Rating: 
Summary: More than a Mystery
Review: This was my first experience with Elizabeth George. My impression was that George could have benefited greatly from better editing. Her story would be better with fewer, but more deeply developed characters, more subtlety, and fewer unbelievable sub-plots. The mystery aspect of the book was done well enough to keep me guessing through most of the book. Unfortunately by the time the real murderer was revealed in the last few pages, so much ground had been covered it came without much surprise. George's attempt to write social commentary on the murder mystery structure was intriguing but not well executed. The Pakistanis and the gays tended to be more caricatures than believable characters. The story line kept returning to the bigotry of the English against the Pakistanis. George apparently didn't credit the reader with enough intelligence to get her point without being beaten over the head with it repeatedly throughout the story. Overall, if one can overlook the flaws, Deception on His Mind is good airplane reading which keeps the pages turning and the reader amused.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent read!
Review: Elizabeth George never fails to intrique. She supplies all the clues but encourages the reader to arrive at the wrong conclusions. As usual I was sure that the chief suspect of the police was the wrong one, and I was equally sure that I had targeted the guilty party. -- However, the sure-fire guilty party changed with every chapter! I can't wait to start another George book and try my sleuthing skills again.
Rating: 
Summary: Keeps you up 'til well after bed-time !
Review: Not only does George excel in setting an intriguing plot, she's a master of directing the reader's thoughts into all kinds of wrong directions whereas in the end I felt as if the truth had been obvious all along. In the midst of one of -as it seems- England's hottest summers it is the spicy variety of illutrious characters and their perspectives through which George reveals the story to the readers that makes the book a thrilling treat. Though her dramatis personnae are artful and at the same time almost touchable copies out of everyone's everyday reality this novel's weak point lies in the author's attempt to invoke her insights (living in the States) into Pakistan culture and its problems in the UK. Her inturcultural conclusions mostly remain on the surface and to my mind she tries to tell the reader too much instead of actually revealing and showing cultural dimensions! Under the bottom line, the sense of humor of "Mystery Liz" -yet unmet- makes Barbara Havers' solo adventure ever more colorful (watch out for the hospital scene with Agatha Shaw and Akram Malik) and it is her magical mixture which keeps me up 'til well after bed-time that leaves a Patricia Cornwell and a Minette Walters somewhat behind and makes them faint just a tiny bit.
Rating:
Summary: a surprise
Review: I liked it, in spite of myself. I usually like "oldfashioned" British murder mysteries, and certainly nothing withalot of sexuality. But this drew me in, regardless. Also, instead of being disappointed that Lynley wasn't evident, I was pleasantly surprised that it dealt mainly with Havers. I agree that there were a few loose ends, but I have to say, that all in all, in spite of my reservations, this was a welcome surprise. END
Rating:
Summary: Got bogged down in the middle
Review: I liked the setting; George used the overpowering heat very effectively. I also liked the variety of characters, but the plot really lost its momentum by the middle of the book. Perhaps there were just too many characters; there were certainly way too many loose ends. If you are going to have entire chapters devoted to the inner thoughts of secondary players (Rachel, Agatha, Cliff, etc.) you need to have more closure. It almost seemed that George didn't quite think that Havers was interesting enough on her own without Lynley and his aristo pals. I did like Emily Barlow a lot and hope we see her again. So, a good one, but not her best.
Rating: 
Summary: I don't believe Elizabeth George wrote this book !!!!
Review: There is simply no comparison of this book with the other books Elizabeth George has written. I refuse to believe she wrote it. The novel's characterization does not fit any her previous novels. I can accept that the characters from all previous novels were excluded, but even Barbara's character does not follow the pattern set by Elizabeth George. I'm sorry, but if Elizabeth George wrote this book, she accepted money under false pretenses. It is just plain bad...
Rating:
Summary: The Mysterious Wonders of Elizabeth George Never Cease!
Review: I have been a fan of Elizabeth George since I buying and listening to In The Presence Of The Enemy, read by Derek Jacobi, and, the mysterious wonders of this writer never cease! I was especially pleased to discover that the writer recognizes boys shouldn't have all the fun when it comes to crime-solving, as this particular mystery was given strictly to DS Barbara Havers, and it also gave me a better understanding of the Pakistani culture, as I was educated a little bit more every time I read the story, and again, it served its true purpose of being a fascinating mystery from the first page to the last!
Rating:
Summary: It was good, but it could have been better
Review: As a longtime fan of thriller/mystery/suspense novels, this book didn't entrance me as my favorite authors seem to captivate my attention. The characters all seem too flat, no development at all...I liked the unexpected revelations that Barbara and Emily discover, but the reader doesn't really seem to be pulled along the plot...I think one of the problems is that there were so many characters to handle that the reader doesn't really get to know who Barbara is...In comparison to my favorite authors who include John Sandford, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, and Patricia Cornwell, Elizabeth George is an ok read, but not spectacular.
Rating:
Summary: One of her best
Review: I like this book of hers because the main character is Sergeant Havers, instead of Lynley, Helen, Deborah, and Simon. Don't get me wrong, I think they are good chracters but after so many books it gets boring. Also she includes a bit of her past. This was the first of her books I read and I throughly enjoyed it. After reading it I rushed out to get the rest of her books and read them as fast as possible. I think her writing style is superb and that she has a great narritive quality. I didn't like the fact that everybody on the book but Havers was prejudiced, but the book is still very good. I am also happy that she is writing more about Azhar and Hadyyiah, they are a good addition to this book. She seems to have reseached in preparation of the book intensively and makes it believble. She weaves a good plot and develops her characters very well. The ending was a bit of a surprise but I had a vague premonition of what it might be. Overall, a good, long read that is truly gratifying.
Rating: 
Summary: Elizabeth George responds to fans' comments.
Review: Thanks for the kind words about Deception on His Mind. Writing about the Pakistani experience in England was a tough project, but I like to stretch myself at the same time as I learn something new. I couldn't have done the work without the full and warm-hearted participation of my primary source: Kay Ghafoor who read each character analysis after I wrote it and who read every scene that had a Pakistani character in it. Truly, without Kay there would have been no novel. It was fun to give Havers a book to herself, which had long been my intention. I thought she could handle an entire novel, and I do believe she acquitted herself admirably. She'll be back with Lynley and Nkata in In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner, which will be released in the US in September.
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