Glaube der Lüge

Inspector Lynley #17

by Elizabeth George

Bernard Fairclough ist das Oberhaupt einer wohlhabenden und einflussreichen Familie, die ihren Sitz im Lake District hat. Nichts ist ihm wichtiger, als jeden Makel, der die schöne Fassade beschädigen könnte, zu vermeiden. Als sein Neffe eines Tages tot im See aufgefunden wird, erklärt die örtliche Polizei schnell, dass es sich um einen Unfall handelt. Fairclough, der dennoch jeden Verdacht ausräumen will, engagiert Inspector Thomas Lynley von New Scotland Yard. Und wie dieser schon bald entdeckt, gibt es einige Familienmitglieder, die einen Grund gehabt hätten, Ian Cresswell Böses zu wollen. Zusammen mit seiner Kollegin Barbara Havers in London kommt er den Geheimnissen der Faircloughs Schritt für Schritt näher - und entdeckt dabei hinter der Fassade das Trümmerfeld ...

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, British Literature, Audiobook

704 pages, Hardcover

First published January 5, 2012

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Susan Elizabeth George is an American author of mystery novels set in Great Britain. Eleven of her novels, featuring her character Inspector Lynley, have been adapted for television by the BBC as The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.

She was born in Warren, Ohio, but moved to the San Francisco Bay Area when she was eighteen months old. She was a student of English, receiving a teaching certificate. While teaching English in the public school system, she completed an advanced degree in psychology.

Her first published novel was A Great Deliverance in 1988, featuring Thomas Lynley, Lord Asherton, a Scotland Yard inspector of noble birth; Barbara Havers, Lynley's assistant, from a very working-class background; Lady Helen Clyde, Lynley's girlfriend and later wife, of noble birth as well; and Lynley's friends Simon and Deborah St. James.

This Elizabeth George is distinct from the other author named Elizabeth George (Christian author).

Series:
* Inspector Lynley

Reviews

[Charty · Rating 3 out of 5]

George is an infuriating writer. When she's good, she's very good, but she has a tendency to go overboard in her plots, descriptions, extraneous characters, etc. So where did this one fall? Well, for 1/2 to 3/4s of the book, I was hooked, enjoying the world, getting to know the characters, waiting for the mystery. Then the last 1/4 made be want to hurl the book into the wall.

Why you ask? Well, here's why (spoilers ahead).

First, there was no actual mystery. The ostensible crime was an accident and a convenient excuse to use Lynley to smoke out other, lesser crimes among a family (O, how George loves her some dysfunctional families).

Secondly, this book had a few too many extra plots and characters, which in the end, had little effect on the book and took away valuable time from the main thrust of the story and were irritating to boot. Among the plots and characters that could easily have gone: Zed the hapless reporter and his travails, Kaveh, Ian's lover, Ian's children Tim & Gracie. Especially Tim. George includes a bizarre, disgusting side plot for confused, hurting, messed up Tim, who not only physically attacks his aunt, damages his sister's prized possession, and convinces a pedophiliac photographer and film maker to use him in a pornographic film SO THAT HE WILL THEN KILL HIM AFTERWARD. W.T.F.!?! I still don't quite understand the relevance of George having this poor boy suffer like this. It added nothing to the story except gratuitous 'sex' that this could easily have done without.

Lastly Lynley involves Simon St James and his wife Deborah, god help us. I will admit, I loath Deborah. She's one of the most annoying characters ever, she's all emotional flailing and sticking her nose where it doesn't belong and once again, she makes a hash of things. She is instrumental in throwing an unstable main character into a panic and fleeing her life, thereby causing her to be killed. Her relentless 'investigations' into this woman's life resulted in her death. Both Lynley and St. James told her to drop the investigation, that there wasn't anything to investigate. Instead of leaving the hell enough alone, she has to be a stubborn, know-it-all bitch and a woman dies and her family is ripped to shred. She feels some guilt, but both Lynley and Simon rush to disabuse her of that notion, saying if this woman hadn't lived with secrets, she wouldn't have feared Deborah and her questions. BULLSHIT. But Deborah is never held accountable for her bumbling stupidity and I hope George kills her off.

Yeah, the last fourth made me want to burn the damn book.

There were a few bright glimmers. As always, Havers brings the funny and the ending of the book would seem to indicate that the next installment will be Barbara heavy. Also, the gross and unpleasant affair between Lynley and Superintendent Ardry is over - hooray! Also, she didn't figure much into the book. Hopefully she'll get demoted, transferred or killed off and we can all move on. Despite my quibbles, George is still a very good writer, her prose was nice and tight this time out, and she does often create compelling character portraits that keep you interested and turning the pages. If only she could find the right mix of character study, description, action and plot and then we'd all be happy.

[Karen Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would like to file a Missing Person’s Report. Name: Inspector Thomas Lynley, 8th Earl of Asherton. Description: Approximately six feet tall, blond hair, dark brown eyes, oozes class, intellect and emotional intelligence and an uncanny ability to read people. Inspires loyalty, desire and trust in equal measure from friends, colleagues and strangers.

For the last three Elizabeth George novels, at least, this Inspector, whom we know and love – the dedicated friend and partner of Sargeant Barbara Havers has absented himself. No, that’s not exactly right either – he’s there, but it’s as if someone else has possessed his body and mind and I want him back!

OK. Maybe I’m being unfair, but in the latest Lynley novel, Believing the Lie, George seems to have gone even further post-Helen’s death in re-inventing the grieving widower to a point there’s not much of the old boy left. In a sense, the fact he doesn’t appear until chapter three of this book, well after the main narrative is set up (sans Tommy), functions as an analogy for the minor part he plays in this current mystery.
Months have now passed since Helen died and Lynley is embroiled in a steamy affair with his alcoholic and neurotic boss, Superintendent Ardery. Quite apart from the fact that I never understood the attraction he feels for his unreasonable and demanding superior, when Lynley is sent to Cumbria by Hillier as a personal favour in order to investigate the accidental death of a friend’s nephew, he’s told to keep it secret. And he does. Not knowing why or where her lover has gone, and with him refusing to breach confidence, Ardery’s insecurities and unprofessional behaviour come to the fore making her more irritating and consequently Tommy’s attraction and efforts to placate her less plausible.

Taking his friends, Simon and Deborah St James with him, Lynley stumbles into a family full of secrets, lies and betrayals that have little to do with the reason he was brought there in the first place. But when Deborah and a reporter from the London tabloid, The Source, join forces to uncover the mystery of the Fairclough family, you know tragedy is just around the corner. Even if it takes almost six-eighths of the book to arrive.
As usual in George books, the writing is sublime. All the other characters are beautifully and, for the most part, believably drawn. Just as she did in What Came Before He Shot Her, George doesn’t steer away from the brutal reality of many young people’s lives and the choices they make and this story is no exception. Scenes are painted realistically – to the point you can smell the fresh air, hear the crunch of gravel underfoot, and smell the Pop Tart Havers is forever cramming down her throat.

For a novel that roughly sits in the crime genre, however, the main crime here, for me, is the absence of Lynley. As with the other books she’s written of late, the main character fades into the background and secondary characters dominate. Again, this might be all right for some, and the story is interesting, but this is a Lynley book and he simply doesn’t step up and wrest the tale or arrest the reader in ways that he used to. In fact, there is something listless and annoying about Lynley that there never used to be. Sure, he’s grieving for Helen, but that doesn’t mean he suddenly has to become all wishy-washy and turn into something he’s not. I can’t explain it better than that except a Lynley mystery this book wasn’t – and nor was it really a crime novel of the sort we’ve come to expect from George.

But, it was fascinating study of sexuality, familial ties and the psychology of a family unravelling. The climax was more anti than explosive as it’s not difficult to solve the puzzle George has tried to construct well before it’s revealed. That Lynley has a minor role to play in any of the action is at odds with his well-established character as well and is a bit of a let down for fans.
The book finishes with two endings (one of which will come as a relief to some) that set the scene for the next book – one that may yet relegate Lynley to the role of support character again. I sincerely hope not. I hope the Inspector is found, along with his mojo, because the series, as well-written and structured as it is, simply isn’t the same with this watery substitute.

Bring back Inspector Lynley – please! Grieving, confused, angry, yes - but with more of his old self as well!

[Evi G · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was appalled at the idea that even though no crime was committed, Lynley and particularly the loathsome Deborah, felt they had the right to snoop into the personal business of just about everyone, particularly Alatea. What they learned was really none of their damn business. Deborah is a stereotype of a self-absorbed, emotionally-governed female who lacks both reason and accountability . I cannot stand such women in real life and I hated her in the book. Come to think of it, many of George's female characters are incredibly flawed and none of them have the noble qualities of the male heroes.

The ironic part of the book is that although the book sneers at tabloid journalism, the whole book is an exercise in sensationalism, Lynley and his crew behave no better than the journalists of "the Source". Only a serious criminal investigation would justify such meddling, and there was no crime.

I used to be something of a fan of this series although I sometimes felt it veered into melodrama. I wish she had not killed off Helen. It has not led to good things.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Because I read a lot, people often ask me who my favourite writer is. How could you pick? There are so many. However, if I answer off the top of my head with my top five favourites, Elizabeth George is always in the mix. George writes complicated, intelligent, and thought provoking novels. Each book expands on the lives of her main characters. Some fade into the background, others come to the forefront, but always there are changes which impact the direction of her books.

Believing the Lie is not a typical murder mystery book. An accidental drowning death is questioned by the man's family. Inspector Thomas Lynley is sent to Cumbria to unofficially investigate the death and the coroner's findings. He is joined by friends Simon and Deborah St. James. Soon each of them are following different aspects of the case, driven by their own demons. George begins to skillfully weave a story about lies. Some are lies of omission, some are desperate attempts at self-preservation, some slip off the tongue too easily. The Fairclough family begins to crack under the pressure and deceptions boil to the surface. With a less skilled writer, the various story lines could have imploded. George manages to tie them all up, without pandering to happily ever after.

[Cara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh.

This is a phenomenally disappointing book. Technically, George is a great writer; but she used to marry that technical skill with interesting and believable plots and characters. Now, her strong writing style just emphasizes the many and glaring plot holes, inconsistencies, imbecilities, and out-of-character actions that make up the story.

In order to fully explain my disgust, I have to reveal spoilers because so much of the offensive content is concentrated in the last quarter of the book. For those who don't want to read any spoilers, be prepared for George to ask you to excuse Deborah's unjustified, unreasonable, and invasive behavior--and the horrific consequences--because Simon and Lynley do so (and the idea that Lynley would respond as he does in this book contradicts what we learned about him in the very first novel of this series, A Great Deliverance). Be prepared for Lynley to continue to be selfish when it comes to his interactions with Havers, and for Havers to continue to put Lynley's interests before her own. I could accept that pattern in the initial aftermath of Helen's death, when Lynley is understandably immersed in grief, but 8 months out, I expect him to remember that Havers and he are partners, and she's not his devoted servant (though that dynamic is increasingly played out between them). Be prepared for George to write a family so dysfunctional that almost everyone in it is prepared to sacrifice the happiness/well-being of another member in order to protect his/her own interests.

I share many reviewers' objections to the way that George portrays the sexual minorities in the book, the bizarre child pornography leading to suicide-as-murder story (and the unbelievable "happy" ending to that plot), Lynley's out-of-character and icky relationship with Isabelle Ardery (who becomes, somehow, even more unlikeable), and Deborah's horrific conduct and the offensive absolution that she receives from Tommy and Simon. I'd like to focus on two other issues: one concerning the unbelievably contrived reason for Lynley's investigation, and the other concerning Lynley's conduct towards Havers and his absolution of Deborah (and the implications for his character).

The major problem with the book's plot isn't that there is, in fact, no murder at the heart of it. It's that the wealthy mother of a recovering meth addict--who apparently is worried about his potential for relapse--would manipulate her unfaithful husband into getting Scotland Yard to covertly investigate an accidental death by implicating the known-to-be-innocent son in order to expose said unfaithful husband's lies. I think George expects us to be sympathetic to this 67 year-old mother who is betrayed by her husband and one of her daughters. But this same mother already knows about her husband's infidelity and its result before the book even starts. She just wants to expose and--using her words--humiliate him in front of his family.

So, instead of hiring a private investigator to expose the man that she plans to condemn before, ultimately, taking him back, she waits for the accidental death of that husband's nephew (a death she knows is accidental), and then initiates a convoluted plan to get an unofficial official investigation, all the while using her supposed doubt's about her own child's innocence as an excuse. Any sympathy I would otherwise have for this character dissolves into loathing over the callous disregard for her son (all the while claiming, of course, that she never meant to hurt him). "Really, son, I don't think you're a murderer--I just wanted Scotland Yard to think that so that someone could expose your father's double life."

Oh, and no one from Scotland Yard even suggests to her that this was an inappropriate use of limited police resources.

I could have gotten by that plot point, however, if George didn't continue to assassinate Lynley's character and the Lynley-Havers' relationship. One of the most infuriating things about this book--and the previous ones--is that Tommy pays more attention to the needs and concerns of virtual strangers (that idiotic potential love interest from Careless in Red, and now Isabelle Ardery) then he does to his long-term partner's, even though that partner has been unfailingly loyal and did, in fact, save his life. So, Lynley doesn't even notice that Barbara's teeth have been fixed, though he certainly noticed their poor condition when he first met her. He provides no support to her in connection with Ardery's "suggestions" that Barbara get a makeover--not even the support of saying that she looks good.

And then he asks Havers to do a lot of investigation when he knows that he has no authority to ask for her help and that her help could get her in trouble with Ardery. Tommy knows that Barbara will help, even if it gets her in trouble, which, of course it does. But does he show her any of the same loyalty? No. He takes no steps to protect Barbara from Ardery until it's too little and too late. And when Barbara calls him at the end of the book, with a legitimate crisis of her own, he can't step away from his roller derby watching (and, really, are you kidding us, George?) long enough to find out what she needs or why she's calling.

Finally, there's Tommy's reaction to Deborah. Deborah spends most of the book focused on someone who is never identified as a suspect, all because Deborah found a fertility magazine in the person's home. Deborah's relentless pursuit continues past all reason and sense--including the certain conclusion of her forensics expert husband that no crime was committed and Tommy's own judgment that Altaea's fertility issues aren't a factor in the investigation--because Deborah is still obsessing over her own fertility problems. So, she continues a ridiculous charade as a Met sergeant and hounds a woman to death. And when she finally evinces some introspection that she's behaved abominably, Lynley rushes in to assure her that Altaea's death wasn't her fault but the result of the "secrets and lies" Altaea carried. He then smiles "fondly" at Deborah and drives her home. Well-justified, if way too late, crisis of conscience, possibly leading to a less selfish and histrionic outlook, successfully averted!

Contrast this with Lynley's reaction in A Great Deliverance when Havers runs away with her assumptions about the victim's eldest daughter and ends up alienating and traumatizing the daughter--who has vital information that will help Lynley solve the case. Lynley blames Havers and makes it clear that he doesn't trust her or her judgment. But for all that Havers messes up, her actions don't result in death, and the witness is able to eventually provide the necessary information. So is it just red-headed neurotics that Lynley used to sleep with who get to act on wild assumptions and hound people to death?

I used to wonder why Lynley ever wanted to marry Deborah and why he continues to trust her judgment. Given the recent character assassination, I'm beginning to feel that Lynley and Deborah should get together so that they can feed each other's egos, and Simon and Havers can start a private detective business based on mutual respect and friendship--what I once thought Havers and Lynley had.

Ugh.

[Lyne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Believing The Lie would have to be one of the silliest
and most disappointing books I've ever read. As a great
fan of Elizabeth George's previous novels, I almost
feel affronted at being given this piece of utter
rubbish. Nothing about this book is believable, and the
worst thing about it is the utter contempt displayed by
Ms George for the true nature and personalities of her
beloved ongoing characters. No-one seems to know who
they are anymore. Barbara Havers as an example, would
never in a million years cow-tow to the spurious
suggestions of her acting superior by changing her
appearance so radically.
What has happened to the great partnership of respect,
trust and friendship between Lynley and Havers?
Why would Lynley, even in his utter despair and grief
after the murder of his wife, get himself involved with
the unattractive, self-important drunkard that is
Isabelle Ardery?
The whole premise of this book is flawed, I don't think
it was ever going to work. It's a book about nothing,
but unlike that famous tv series about nothing, it's a
failure.
Ms George has lost the plot, both figuratively and
literally. She wants us to suspend our disbelief to
epic proportions in asking us to go along with the
nonsensical behaviour and decisions made by almost
every character in this book.
If Ms George doesn't get rid of Ardery and put Lynley
back in his rightful position, that of solving murders
with Havers and Nkata, then sadly,I doubt I will bother
with any more of her books.

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh, let me count the ways I loathe this book. I generally love the series (count me as someone still missing Helen, but still, love the series). I like Lynley. I like the supporting characters. I like the attention to geography in each of the books. But the series seems to be spiraling out of control since Helen's death. And in this book, there's just so very much not to like. For starters, the mystery at the center of the book seems completely anticlimatic. Turns out there's not much of a mystery here, just a lot of exploring of lies in the lives of various characters. OK. Good to have a theme. But here, the lies are threaded through so many different overly dramatic stories that the plot would be better suited to a soap opera. And for all the research that went into the geography of the book, there was apparently very little research into some of the plot devices. Sexuality is consistently a problem here: all the gay characters end up miserable. There's a very creepy child pornography subplot that's completely unnecessary to the main plot, and is rooted in no understanding of teen sexuality that I've ever seen. There's a conflation of transgender identity/gay identity/cross-dressing. Simon, the rational scientist, appears to have read no literature on adoption. Deborah, increasingly whingy and self-absorbed, behaves abominably and is excused for this behavior by others. It's awful.

[Cookie M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the mystery part of the story was first rate, involving a very complicated family in which every member from adult down to the children are keeping dangerous secrets from each other, I am not as happy with the turn Thomas Lynley's personal story has taken since the death of his wife.
Why must these detectives always have unsatisfying personal lives?
I hope Ms. George straightens him out sooner or later.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Elizabeth George is a writer whose fortunes, I think, have waxed and waned. I’ve been reading her for years, pretty much since she published her first book. Although many of her novels have a London setting I think that she has been particularly good at embracing other English settings such as Cornwall and Derbyshire. She has also created an interesting dynamic not only in the professional workings of DCI Thomas Lynley and DS Barbara Havers but also in the interweaving relationships between Lynley, his wife Helen and their friends Simon and Deborah St James. However, perhaps under pressure from her publisher or possibly to inject new characters into her books, Helen was brutally killed in With No One as Witness. Her next book was the slightly odd What Came Before her Shot Her not really a crime novel at all although it did accurately reflect the condition of London’s sink estates. Since then, her books in my opinion have been a shadow of their former selves. They haven’t been terrible, just mediocre and I personally think that she has some further great books in her.

So I succumbed to the temptation to read this, even though I have some enticing books to read waiting in my bookshelves. Believing the Lie starts promisingly by sending Lynley up to Cumbria to investigate the accidental death of a nephew of a prominent industrialist who wants convincing that there was nothing more sinister to the mishap. This was a good move because for me one of the most irritating features of the last book was the new relationship that Lynley has embarked on with his boss, Isabelle. Even more promisingly he takes with him Simon and Deborah St James, two characters that I particularly like and who have only had minor roles in more recent books. However, the subsequent investigation into the suspicious death of Ian Cresswell was disjointed and slightly surreal. There is an ongoing theme in George’s books about the inability of Simon and Deborah to have children. This was once more woven into the main narrative but seemed removed from Lynley’s own investigations. I can see that ‘children’ was the central theme of the book, focusing on the relationships between parents and their offspring and the deep-seated fractures that can tear families apart. But in my opinion there was just too much going on and there didn’t seem to be much actual crime in the book.

The redeeming feature, for me, was Barbara Havers in London carrying out her own investigations. She is, as always an appealing character and her relationship with her neighbour Azhar, again focusing on the issue of children was at least very moving. This wasn’t a terrible book. It kept me going over some severe turbulence as I was flying across the Alps yesterday. But I think Elizabeth George needs to strip back her writing and get back to basics.

[Lewis Weinstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the strongest of the Lynley series. I thought too much of the story was told through the "story-specific" characters and not enough through the regulars, especially in the first 200 or so pages. Havers had a smaller role than I would have liked (she is my favorite character), and Deborah left her brains in some other novel. Perhaps too many story lines and sub-plots, some of them not quite believable.

Nevertheless, EG remains one of my favorites and I await her next novel.

[Marijn Woudstra · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am afraid the books by Elizabeth George on inspector Lynley and friends are becoming more uninteresting with each book that appears. It might be that I am getting older and am seeing the flaws in the stories much clearer than before. But when I was reading this book I realized that I was reading it for sentimental reasons only. I have being reading her other 16 books on Lynley as they appeared over a course of more than 20 years and still think that Playing for the ashes is a great novel, but I do realize that the stories and the character development is very thin and really, really: a transsexual, an illegitimate child, an cripple who is not a cripple, a reformed drug addict, a very disturbed teenager who want to get himself killed in a child pornography snuff movie all in one family is a bit rich, I thought.
And then I am not talking about how little stupid Deborah is behaving towards the two brilliant men Lylnley and St James, who are her ex-lover and her husband and who are both older and both so much smarter than she is. And there is the byline of the sexual relationship Lynley has with his superior officer who is an alcoholic and he is still mourning his beloved Helen (which doesn’t keep him from climbing in her bed within 8 months of the death of said beloved Helen) and the byline with Barbara Havers and her lovely neighbor whose kid end up kidnapped by her mother. And as I said, all of that in one book.
No, not good, definitely not good.

[Ellinor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a bit disappointed by this book. I've read all of Elizabeth George's books and loved all of them - until Helen dies. From this point on the books just weren't the same anymore. The mysteries seem very constructed and the characters sometimes act in very strange ways.
"Believing the lie" starts very interesting with Lynley being sent to the Lake District to investigate incognito the accident of Ian Creswell, the nephew of Bernard Fairclough who's a rich business owner. He asks Deborah and Simon to join him.
But that was about the good part of the story. From here on things get weird pretty soon. The characters' motives often aren't comprehensible and it is hard to imagine a journalist as naive as Zed. The most illogical part is Tim's story. It is obvious that he hasn't had an easy life but his plans seem very farfetched.
The reason I gave 3 stars is Barbara. As so often she saves the story.
I would recommend this book only to readers who already know the previous books. To understand the main characters' behaviour you need to know a lot about their background and this book just doesn't give these details.

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Believing the Lie (Inspector Lynley, #17) by Elizabeth George.

I was barely able to listen to 60% of this most uninteresting book. The early Inspector Lynley had charm, sophistication and Inspector Lynley. It's over for this series and ending on a bad note. It went on and on and on for no apparent reason other than to take up another page.

Definitely not recommended to any reader looking for an enjoyable book.

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a big Elizabeth George fan and I'm always excited when she releases a new book. That being said, this was not one of my favorites, mostly because it deals with sexuality, especially homosexuality, in the most lurid, sensational way. Let us recap. 1) The "murder victim" is gay. He ruined his children's lives by coming out and leaving them for his boyfriend. 2) His boyfriend refuses to commit to him and ends up marrying a woman to make his parents happy. 3) His son, thinking he might be gay, gets involved in a child porn ring in order to commit suicide (?!). This subplot was ridiculously sordid and unrealistic. Having dealt with the Digital Crimes unit at my company and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, I know that claims of child porn and child sexual exploitation are dealt with VERY SERIOUSLY, and anyone who came into a police office WITH CHILD PORN ON THEIR LAPTOP and said a child could be filming a porn movie RIGHT NOW would NOT be blown off and ignored. 4) The sexy beautiful woman character turns out to be transgendered and thus tragically DIES because she didn't have the guts to tell her husband about it. So therefore, all the sexual minorities have horrible terrible lives that are caused, more or less, by their sexuality. That is seriously fucked up.

Also, the investigation in this book was laughable; I don't believe for a second Havers could have tracked down the sexy beautiful woman's family just by calling random numbers in Mexico.

[Niki · Rating 1 out of 5]

I dragged myself through this book, all the while "believing the lie" that it would eventually be worth reading. I have enjoyed other books by Elizabeth George. However, while reading this one I continually thought that there was no point to any of the plot. How often does a top level police investigator waste his valuable time on some random aristocrat's special request, and on top of that, drag in some friends, AND they all have to pay their own way to carry out this wild goose chase. No crime was committed, but while slowly and painfully churning their way to that conclusion, the detective trio did plenty of stirring the pot, which inadvertently led to the death of one of the characters (Lynley tried to let his friend Deborah off the hook, but I hold her complete responsible). So while I slogged through the whole thing, I found it a complete waste and am totally disappointed. Any other plot resolutions bordered on the maudlin and sappy. I only read this book because I was desperate for something to read and some of the subplots were somewhat interesting. Another thing I dislike is the fatuous (to use a Brit term) language of the book. I dont even think Brits talk like that anymore In any event, it is pretentious and tedious. The only character remotely interesting is, as always, Barbara Havers.

[Alice Persons · Rating 2 out of 5]

This bloated book was a disappointment to me. I used to love George's Lynley series, but this one is far too long and has pointless characters, subplots and repetitive descriptions that should have been edited out. I hate it when a writer gets so successful that apparently she either can't edit her own work or no one else dares do it for her. Likewise, I dislike it when any book, but particularly an expensive book from a "name" publisher, has careless errors of the type a decent copy editor would have caught - "pour" for "pore", "whom" incorrectly used instead of "who", and other examples. (I've copyedited many books in my time, so these jump out at me. But they shouldn't happen.) The story itself is a weak one with no true mystery, and the actions of several characters stretch credulity and don't ring true, including those of Havers, one of the best characters in the series. Maybe George should have quit writing this series while it was still good instead of having it degenerate into this hot mess.

[Wyma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing and especially so for an Elizabeth George mystery starring Lynley and Havers. I think it was Deborah who ruined it for me, although she can't be blamed for all the tedious parts that ought to have been edited out. The mystery and Lynley/Havers' parts in it are rather minor in the scheme of this novel. What matters most are the subplots and the lives of the characters who make up the mysteries, of which there are several.

My favorite subplot had to be Manette and Freddie, the couple who have divorced, still live together as friends even while Freddie has started dating. Manette in particular is more fully drawn, a mature woman who means well and mostly does well but also has her faults and messes up more than once. She truly cares about the children in the story.

Next would be the beautiful Altea and Nicholas (brother to Manette) and the scion who threw away his youth on drugs and is struggling to make amends by bring derelict AA's to the family estate to rebuild an ancient fortification structure called a pele. They are unusual, he in his goodness and she in her mysterious background.

Although there are several suspects for the possible murder that occurs early in the story, there are no really evil people in this novel. The top three who could qualify are in order of greatest shame Niamh, Mignon and Kaveh. Their unethical and even immoral behavior results from their total disregard for the feelings of others, including those of their children, family, and lover. While clearly selfish and lacking empathy, they did not immediately strike me as sociopaths capable of the most heinous crime of murder.

Lynley and later Havers are brought into the plot in order to see if a murder has occurred. Lord Fairclough and his wife, parents of twins Manette and Mignon and Nicholas are the wealthy people who request that Lynley look into the matter. As they work on the case, the private lives of Lynley and Havers provide two more subplots. Lynley is having an affair with his boss, Isabelle Ardery, a not very likeable woman serving as acting Superintendent of Police at Scotland Yard. It isn't just that Havers doesn't like her, but we're not sure that Lynley does, though he comes whenever she calls. Havers's neighbor for whom she's had a crush, Azhar, has the mother of Hadiyyah living with him now, and there are mysteries surrounding this arrangement. Because we see Lynley and Havers in their "real lives," we tend to see them as almost real people.

The subplots and the working out of the crime are well written and suspenseful. Conclusions are logical and foreshadowed. There is a rich array of characters and more intricately worked out subplots than I could go into in this short description. It's just not quite up to what I expect from Elizabeth George. This Body of Death, the novel previous to this one, was excellent. Perhaps Believing the Lie suffers by comparison.

I would have forgiven the occasional tedium of this novel were it not for Deborah. I had been so pleased when St. James and Deborah made their way back into Lynley's stories since they were two of my favorite characters early on in the series. I do recall Deborah as being stubborn and unpredictable, but in this plot her actions seem more those of a truly troubled person and it seems to me that she does - accidentally - contribute to the circumstances surrounding a character's death. The author through Lynley leads us away from that conclusion, but I wasn't buying it.

Of course I recommend it as a piece of the Lynley/Havers saga and I can hardly wait to see what happens next to each of them.

[Antigone · Rating 2 out of 5]

I came to Elizabeth George at installment fifteen of her Inspector Thomas Lynley series (Careless in Red) - this on the heels of her delivery of a dramatic and unexpected blow to her hero that launched the story to the top of the bestseller lists. I wondered what the fuss was about and decided to take a shot. Curiosity without, one hopes, the cat killing. I'm now at volume seventeen and I can tell you that tabby's looking distinctly ill.

Our dashingly melancholy Inspector Lynley has been drafted by his higher-ups to investigate the accidental drowning of a wealthy man's nephew. Since this mission is to be off-the-books, Lynley turns away from his London squad to enlist the assistance of a couple of friends. All troop down to Cumbria and the wealthy man's estate, pretending to be people they're not. All are quite terrible at this and, apart from a great deal of eyebrow-raising, nothing happens for a good long while. Three hundred pages of a good long while. Three hundred pages out of six hundred and eight.

This is plodding work. And there's a place for plodding work. There are patient people out there in the readership of literate mystery who will press their tolerance to the task and put up with quite a bit of descriptive tomfoolery on their way to the meat of the matter, and I have been known to be one of them. However...I just can't travel that far to be faced with idiocy in my characters. Naivete, sure. Ignorance on occasion. Denial, perhaps. But once an author ventures into the inane, she's lost me. Elizabeth George presents me here with three transgressions in the form of Lynley's assistant Deborah St. James, tabloid reporter Zed Benjamin and, so sadly, Thomas Lynley himself who fails to shine on any front throughout the course of this case.

It is possible to skip this installment. Nothing happens that won't be explained in brief at the start of the next. Such is my advice...unless, of course, you're looking for something innocuous. In which case this should serve.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

So excited to read another Elizabeth George novel. She is one of my all-time favorite authors and the tragic and tormented Tommy Lynley one of my favorite detectives. This book was really 4.5 out of 5 stars; not as good as some of her earlier stories but far better than much of the detective fiction out there. This story, set in, what sounds a beautiful and rustic location in England, Cumbria and the Lakes District, revolves around a drowning of a member of a prominent family in the area and the request, by Tommy's superior, to investigate whether this drowning was more than an accident. As the book progresses the reader learns more and more about the secrets and deceptions of this well-to-do family. Interestingly enough, Nicholaus, the user son, and the initial "suspect" in this mystery has the least to hide as all his dirty laundry, is out in the open for everyone to know about. It's the other members of the family who have so much to hide and who's lives and secrets unfold throughout the book. Each family member's story was eloquently told; some painfully tragic like that of Alatea and Tim and others inspiring like that of Manette and Freddie. I loved how the tragedies of these stories supported the slow rekindling of Tommy's interest in moving on with his life after Helen's death. I also, as always, loved the evolving tale of the incomparable, quirky Barbara Havers, certainly one of the most interesting characters in mystery fiction. Her ability to unearth the biggest secrets of the book through her often unorthodox methods and her real anguish and resolve to help her good friend at the end of this book sets up the next book very nicely. The biggest disappointment for me in this book was the frustrating behavior of Deborah St. James. What a mess she made of everything, stupidly playing with others lives for no reason other than to feed her own egocentric need to cope with not being able to bear a child. II honestly would not be disappointed if she had no role at all in the next book. Overall though. a wonderful complex novel, beautifully written and full of tragedy and enlightenment.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good friend always used to comment that she looked forward to the latest Lynley and Havers novel not just because it would have a good mystery, but because she enjoyed her annual check in with Lynley, Havers, Deborah, Helen and Simon.

On a certain level, I have to admit I agreed with her.

Based on that, I should have loved the latest installment in the series from George a lot more than I did. After a couple of books focusing on Lynley in the aftermath of Helen's death, it's nice to see George getting back to including some of her other characters in the story. That doesn't mean that Lynley still isn't haunted a bit by what's happened to Helen and is still grieving (although his engaging in a strictly sexual relationship with his boss at Scotland Yard seems exactly like the kind of rebound relationship both parties would pursue), but this is a novel about Lynley coming out of his mourning and trying to get about the business of living again.

It helps that he's been given a special assignment by Hillier. When the nephew of a family friend of Hillier slips and drowns, Hillier sends Lynley to a small village to make sure that no stone has gone unturned in investigation.

If you're looking for a murder mystery, you won't find one here. George takes a break from his typical "whodunnit" mystery with a story in which Lynley is brought in as a catalyst for a family who makes a regular habit of lying to each other. As the story unfolds, the lies told by various characters in their day to day interaction--not only to each other but also themselves--come to light, all with intriguing and, at times, unintended consequences. But the shining a light into the darkness isn't limited to the cast created for this novel--the light also is shone on the regular characters as well.

All of this works fairly well for the first three quarters of the book as George establishes that everyone has something to hide and something to lose or gain from its coming to light. It's one the revelations start coming in the final quarter of the novel that Believing the Lie drops from what was once a four star book to more a three and a half star one. Simply put, some of the revelations just don't work as well as they should and others test the boundaries of credibility-at least as far as I was willing to go with the story.

That's not to say the ending isn't effective. It just isn't quite as solid as some of previous efforts and many of the revelations surrounding the dead man's family connections fray at the edges.

However, George wisely leaves certain elements hanging in the Havers' story line to ensure I'll be back for her next novel.

Believing the Lie is a thick, long book that it's easy to get lost in for pages at a time. When it's working, it's among the most solid, entertaining and enthralling entries in the series. It's just too bad that the last quarter collapses under its own weight and isn't quite as satisfying as it could or should have been.

[Aleshanee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mein Fazit: Ich mag diese Reihe einfach :D Auch dieser Band war wieder voller Rätsel und Geheimnisse und es hat immens Spaß gemacht, ihnen auf den Grund zu gehen. Die Leiche in Cumbria, um dessen Tod sich Insp. Lynley dieses Mal incognito kümmern muss, bringt viele Wahrheiten ans Licht, die das Gefüge einer ganzen Familie fast auseinander brechen lassen.

Mit Lügen zu leben scheint oft auf den ersten Blick einfacher und doch ergeben sich dadurch immer mehr Probleme, vor denen man irgendwann nicht mehr flüchten kann ... diesen Aspekt hat die Autorin hier mit vielen Facetten zum Ausdruck gebracht.
Was ich allerdings merke ist, dass Elizabeth George in manchen Dingen, gerade wenn es um Männer und Frauen und ihre Standpunkte in Beziehungen geht, manchmal schon etwas "altmodisch" wirkt. Da klingt wahrscheinlich einfach die ältere Generation durch und stellt die Figuren an manchen Stellen ein bisschen altbacken und nicht zeitgemäß dar. Dafür greift sie aber durchaus auch aktuelle Konflikte auf und integriert sie gelungen, auch wenn etwas weniger vielleicht mehr gewesen wäre.

Lynley selbst macht eine tiefgehende Weiterentwicklung durch, auch wenn sie nur langsam vonstatten geht, ebenso wie seine Freunde St James und Deborah, die ihr Problem mit dem Kinderwunsch in den Griff zu bekommen versuchen.
Aber auch Lynleys Kollegin Barbara Havers hat zum einen mit ihrer unsympathischen Vorgesetzten zu kämpfen und auch ihr Verhältnis zu ihrem Nachbarn steht vor einer neuen Wende.

Alles wurde wieder gut verpackt und gut ineinander aufgebaut - Spannung gab es genug und vor allem immer mit fiesen kleinen Cliffhangern am Ende der Kapitel.

[Sandie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have had this book for several months and have put off reading it because of its length (over 600 pages) and size (2 1/4" thick). But I finally tackled it and it read fairly quickly. The layout, longer chapters with shorter pieces within them which focused on the different characters and places made it easy to find a break in the reading. Although it often was jumpy and hard to skip from one character to another quickly. Whom am I reading about? What did they do last? AND the large size of the book made it difficult to read in bed, something I do often.

I did give this only 2 stars because I have a high opinion of Elizabeth George, and I expected it to be much better. It did not make me say 'wow', which many earlier books of hers did. And the affair of Thomas Lynley and Isabel Ardley continues. Is she supposed to be a counterpoint to the wonderful deceased Helen? I wish she had not killed Helen off. Deborah St. James does not come off well in this, stupidly harassing a woman after being told to back off.

The plot deals with a transexual, a homosexual relationship, a stolen child, two mistresses and their children, difficulty in conceiving a child, and a child porn video. The only redeeming relationship is between Manette and Fred, but one wonders why they divorced in the first place.

I wish she had not ranged so widely and done a better job with a smaller focus. I wonder if she is stretching to find new subjects about which to write.

Oh, and the final insult to us readers? There is no murder. What is this world coming to?

[Mircalla · Rating 1 out of 5]

Un Castello di Pasticci

E va bene il debole per i gialli all'inglese, le campagne del sud con i loro deliziosi paesini che sembrano Peyton Place, va bene anche il gusto dello scoperchiamento degli altarini delle famiglie nobili, però il tono pruriginoso e il desiderio di mettere dentro all'intreccio tutte le cose di cui si parla al telegiornale direi che è troppo, non funziona per niente...ma come si può mettere nello stesso romanzo: pedofilia, trappole per ragazzini su internet, omosessualità, transessuali che si fingono donne, famiglie sfasciate dal padre che se ne va con un uomo pure più giovane che poi viene fuori essere un cacciatore di dote, famiglie disfunzionali, bambini trascurati, donne che fregano i mariti, mariti che hanno altre famiglie? Qua ce n'è per un'intera serie di Dynasty...
mi sa che la George non sa più che cosa inventarsi da quando ha
assassinato quell'adorabile testa vuota di Helen
l'intreccio è un pasticcio con troppa carne al fuoco, Deborah sembra sempre più una demente, Barbara va dal parrucchiere, il sovrintendente Ardery non si regge per nulla, Lynley avrebbe fatto meglio ad andare a puttane, nel senso letterale, se proprio non ce la fa a non andare con una donna, che per carità non sia il suo capo alcolista, ma che gli prende alla George, beve anche lei forse?

mi sa che è tempo di mollarla...

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

DI Thomas Lynley is sent to Cumbria to investigate a death that has been deemed accidental by the local authorities. He's asked to investigate on the QT, not even letting his immediate supervisor know what he's been asked to do. This causes him some difficulty as the two of them have been involved in an illicit affair. Barbara Havers is under the gun too, under orders to smarten up her appearance. Lynley asks her to assist him without their supervisor catching on. At home Barbara is also dealing with the appearance of Haddiyah's mother. Lynley also involves Simon and Deborah St. James who are caught in their own dilemma over their attempts to have a baby.
As far as the actual investigation, matters are complicated by Zed Benjamin, a tabloid reporter desperate for a "sexy" story in order to keep his job. Their mutual investigations uncover a web of deceit and lies in a severely dysfunctional family.

It took me a bit to get into the book; the first 100 pages or so dragged. But I got hooked, finally, and was actually surprised by one of the lies alluded to by the title. I also liked the way the end of the book introduced the next one in the series. I had started this next book, not realizing I'd missed this one, so now I am looking forward to actually reading that one!

[Mal Warwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Unpredictable Inspector Lynley Novel

I’ve enjoyed most of Elizabeth George’s 16 previous novels about the life and career of Thomas Lynley, an hereditary earl from Cornwall who has risen to the post of Detective Inspector in Scotland Yard. Like all of George’s characters, Lynley is a finely drawn and three-dimensional — likeable, without being the sort of person you’d expect to pal around with. Her settings, usually picturesque corners of rural England, are engaging in their own right. George clearly does her homework — she’s American, after all — so that her books are popular in the UK, not just the U.S.

Maybe what I most enjoy about Elizabeth George’s writing is the utter unpredictability of her stories. She consciously avoids working in the old Agatha Christie mode of murder tales. For example, consider this passage from Believing the Lie:

“For an utterly mad moment Lynley thought the woman was actually confessing to murdering her husband’s nephew. The setting, after all, was perfect for it, in the best tradition of more than one hundred years of tea-in-the-vicarage and murder-in-the-library paperback novels sold in railway stations. He couldn’t imagine why she might be confessing, but he’d also never been able to understand why the characters in those novels sat quietly in the drawing room or the sitting room or the library while a detective laid out all the clues leading to the guilt of one of them. No one ever demanded a solicitor in the midst of the detective’s maundering. He’d never been able to sort that one out.”

So, if you pick up a copy of Believing the Lie, prepare yourself for a rollercoaster of a story, resplendent with more than its share of surprises. When Inspector Lynley is despatched to Cumbria to look into the murder of the nephew of a rich and powerful man, you might expect a straightforward tale of crime and punishment. What you’ll get instead is a complex story of intrigue, adultery, family secrets, betrayal, and a host of other themes involving a wealthy manufacturing family, a tabloid reporter, a stunning Argentine woman, Lynley’s friends Deborah and Simon, and, of course, Lynley’s interior dialogue about his murdered wife. You’ll also witness the untimely deaths of two people. But don’t expect anything to go the way you think it will.

(From www.malwarwickonbooks.com)

[Rafe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have extremely mixed feelings about this book.

Also, this review has spoilers. BE WARNED.

Generally, I *really* like Elizabeth George and the world she's created. I adore DS Havers and have deep feelings for Lynley as well. Like many other readers, I had many the ugly cry RE Helen. I do worry though about the rabbit-hole of WTF that George has started to create since Helen's death. Another reviewer expressed joy that the ending of Believing the Lie seems to get Lynley going in a positive direction, and I completely agree with that. I am so glad that he's done with the dumb & irritating affair with Isabelle Ardery, and I want him to be happy, so I liked that. And I also agree with the reviewer who suggested that perhaps our last scene with Barbara Havers is the lead-in to another story that is largely driven by Havers.

And then there's the rest of this.

First of all, there's no mystery. The whole book is an excuse for George to turn a few families' lives upside-down. We don't need the weird, icky child pornography, the confusing gay digression, or the ZOMG transgender story. It almost felt (and I say this as a queer person) that Elizabeth George heard from someone that her books were too hetero, so she decided to put everything out there into this one. Which was not useful. I didn't mind being used - I love her writing and am happy to read her whenever - but the last quarter of the book was squicky and gratuitous.

I am very hopeful that Ms. George will return to form with the next book.

[judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've just read a 600 page soap opera. As a faithful reader of Elizabeth George, I shouldn't be surprised. I've always suspected that she is a novelist rather than a true mystery writer. She has developed her regular characters and their stories in great detail. This time she went over the top. If there was a mystery in this book, it was transparent. I knew the biggest secret more than 100 pages before the reveal. To be honest, I found the big three -- Tommy, Deborah and St.James -- incredibly boring. I'm tired of the angst. Havers is the best part but I haven't the patience to read through another book with whiny, confused characters just to see how things work out for her. Since this is my farewell to George, I must praise her for the remarkable job she has done as an American writing a series set in England. I had read her for many years before I came across something that told me she wasn't English. To me, she has Britain down perfectly.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the seventeenth book in the Inspector Thomas Lynley series. We listened to this book together on audio. The Inspector Lynley stories usually are centered around a crime which New Scotland Yard, and specifically D.I. Lynley, are called upon to help solve. In this case, however, there is no crime, but only mysteries. (One of which, according to my husband, was, “WHY ARE WE LISTENING TO THIS?”)

D.I. Lynley is called away from London to go to Cumbria and investigate the death of the nephew (Ian Cressell) of an influential wealthy man, Bernard Fairclough, who has the clout to bring in Scotland Yard for what was ruled an accident. So Lynley temporarily abandons his thrice-weekly trysting with the tiresome and obnoxious (to me, that is, and I believe also to everyone in both the fictitious and actual universe except for Lynley) department chief Isabelle Ardery. Heading up to Cumbria, he decides to take along his friends Simon and Deborah St. James for assistance. Yes, it was rational of Lynley to ask Simon, since he is a forensics expert. But it seems very out of character that Lynley would allow Deborah, a civilian as it were, to play-act in order to set up a possible “sting” on one of the suspects. But he does, and she does, and she mucks things up fatally, one might say.

Back in London, Lynley’s partner, Barbara Havers, does some legwork for Lynley, even as she tries to duck from the inappropriately punitive attention of Isabelle Ardery. Barbara is also adjusting to the return of Angelina into the lives of her neighbors, Taymullah Azar and his charming daughter Hadiyyah. Angelina is Hadiyyah’s mother, and Barbara wants to dislike her, but echoing the reactions of Azar and Hadiyyah, she has trouble resisting Angelina’s charms.

Meanwhile, up in Cumbria, all hell is breaking lose, and Fairclough family secrets veritably gush out of the woodwork like the tidal bore coursing through Morecambe Bay. [A tidal bore is a fast rising tide that can be quite dangerous. Tidal bores occur in just a few locations worldwide. These are where incoming tides are funnelled into a shallow, narrowing river or lake via a broad bay. The funnel-like shape both increases both the height and duration of the flood tide creating a sudden increase in the water level. Youtube features a number of fascinating tourist videos of the Cumbrian tidal bores as well as of the quicksand that makes the area even more treacherous.] In fact, the characters in the book mention the deadly aspects of the Bay quite often, and with good reason.

Discussion: This six-hundred-plus page book features just about every crime except a murder: there is adultery, bribery, blackmail, a pornography ring, alcoholism, vengeance, and deception of every sort. But alas, these sins aren’t the only ones exposed by this book: there are also the ones we could ascribe to the author and/or editor: repetition, rambling, irrelevancy, endless angsty blathering by the characters, and yet, even after all that, a number of unresolved ends.

Then there are a gamut of “issues” rehearsed as well: depression, gender preference, limitations of body, limitations of mind, women who want to mother children but can’t, women who have mothered children but shouldn’t have, sex without passion, passion without sex, forgiving, forgetting, and how it is possible or impossible to do either.

There is also a side plot involving one Zedekiah Benjamin, and his story was so unnecessary, improbable, and offensive, I wondered why it was there at all, except perhaps to provide some unsavory and generally tactless comic relief by preying upon cultural stereotypes.

Jill’s Evaluation: In spite of my complaints, I do like hanging out with Lynley (well, unless he’s with Ardery), and Havers, and I don’t mind whiling away rush-hour traffic hearing about other peoples’ sordid lives. I wasn’t all that enamored of the narrator; she had a very large number of voices to do, and while she certainly did better than I ever could have done, most of the time I was wishing there were simply more actors reading the story, especially for the male voices.

Jill’s Rating: 3/5

Jim’s Evaluation: This is not a crime novel; it’s a soap opera. The “story” wanders about, taking many detours. It resolves some (but not all) of the issues raised, and seems more of a collection of barely related vignettes rather than a linear progression to a dénouement where all the loose ends come together. It has no real conclusion, merely a point where the author stops writing. (But no real complaint on that score!) Having not read any other books by Elizabeth George previously, I didn’t hear anything in this audiobook to make me regret that.

Jim’s Rating: 2/5

Final Score: 2.5/5

The audiobook was read by Davina Porter, and was unabridged, although we both thought it could have used some abridgement by an editor prior to publication.

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 1 out of 5]

While I really enjoyed some of the earlier books by George, the best being With No-One As Witness, this is rather useless and convoluted with weak characters and a twisted sort of extended family. Very convoluted was my husband's opinion. I'll try to avoid spoilers.

One thing that would not happen is someone impersonating a police officer. The worst and most self obsessed character George has written, the Deborah person, who wastes half the book content for us with her maunderings about being unable to have a baby - which she has done right through the series - impersonates a Scotland Yard detective. No you don't; that is a very serious offence and when someone reports you the consequences are grave. Lynley, a real detective, hears this later and never comments. A journalist hearing a woman in Yorkshire is from Scotland Yard would want to see a warrant card and other evidence of the role.

Another thing is a journalist handing a hotel receptionist a hundred pounds cash to use her net-connected computer; she goes off for twenty minutes. No. First it's so much money that it's highly suspicious. Second no receptionist would agree as some terrorist or crook could be sending messages or planting viruses in the hotel computer or stealing credit card details, which would be traced back to her account on her shift. At the very least she would be watching. Third, journalists are experts at finding Wi-Fi in coffee shops, pubs, hotels, libraries, or internet cafes. Journalists - even tabloid ones - are all about gathering facts, not innuendoes, and this man had recorded no facts or interviews whatsoever, copied no documents etc. So he had nothing to report. This character is a total waste of our time and shows how little George understands journalism.

Lynley is sent through an old boys' network to look into a death which a coroner has recorded as accidental. This is in the Lake District and rather than ask a competent person locally about evidence, George has him bring his rather useless forensic expert pal and even more useless wife. All that the man contributes is he pokes a stone with a knife and looks at the knife to see if there are scratches on it. Lynley has not asked the local police if they had done this already. We do not meet the local cops except at the very end when they arrive late. Nobody complains about the waste of police resources in sending Lynley to look at an accident.

A family business is bleeding money though the auditor hadn't commented. One after another all the family members bring their twists and hates out into the open. It's all very staged like a play. Nobody ever says 'shut up' and walks out, just lets the ranter rant. Then each person rants again to someone else, and again to someone else. Everything has to be aired at least three times. This would have made a readable book if all the repetition had been removed. The biggest failing is the total lack of editing. An editor would also have checked George's facts - not fifty, but fifteen shellfish pickers were drowned in Morecambe Bay. Looks like someone told her that in a phone call or she spoke into a Dictaphone and later picked up the homonym figure.

Havers, one of the better characters, has in recent books descended to being totally unbelievable. She has time and money to pick out and buy an endless number of bad taste t-shirts, instead of suitable clothes, which she wears to the office. No, detectives know they are representing the police force and they get an out of uniform allowance. She finally starts to smarten up on orders from above. Havers has been mooning around an Asian man and his young daughter despite his being unavailable and uninterested. Most cops socialise with other cops. Havers is persuaded to get her hair styled in a Kensington salon, completely unbelievable. What's wrong with the salon down the road? Why is she given a day off to get her hair cut when a man would not be, and she appears to have no work to do? In London? Then Lynley snaps his fingers and she has to lie to her superiors to do his bidding on the Met computers? And why doesn't she use a Spanish translation site? They existed even back in 2012 when this was written.

There's plenty of bad and salacious impressions of gay people and no redeeming character, with a vulnerable person or two coming out of it badly. One of these is harmed due to Deborah, who is told it wasn't her fault by paternal men representing the forces of law and order. Really? She's been poking and hounding people when it was absolutely none of her business. Also a husband tells a total stranger working in the media that his wife used to model underwear but doesn't want it to get out? He has just betrayed his wife's confidence and guaranteed it will get out.

This is an unbiased review.

[SusanneH · Rating 4 out of 5]

Schon ewig keinen Lynley mehr gelesen und gleich zu Hause gefühlt.