Rating: 
Summary: Thomas,Simon,&Deborah:what IS their past? GREAT mystery too.
Review: *****Perfect for all: old fans and New to Elizabeth George,too: This could be read as the "first" in the series, although it wasn't written first.
*****It is definitely one of her best.
This book, in time sequence, "happened" before any of the "Lynley/Havers" mysteries. Excellent for those Lynley fans who want to know: What did happen between Thomas and Deborah? Simon and Deborah?
----AT the start, Deborah has just returned from college, home to her father (living with Simon). She announces her engagement to Tommy Lynley. They are going to his ancestral home, bringing a reluctant Simon, and a grimly cheerful Lady Helen as guests. Meanwhile Simon's young sister Sydney,has troubles with an abusive man. Tommy's younger brother may be using drugs. Why are Tommy and his mother alienated? Who's the mysterious woman that disappears without a trace?
****
When murder happens on the estate, all these story lines converge and intertwine in a way that explores the relationships, old and new of this extended "family" .
The resolution of the mystery was one of George's most inspired. As usual, the story is so intricate, it's difficult to imagine the difficulty of spinning this web.
Even more important to me, was the resolution of, at least some of the interpersonal conflicts.
*****ok I admit, I cried at the "happy" ending***********
This is an outstanding book for all mystery fans.
Rating: 
Summary: The Best of Elizabeth George's Novels
Review:
This is my favorite George novel of the 4 I've read so far.
It keeps you in suspense throughout and adds new twists, turns and characters as it goes along. It also has a variety of unusual topics (I won't ruin the surprise for you). I enjoyed St. James' increased visibility and Lynley's character and history are explained in more detail. St. James' sister is a great kook. Deborah's character and conflicts are very touching (ok, ok, maybe more so for women).
I just wish I'd started reading her novels in chronological order because the characters have become very interesting but some of the surprises lose their impact when read out of order.
Overall a great read!
Rating:
Summary: Not the best
Review: Admittedly it was interesting to have an excursion back into their pasts. But this is not the best of the bunch so far. Elizabeth george is great at coming up with interesting characters and Agatha Christie-ish plots. But this one lacked something...i can't quite put my finger on it. I did enjoy it very much, but it wasn't really as good as some of her others. At times it was a bit overcomplicated. and it was a bit overlong. We don't even get to hear one line spoken from the dead man, even when his demise comes about 100 pages in. So you can't really feel for him at all, and because george gives the impression that he was an unpleasant man, we don't care as much as we might about his death had we formed some sort of connection with him. Also, the drugs side of it....i know i'm being naive here, but it didn't really seem to fit with the setting. That's a totally stupid thing to say, but it just didn't seem to sit right with me. Nevertheless, this is a good detective novel from a writer who can create great characters, and never fails to deliver some elegant prose. Worth a read, yes, but not quite as good as some of the others.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh, somewhere between 3 and 4 stars
Review: As a prequel, this was quite good in that it shed a lot of light on the series characters' backgrounds and relationships. It also made Lynley seem a lot more human. The puzzles were pretty good, too. But it was difficult to get into the search for the killer of a couple of prime jerks, and that made the story on the whole a bit flat. That's why I just can't give it 4 stars. But if you like the series already and plan to read more, this one is a must.
Rating:
Summary: A great beginning
Review: Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, 8th Earl of Asherton, has brought his bride-to-be, Deborah Cotter and her father to Howenstone, his ancestral home, for the weekend, to meet his mother and family. The mutilated body of a local journalist is found in his cottage and this proves to be the catalyst for a series of events which will alter the lives of the villagers and the Lynley family forever. Lynleys' old friend, Simon St.James, crippled in a car accident in which Lynley had been the driver, is forced to witness the happiness of Lynley and Deborah, the girl he has secretly loved since she was a child, and also witness the degredation of his sister Sidney, who is obsessed by a manipulative drug user, Justin Brook. To add to the drama of the weekend, Lynleys' younger brother Peter appears in a filthy, drugged state, accompanied by an equally disreputable companion, Sasha. It's a great read and one which explains the backgrounds of several of the characters who frequent the DI Thomas Lynley murder mysteries.
Rating:
Summary: An Early Episode
Review: For fans of the Lynley-Havers series, Elizabeth George offers an episode that occurs a few years prior to the time of the first book, A Great Deliverance. In this installment, she provides back-story that illuminates some of the complex inter-relationships between Lynley, Simon, and Deborah. Absent (but for a brief cameo) are Havers and her sharp words for the privileges of the upper classes -- which were in great need here. George, who is among mystery writers a master of characterization, here devises a mystery that seems not just secondary to the personal stories of her characters, but even incidental. In fact, the solution to the mystery seems a bit facile. Hopefully, in her subsequent novels George will return to the approach that worked well in the first three novels, wherein she spins a marvelous mystery that any observant reader could solve and, along the way, continuously deepens the reader's understanding of some very likable characters.
Rating:
Summary: A Suitable Vengeance Is Another Suitable Spine-Tingler
Review: From the moment the story begins with lady of the evening Tina Cogin standing at her bedroom window, the novice reader is drawn into the intricate, proverbial spider web of Elizabeth George's page-turning, detailed work which takes her other, seasoned fans' breath away and leaves them suspended with the question of ''What happened?"until she answers them with a spine-tingling response in the form of a well-written scene. Miss George's work will easily appeal to both groups!
Rating: 
Summary: Typical, Predictable, and Essentially Trashy Pulp Fiction!
Review: George is popular but for what reason, I do not know. She is trite, uses lots of cliches, and expresses an intolerance to anything other than self-interest in her characters. Lack of depth or insight is an understatement with this author who has literary potential but has yet to achieve it, in my opinion with her many novels.
Rating:
Summary: This is a must read for George fans.
Review: Having read all of Ms. George's books, I have found that the subplots surrounding her revolving cast of characters are often more engrossing than the mysteries they are solving. For this reason, I found A Suitable Vengeance to be most appealing since the murder(s) themselves revolve around Lynley and his family. The entire novel is backstory and a must read for any fan of the series.
Rating:
Summary: Ms. George is a Master!
Review: I absolutely love Elizabeth George's writing and her characters. This book was interesting because it told us about the earlier life of Lynley, St. James, Lady Helen and Deb. We got bits and pieces of the whole situation in her previous books, but never the whole story. It helps explain a number of things and different character traits and undercurrents from previous books. And Ms. George can write! Her novels are so much more complex than simple little "who-dunits". The story takes the reader along on Ms. George's own little Magic Carpet ride, and nothing exists for us except Lynley and his friends. We even get a short preliminary look at Barbara Havers in this book. She is by far my favourite character, and I miss her absence, but realize that she wasn't part of Lynley's life during the time setting of this book. I look forward now to continuing with the storyline in subsequent books, and feel that I have a better understanding now of why Tommy thinks and acts the way he does.
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