically incorrect, renegade of the force has now become the de-facto main character in this series, as she is the most fully developed character. Perhaps George should think about spinning Barbara off on a series of her own-I’d read it.
( )

the one in which a new, potentially recurring, character is introduced.

not bad. the two related major crime storylines are each interesting, though the transitions between the two were bumpy throughout the story. (the first, an older crime. the second, the current mystery.) the older crime was a devastating punch to the heart. the new crime was a roundabout bit of weirdness. and while i didn't mind this book, i felt like it could have been edited down by a couple hundred pages. and as for the introduction of this new character... well... nope. 😊 ( )