5 comments about A Suitable Vengeance.

1. After reading WITH NO ONE AS WITNESS, I had to go back and re-read A SUITABLE VENGEANCE by Elizabeth George so I could refresh my memory of the intertwining relationships between Inspector Lynley, Lady Helen, St. James and Deborah. This is a beautifully rendered novel as Ms. George explores the painful history of the four main characters' relationships-- and Lynley's unhappy family relationships.
   
   The mystery is suitably intriguing as Lynley battles against the fear that one of his relatives may be involved in a brutal crime. It is also fun to go back and see the early days of Barbara Havers and Lynley, before they became partners.
   
   This remains one of my favorites of Elizabeth George's books, one that I will probably read several more times.



2. In A SUITABLE VENGEANCE by Elizabeth George, the author explores the back-story between Inspector Lynley, St. James, Deborah and Lady Helen. During a rare weekend visit to his estate in Cornwall to celebrate his engagement to Deborah Cotter, Lynley becomes involved in the vicious murder of the local newspaper publisher. During the course of solving the crime, Ms. George delves into the history of St. James' accident, the relationship between St. James, Lynley, Deborah and Lady Helen, and the reason for the estrangement between Lynley and his mother and brother. While Ms. George always makes sure that her mysteries are solved, she does not always have happy resolutions for her characters. Reading this book only makes some of the later books in the series more poignant as it deepens the reader's understanding of all the characters. This is a fine book that will definitely touch your heart.



3. I enjoyed reading the first three books in this series. Each was an improvement on the previous one. But this book is awful. The fact that this book is a prequel to the series does not affect my review. But the writing is just terrible. The characters make the most outlandish and hyperbolic statements. No one talks like these characters! Their behavior is often at odds with their characters. Written in the style of a harlequin romance; there is absolutely nothing subtle about emotions or reactions. I think that the book was plotted in advance and the characters were written to meet the requirements of the plot. Never mind that none of the characters behave in a realistic manner. Never mind that the characters are only caricatures. I cannot recommend this book to anyone.



4. Written in the early 90's ...who would believe an entire household playing head games with attempted rape, addiction, violence and deceit, not to mention marital abuse, and murder most foul? There is an elephant in the middle of the room in every scene. Painful to watch everyone pretending that everything is just fine. A bunch of royal misfits who are pathetic. Surely a murder mystery could have SOME minor characters with a bit of spine. I have run out of patience to see if anyone will eventually behave in an interesting or authentic manner. Think I will return my copy half-read. Ms. George does seem to stress the down and dirty and violent. I loved the PBS series, Inspector Lynley.



5. I couldn't get into this book at all. I kept waiting for the mystery and all I got was slow-going personal information.
   
   I was also very confused in the beginning as to who was whom. I enjoy brief physical descriptions of characters and there was not much of that. My imagination couldn't get a grasp of these characters at all and I just couldn't relate to or identify with any of them.
   
   I had to put it down after 100 pages. I didn't want to waste my time.

5 comments about For the Sake of Elena.

1. A very enjoyable read - E. George's mysteries are definitely a cut above the usual. I enjoy the dynamics of the relationship between Lynley and Havers. I did think that the relationship between Lynley and Lady Helen was a bit over-wrought and I did get tired of how much time was spent on it.
   
   But overall, I enjoyed the book.



2. I love novels that do character development well. In the typical English murder mystery, the victim is usually a bloodless body which quickly disappears from the story after dying. A department store dummy would serve as well.
   
   The beauty of For The Sake of Elena is that Ms. George does a thorough and fascinating job of describing the victim. Elena is an unusual character as well in that she lives somewhere between the hearing and the deaf world, finding solace in neither one. As a spirited woman with strong opinions, she finds herself able to twist the people and events around her into new directions.
   
   In the background, Lynley uses Elena's death as a reason to pursue Lady Helen to Cambridge where she has gone to avoid him. His haunted pursuit of Lady Helen will ring strongly with those who love romantic novels. Barbara Havers also finds herself torn between pillar and post in trying to care for her aging mother while maintaining her career. Lynley and Havers soldier on through this complication in a way that will remind you of an old married couple dealing with adversity. It's solid stuff!
   
   The book's major disappointment is the murder mystery. It's painfully transparent, and the red herrings are too obviously red to be any good.
   
   Had Ms. George planned to write a romantic novel instead, this book would probably have worked much better as she magnificently displays all of the positive and negative aspects of attraction and romance for your full consideration.



3. When a deaf university student is found murdered on her daily run, the college is in an uproar. When Detectives Thomas Lynley and his partner Barbara Havers investigate they discover the various intrigues in the girl's life: she was pregnant and sexually involved with several men, including a professor. Meanwhile, her jealous mother and stepmother clash, and it is discovered that her father was having an affair. Red herrings abound in this satisfying, intriguing mystery, and the murderer is almost impossible to see coming.



4. This book gives a new dimension to the term "bad". The characters are either totally improbable or equally totally unpalatable (some are both), their self-conscious soul-searching is fatuous and lacks any credibility or basis in real life. One can't help feeling that the "heroine" was an utter bitch who fully got what she derserved, although I doubt that this was the author's intention, and in the end it was, of course, all the men's fault.
   
   The author knows zilch about the English upper classes. A gentleman with a monogrammed handkerchief, children of an upper class mother calling their aunt "auntie", to name just two of countless whince-making gaffes... It is incredible.
   
   Pity one can't award "minus" stars!



5. Elizabeth George is a modern day Agatha Christie. Her books keep you guessing until the end!

5 comments about Sign of the Beaver.

1. This is a great book about a boy who forms a friendship with and Indian boy named Attean, and in fact with his entire family. I found it a pleasure to read, because it offered a different historical perspective than most books that come from the white man's perspective. While Matt was white, most of the book is filled with his interactions with the Indian people. We get a glimpse of how they lived, and how very practical it was as opposed to the white man's way of life. It was more in tune with the land, for sure.
   
   I'm getting off track, but I was very touched by the story. Matt is essentially invited to join the Beaver tribe by Attean and his grandfather, and Attean calls him his brother. The warm acceptance that grew between the two boys was heartwarming, and toward the end it brought tears to my eyes, but not due to sadness; instead due to the love the two boys shared.



2. I have used Sign of the Beaver as a read aloud just about every year I have taught! I teach 4th grade, and have always had great reviews from my students. The text and vocabulary are advanced for some fourth graders, so it is a terrific way to expand their vocabulary and knowledge without having frustrated readers. I have collected a class set over the years, allowing every child to read along. I highly recommend this book!



3. The voice reading Sign of the Beaver was pleasant and easy to listen to. Since I was not listening to the whole book in one sitting, it was difficult to find where on the CD I left off. It would be more efficient to have the track for each chapter labeled on the CD.



4. This book is captivating and impossible to put down even now as I approach age 30. As a girl I found it spellbinding, the kind of book that makes your own world and time dissolve around you and casts directly in the life and time of the characters. It is far to rare that an author can weave that kind of story. Elizabeth George Speare certainly has that gift. Don't hesitate to buy this for the children in your life. Also by E. G. Speare be sure and check out The Witch of Blackbird Pond and one of my all-time favorites, Calico Captive. Enjoy and keep a clock nearby as you're surely going to lose track of time while reading this book.



5. As a fourth grade educator, I would never introduce this book to my students as anything else other than an example of popular culture that perpetuates stereotypes of Native Americans. Attean and other Native American characters speak in broken English, giving the reader the impression that these characters are inferior to their White counterparts. The terminology used is highly offensive (squaw)for both Native people and for women. The relationship that Attean has with girls in his tribe as well as with animals is unrealistic and down right inaccurate. Joseph Bruchac and Michael Dorris are two authors which do an excellent job of writing from the Native American perspective.

No comments about In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner.

No comments about A Place of Hiding.

No comments about With No One as Witness (Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers Novels).

5 comments about Playing for the Ashes.

1. How grateful I am to have recently stumbled upon Elizabeth George's extraordinary mystery novels. I have acquired all of them now, but after reading two in a row, I feel I need to come up for air.
   
   Playing for the Ashes is a heart-rending example of the law of natural consequences, not only for the self-flagelating Olivia and her savior, Chris, but also for all the other pain-wracked characters. The ARM storyline gave me strong ambivilent feelings: as an animal lover, I was horrified; as a possible future beneficiary of medical research, I was grudgingly accepting. Lots of parallels existed between Livie and the broken animals she rescued.
   
   And, speaking of parallels, in the light of her last request to her mother, I felt like Olivia had spent her entire life "playing for the ashes."
   
   If you have a tendency to skim over parts of dialogue to get the the "good stuff," don't do it in this case. Put the book down for a little while & then pick it back up & read and appreciate every word.



2. In this mystery, champion English cricketeer Kenneth Fleming is found dead as a result of arson. Because he doesn't smoke, the
   scenario looks like possible arson. The suspects include his wife and eldest son, as well as the older teacher and mentor with whom he has a complex relationship. Half the book is narrated by the wayward daughter of the teacher, who is dying from ALS and whose troubled relationship with her mother she is pressed to resolve by her animal-rights activist boyfriend.
   
   As usual, George does parent-child dynamics very well. Less interesting is the relationship between Lynley and his upper crust wife, but perhaps I'm in the minority.



3. Like allways in EG's mysteries, excellent plot and well-defined characters. She must have some studies in psychology! Made me loose some sleep, as I stayed awake reading... And it made me like Lynely even more, with all his stong and not-so-strong points, which make him "human" (if I can say that about a character...)



4. This is a great Inspector Lynley Mystery book written by Elizabeth George.. It is over 600 pages long and is a book you don't want to put down before you finished it.



5. I gather from reading other reviews that Playing For the Ashes is typical of Elizabeth George's work, i.e. it features lengthy (and I mean really lengthy) digressions involving characters who may or may not end up being important in the end. George appears to have an excellent ear for British English. She does what she does very well, but if you prefer a fairly straightforward police procedural, you probably won't enjoy this.

5 comments about Payment in Blood.

1. Elizabeth George takes the cool Scotland Yard Inspector Thomas Lynley and turns his world upside down. For unknown and possibly public relations reasons, Scotland Yard sends Lynley outside of his jurisdiction to Scotland to take over an investigation after a fetching playwright is found murdered in her bed.
   
   But, the guest in the adjoining room is Lynley's much beloved Lady Helen Clyde. To Lynley's chagrin, it turns out that Lady Helen has been sharing her boudoir. Naturally, she must be interrogated. How will Lynley bear up?
   
   Lynley is clearly distraught by dealing with the situation and is soon making big mistakes. How will that affect the investigation? Well, it's not good . . . but fortunately Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers is on duty with Lynley.
   
   Although this is a mystery, the book succeeds more as an investigation into the English class system and its weaknesses. With Barbara Havers standing in for every person in her role as skeptical seeker after truth, we see the rotten underpinnings of having a hereditary elite in place. How far has the rot spread? Well, you'll just have to read the book to find out.
   
   The mystery itself takes some tangled turns that will provide much entertainment.
   
   I graded the book down a bit. Some scenes didn't resonate with my impressions of this character from the last book. I thought that Ms. George had Lynley's head spinning a bit more than seems likely from what we learned about him in A Great Deliverance.
   
   The book is a very important one in the series though. Frequent references in future books are made to the events in this one. You will enrich your enjoyment of future books if you read Payment in Blood.



2. I have not long been a reader of Elizabeth George but in short time I have read every one of her books. I so highly recommend her that I would like to take an ad out for the best writer, of mystery fiction, I've read. I don't care which book you pick up, it will be excellent. And, each book has a surprise ending. I challenge anyone to know what will eventually happen anywhere from page one to 7/8th the way through! No stop, erudite entertainment.



3. Payment in Blood is my 2nd Elizabeth George book but certainly not my last. Besides being a good mystery story, it is also the continuation of Detective Lynley & Havers personal life. While her first novel, A Great Deliverance, focused on the prickly but determined Barbara Havers, this second novel is all about the charming but no less complex partner, Thomas Lynley.
   
   This murder mystery is set in a cold, gray, chilly castle in Scotland where a group of actors and their director are staying so they can work on a play written by the talented writer Joy Sinclair. Unfortunately, Ms. Sinclair is murdered on the very first night of their arrival to the remote castle. A dagger right through her neck, ugh. Scotland Yard is called and all the suspects are locked in a room while Lynley & Havers along with forensic scientist, Simon St. Allcourt gather clues.
   
   What made this story so interesting was the dilema that Detective Lynley faces when it appears that his good friend (aka love interest) Helen Clyde is in the room with the only access to the victim. Is she the killer? Is it the man that she is sleeping with who happens to be the murder victim's cousin. Lynley is conflicted by the desire to protect Helen but also by a burning jealousy to blame her boyfriend. In the pursuit of justice, the lines are a little blurred when Lynley allows this jealousy to get the best of him when he goes after the boyfriend with a vengeance. Is he on the right trail....read Payment in Blood to find out. I can't wait to read her next novel.



4. EG's eye for detail is superb and she deftly weaves a plot of byzantine intricacy against a background of wonderful Scottish scenery and thespian intrigue. So accurate is her narrative that one forgets that it is fiction, and picks up the occasional reference that goes astray - e.g. the Royal Scottish Police helicopter, but that it is truly nit picking. This is a an engaging read that fully entertains and leaves me looking for the next one.



5. Rereading this book after several years. Still a great book and much better than the TV version.

5 comments about Deception on His Mind.

1. I love Elizabeth George and her characters never cease to amaze me. The plot can be quite macabre and a lot of the scenes seem so real, it's scary. Great stuff to read!



2. Ths is my first Elizabeth George novel and won't be my last. The author is a very talented author and there was great character development. I will admit that I was somewhat disappointed in the ending as there were a lot of loose ends which were not tied up. I am HOPING there will be a sequel to this nvel so I can find out how everything turned out with her wonderful characters.



3. I plowed through this with my boots on. By the middle of the book it was interesting but not an easy read. That would have been ok, except by the time I waded through 600+ pages, I find she just zips up the book. There should have been even more pages! After all this, we are left with unanswered questions. If there is a sequel, I won't bother.



4. This is one of Elizabeth George's best novels, and I've read all of them. She takes on a tricky subject here, race relations between Indian/Pakistani immigrants and the white residents of small-town England, and is able to show how they play out not only in terms of the civilian population but also within the police establishment. And she does all this in the context of a Lynley-Havers mystery that will keep you guessing until the end!
   
   I won't give away the ending for those who haven't read it, but I will say that you NEED to read this book to understand fully the novels that come after it, as Barbara Havers suffers the consequences of her actions at the end of this one for quite a long time....



5. The 9th book in the series, this book features Barbara Havers doing some investigation independent from Thomas Lynley.
   
   While Barbara has had some time off from the "routine" of police work, she has become friends with the daughter of her new Pakistani neighbor. Soon her neighbors are off to the seaside on vacation mixed with family business. Shortly, Barbara learns that the business is murder. Barbara goes to the coast where she is asked by her old "mate", the head of police in the small seaside town, to help solve the murder, she finds that there are subtle undercurrents pulling the investigation in different directions. Was the murder motivated by love, jealousy, resentment, greed?
   
   I found this book intriguing, complex and challenging. Although I prefer reading Elizabeth George's books in order, this book also works as a stand-alone. However, if you start with this one, I can almost guarantee that you will want to read her others.

5 comments about Missing Joseph.

1. Missing Joseph is a powerful story about what it means to be a human being, a parent, a lover, a friend, a daughter and someone who misuses others. While there is a mystery in the book, the story itself transcends the mystery. The detection involved is skillfully designed to help illuminate Ms. George's main subjects.
   
   The characters involved build on past novels by looking more deeply into the relationships between Simon and Deborah St. James, Thomas Lynley and Lady Helen Clyde, and Barbara Havers and her mother. To extend those themes in new directions, Ms. George adds several new characters who are tied together by tragedy. These characters include a widowed local constable, an Anglican vicar, the vicar's witchcraft-practicing housekeeper, a reclusive provider of potions from herbs and her daughter. Seldom will you discover a book that develops so many characters in so many dimensions in one book. I found myself staying up past 1 a.m. to finish the story, and would have gone later had it been necessary.
   
   As the book opens, the vicar raises a fundamental question that resonates throughout the book: Where's Joseph? Originally asked in connection to the many images of Jesus and Mary, that question takes on haunting new meanings before the book ends.
   
   Even if you have never read another book in this distinguished series, I'm sure you would find this book to be a rewarding choice.



2. I liked this book from the eerie beginning to the very end. The characters are well developed and multidimensional, the atmosphere well rendered, and the whole book grew on me for a long time after I finished it (so much so that I reread it after a couple of years). When I choose an Elizabeth George as a present for someone, this is the one I end up buying.
   
   While I liked most books in the series, "Playing for the Ashes" and "A place of hiding" did not absorb me much and I had to make an effort to finish them (I have read all the others except her latest "With no one as a witness").
   
   Some of the characters got on my nerves in later books (mostly Deborah and Helen), and I could do entirely wihtout the nobility part, but I did not feel any of these flaws in this book.
   
   While it is not the first in the series (which is also quite good) it could be a good place to start for those who do not know this author. The only problem may be that the others might then not feel up to par. There is always something special with the first book one reads of an author that you end up liking, and this one is so good that it does not need this advantage...



3. Missing Joseph marks the half way point of my determination to read all of the Lynley/Havers George mysteries. Her series is most definitely in the tradition of the English mystery novel (although not as gritty say as Ruth Rendell) with a soap opera melodrama twist. She writes more in the vein of Christie and Sayers-a bit updated of course. They are very easy and pleasurable reads and George writes a palatable mystery. I let her unfold her story and really don't try to outwit the detectives. This novel,however, was pretty obvious from the beginning once you got into the Lanchester village and learned of the main characters. All the detectives did was discover the circumstances.
   
   Now my take on the characters so far. George writes in parallel storylines. It is more and more obvious as I get further and further in the series. I have read ( and I am a bit surprised concerning the dislike of Deborah) that George sees the character of Deborah more like herself. I like Deborah and her husband, Simon. In my opinion their marriage is an examination of contemporary marriage. And I find their entire love story very romantic in that it truly reflects a love based on unselfishness and deep commitment based on the needs of the spouse-trying to achieve a balance of the self with the couple.
   
   The balance between the couples, for me reflects the Shakespearean quote concerning life being a tragedy for those who feel and a comedy for those who think. Deborah, the creative artist/photographer, is our feeler. Simon, being a man is a wonderful combination of both-after all men are suppose to be natural problem solvers and that is why the couple conflicts but their mutual love is a strong foundation and what allows to continually search in how to make lemonade out of the lemons they have been handed in their life and marriage.
   
   Their marriage ( and I know Lynley and Helen eventually marry with dire consequences) contrasts greatly with the Lynley and Helen relationship. Both are basically "good" people without a clue as to what they need or what they want or what the whole concept of love is about. Talk about commitment phobics. For some unknown reason mystery writers,in particular,find this continual push/pull type of relationship desirable. George uses it to make the St. James marriage image the deeper one. Deborah chose -and in my mind, wisely-Simon. Lynley's concept of love and relationships and marriage rather unpalatable. Oddly he is a a misguided romantic and a realist-especially in regards to his social position. If he had not broken his engagement with Deborah maybe he would have been a better man and learned something. Instead I think he got the "right" marriage to the "right woman" as his social status would have demanded. Helen, although not without her charms and good heart-is not a romantic and is very much a realist. Throughout the novels when Lynley and Helen say they love each other (besides the hot monkey sex which seems to be a large part of the definition) I wonder what they are talking about. Their discussions are very superficial(except when discussing solving crimes)and seem always at cross purposes. So far In Missing Joseph this dance is very much so. Frankly I think George once she married them off found herself with no where to go and why after the marriage only two books of the four delved into the relationship. Lynley shallow opposed to St James depth.
   
   Maybe I will feel differently after I read a few more,especially With No One As Witness. Nevertheless George spins a wonderful yarn. I look forward to the second half.



4. As usual, Elizabeth George hits another home run with this book. Her natural talent to weave a mystery into the fabric of our favorite detective's increasingly interesting life is fantastic. Couldn't put it down -- but can never put her books down.



5. Shakespeare's wonderful sonnet begins "Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore," and when George brought in the character of Barbara Havers in the midst of trying to move out of her parents' house, I thought of the sonnet. Not because the writing compares to Shakespeare's, but because the story proceeds in waves. The wave of the main story -- the murder mystery at the center -- gets to a certain point, and then comes another wave of a different story, the problems in the St. James marriage, perhaps, or the angst of Maggie who is sexually active at 13, or the desperation of the local constable Colin who is romantically involved with Maggie's "Mum." Or Barbara Havers's reluctance to make the transition in her life.
   
   Then, perhaps, comes the main story again, but I've grown impatient while skipping large portions of the novel to get to the main story and find out what's happening with Lynley.
   
   Writing in waves with multiple points of view while developing the stories of several different characters might be an interesting way of structuring a novel, but it doesn't work for me. It impedes the forward motion of the novel, so that the story neither "hastens" nor "all forwards does contend."
   
   I left off the novel where Lynley has called Havers. I may yet finish it. Maybe.