Rating: 
Summary: Riveting, Robust-George Back in Form!
Review: Elizabeth George delivers another wonderful edition of her British mystery series.
This time, two characters-Simon Allcourt-James and his red haired, moody wife Deborah-who have always been supporting players, take center stage. The book pays tribute to George's many strengths in character development-any of the characters that she has written about over the years could easily become the focus of a book.
The plot: Cherokee River,a California friend from Deborah's past, shows up on the doorstep of the Allcourt-James' in London. His half-sister, China River (there mother was a child of the 60's), has been arrested in Guernsey on charges of murder. He enlists the help of the Allcourt-James' and their promise to travel to Guernsey.
The murder victim is Guy Brouard, a wealthy hotelier, who escaped the Nazis as a child. He lived with his sister Ruth in a mansion on Guernsey. His life was--and the book is--filled with an assortment of wives, mistresses, children, hangers-on, local friends. Plenty of evidence points to China: however, she is the only one who has no motive.
George's book explores human relationships and dynamics in a way unknown to most mystery authors. The passionate yet challenging marriage of Simon and Deborah--with her numerous insecurities (she can't bear children due to an abortion, her father is his servant)and his embarassment over his crippled legs--is explored in depth. The loyalty that Ruth, the murder victim's sister, feels to her brother-despite her knowledge of his weaknesses--is woven masterfully throughout the book. Several other family relationships are also presented and worked through in the pages.
Of course the mystery itself is great: plenty of twists and turns, a Nazi or two from the past, lots of atmosphere.
I would recommend this book to fans of the mystery genre ( particularly English mystery), fans of Elizabeth George (she's back in form-I, Richard was a disappointment), fans of "english books" (A Place of Hiding is more than just a mystery). I would caution die hard George groupies-her two main characers, Barbara Havers and her partner, the aristocratic and dashing Inspector Thomas Lynley, are not featured in this book. (Lynley makes one or two perfunctory appearances but that's it.) Don't let that stop you-the book is still wonderful without them.
Rating: 
Summary: Simon and Deborah play detective
Review: A change from her previous novels, Elizabeth George brings two of her secondary characters, Simon and Deborah St. James, into the forefront. Thomas Lynley and Lady Helen make a brief appearance in the beginning of the novel. Barbara Havers does not appear at all. The setting for Elizabeth George's newest novel is the English Channel island of Guernsey. Americans, Cherokee River and his sister China, act as courier's of a set of architectural plans to be transported to Guernsey per the request of businessman Guy Brouard. Guy is building a museum to honor Guernseymen who resisted Nazi occupation. Shortly after the Rivers' arrival in Guernsey, Guy is found murdered. China is arrested. One rainy night Deborah St. James opens her front door and there is River requesting her help. Deborah was China's roommate for her soul-searching three-year stay in California. Deborah feels a debt toward China and enlists her unwilling husband, Simon St. James, to aid the quest for the truth. What ensues is richly complex, multi-layered psychological drama. Sometimes it is too complex and too mult-layered. There were a couple of problems with the book. There are an excessive number of characters. Some are simply not needed. The book was over 500 pages and it tended to ramble on quite a bit in the middle, which it a lumbering pace. The plot relied a little too heavily on misdirection that made certain elements confusing. It's still a pretty good book, but if you are Elizabeth George fan don't expect this to be one of her best.
Rating:
Summary: No more Deborah
Review: A Place of Hiding was, as always with Elizabeth George novels, intriguing. The plot was well developed and the pace exciting. The mystery kept me guessing until near the end.
However, the sections with Deborah and St. James were extremely difficult to read. Deborah was developed here as a childish, whining, irresponsible and boring ninny. The mystery is how did she ever get Inspector Lynley and St. James to fall in love with her? She was immature and annoying: doing ridiculous things and whining when her husband took issue with her often dangerous actions.
I loved the story, enjoyed so much about it but will never buy another George novel that has Deborah as anything more than a bit player.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice but unremarkable page turner
Review: I'm a huge Elizabeth George fan and I've read all her mysteries. I was very excited to have a new book by her to read. I did enjoy this new story - she didn't disappoint with her interesting suspects, unusual locale (Guernsey), and attention-catching backstory of the siblings who lost everything in the Holocaust. I looked forward to getting back to the book each day and was actually sorry it was over. I thought her sort of circular storytelling was a good variation for her, something a little different in a mystery. The thing was, I was sorry that her usual lead characters of Barbara Havers (whom I ADORE and who doesn't appear) and Inspector Lynley (who appears extremely briefly as Acting Superintendent) were not in the lead in this one. I try so hard to be interested in Deborah and Simon but I find them lukewarm characters. In this book it kept seeming like something fairly major was going to come of the discussion of Simon's disability and the age difference between the two, but nothing really did. Simon had a revelation about the way he treats Deborah (since he remembers her as a child and young adult whom he had to look out for) but..? That wasn't a very satisfying revelation. I enjoyed this book and there's much worse out there when it comes to what you can pick up to read, but I hope the next book will star Barbara again and be deeper and more tightly woven. Of all her mysteries I don't think the author has topped "Playing for the Ashes" yet and that's from years ago now.
Rating: 
Summary: a disappointing 2 1/2 star read
Review: I have to confess I was rather disappointed with "A Place of Hiding." Perhaps it was because Barbara Havers (my favourite character in the series that Elizabeth George has created) did not make even one appearance in this installment; or perhaps it was because the novel seem to completely lack any kind of suspense (esp in comparison to Ms George's first Lynely/Havers outing, "A Great Deliverance" -- a truly superb mystery novel, that); or because it took forever for the novel to unwind and move forward. For whatever reason, "A Place of Hiding" just did not live up to my expectations. When an old friend (Cherokee Rivers) from Deborah St. James's past turns up at the St. James' doorstep begging for help, Deborah (and Simon, her husband and a forensic scientist) can hardly turn the poor man away. It turns out that Cherokee's sister, China, has been accused of murdering Guy Brouard on an isolated beach at Guersey (an island in the English Channel). Deborah is sure that her old friend is incapable of murder and is all for rushing off to prove her friend's innocence. But Simon is not so sure about the Rivers siblings, or about just what he and Deborah can really accomplish. And when it turns out that there are actually witnesses who saw China following Guy that fateful morning, both Simon and Deborah realize that its not going to be all that easy a task proving China's innocence. Finding a motive for this seemingly motiveless murder would be the first obvious step. And when the St. Jameses discover that Guy was not that well liked and that he had his fair share of enemies (two ex-wives, three estranged children, and a host of people he seems to have let down in one way or another), it looks as if the first steps have been taken to establishing that there may have been other suspects besides China. But Simon cannot let go of the notion that either one or both the Rivers siblings were involved in the murder, and his suspicions are beginning to take a toll on his relationship with Deborah. Will Simon be able to deal with his suspicions about the Rivers siblings (as well as his jealousy about Deborah's bond with them)? Or will his feelings get in the way of the investigation? The main problem with "A Place of Hiding" (for me anyway) was that it took too long to unwind. The actual motive for the murder was not revealed until a little less than three quarters way through the novel (true there were a few other probable motives strewn about, but the authour, in my opinion, failed to focus on them concretely enough that it was hard to take these 'motives' seriously). And then there was the fact that the book seemed to be absolutely full of characters, whose every action was observed, dissected, picked through and presented for the readers pleasure. And some of these characters weren't even all that essential to the plot! After a while I just started skimming in order to get to the 'meat' of the mystery!! So, if you like your mystery novels dense, where every shift in shadow and where every shade of a particular character's motivation is described, then "A Place of Hiding" should indeed satisfy. But is you're looking for a clever and suspenseful mystery novel, then you might want to give this latest Elizabeth George offering a miss.
Rating:
Summary: Just what was the point here?
Review: I have read all of Elizabeth George's novels after watching the BBC series based on them. This one was a real dud as far as I was concerned. The plotting was thick and full of dead ends and the story populated by characters who never caught my imagination. And although the author does a pretty good interpretation of ordinary daily life in odd corners of Britain (in this case Guernsey) she still just misses making her characters believably British for me. Although Barbara Havers is the UK equivalent of "trailer park trash", she is without doubt the most successful of George's regulars and I think she is a truly memorable character. However, when it comes to rich, titled, aristocratic British men, I don't think she comes close to making them believable, sympathetic or attractive. I have always thought that Deborah and Simon had the potential to be George's most interesting characters because their personal backgrounds was fertile ground ripe for exploitation. However, this time, I just got annoyed. Sorry, but the way Simon is made to handle his disability, the way he blows it all out of proportion, Deborah's unwillingness to be open and honest with a man who adores her and the generally slovenly development of their characters in this story was just terribly, terribly disappointing. Also, I should think any reader who had not read the previous novels would have been wondering just what the hell was going on here with Deborah and Simon - too many allusions to the past makes this novel difficult to "stand alone". Sorry, I nearly gave up after the first 100 pages. The last 30 pages were a frantic attempt to dig out a believable conclusion (and it was credulous to say the least) and the most interesting character was a council house bully of an elder brother who clearly was nuts! Oh dear; what a disappointment - can't really recommend this and hope the author can do better next time.
Rating: 
Summary: Barbara, where are you?
Review: Worst novel of the lot. In this novel I was left wondering why Simon didn't uncerimoneously dump his tiresome twit of a wife (Deborah St. James). The novels about Barbara Havers are by far the best. I am waiting for a new one.
Rating:
Summary: What a disappointment!
Review: I am an avid E. George fan, but this book was such a disappointment! There were so many elements that are uncharacteristic of her usual clever, taut action and dialogue. The plot was slow and confusing (and boring). There were too many characters who didn't get enough development to seem relevant to the story. I frequently found my mind wandering..... I kept asking questions like: what would an upper-class professional like St. James be doing on a little bitty island, investigating a murder which, in the scheme of things, involves two feckless people he didn't know anything about? Judging from his character, why would he have had any interest in them, other than Deborah's unfathomable desire to help a friend she hadn't seen or had contact with in many years, and from a time she'd "rather forget?" There was no rational explanation of St. James' thought process on why he should take this on. Also, China suddenly has this apartment, with no explanation how she got it, or who's paying for it and why. One little sentence of integral explanation would have given this event more credibility. Why would anyone who had a crucial document to be hand-carried allow just anyone to deliver it? And did the River sibs really think they were going to get the $5000? Pretty naive... China's assumed guilt -- based on what? She obviously had no motive, and even if the islanders wanted a conviction to deflect interest away from them, it just didn't hang together. I am a long-time dedicated anglophile, and George is usually so good with the British vernacular, but this time she just seemed to have lost that ability altogether. The most noticeable failing was with Graham's dialogue. It seemed very self-conscious, and the action verb was nearly always put at the end of a sentence; i.e., "bit of a headache, I had..." and "I rang 'em, I did..." I felt this was way overused, and just didn't ring true. Quite a bit of the dialogue seemed superficial and affected. This book is so different from her other efforts, that I could hardly believe it was written by the same person. I just couldn't manage to finish it... What a shame, and I was so looking forward to reading it!
Rating:
Summary: Secrets
Review: Cherokee Rivers talks his sister China into accompanying him to the island of Guernsey to hand deliver a parcel.He is being paid to act as a courier for an architect to personally deliver plans to Guy Brouard, a very rich man who intends to build a war museum, commemorating the island's inhabitants courageous stand against the German occupation of Guernsey during WW2.Brouard is murdered after an early morning swim and the local police arrest China, who was seen following Brouard to the beach that morning. Cherokee flies to London to enlist the help of old friend Deborah St.James and her husband Simon, a forensic scientist. Deborah refuses to believe that her friend is guilty and she and Simon begin to unravel a most convoluted web of lies, deceit and greed. It's a big read with mant threads weaving in and out and if you enjoy an involved story of many facets, you'll love this one.
Rating:
Summary: Simon & Deborah Go Home!
Review: Simon and Deborah have always been the least likeable characters in all of Elizabeth George's substantial mystery books. They should have never leaped from second string to main character. I can't finish this book. Deborah is such a despicably weak whiner I can't get past it to care who killed who. Simon needs some assertiveness training. Elizabeth needs an editor. She also needs to listen. Her fans have been clamoring for a Barbara Havers book from the get-go. The women in her books have always been too dependent on their men. Maybe Elizabeth's religous background is getting in the way of her mystery writing. This is the only explanation I can think of for creating such unsympathetic, suboordinate female characters. Look what happened to our beloved Barbara, the only independent woman in the entire series. I won't be buying any more books from Elizabeth.
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