A Place of Hiding

Rating:
Summary: A Complex and Absorbing Tale You Won't Want to Miss
Review: A PLACE OF HIDING opens with Deborah and Simon St. James bidding goodnight to their guests, Helen Clyde and Thomas Lynley. A few minutes later, the doorbell rings. Deborah is shocked to discover Cherokee River, the brother of her friend and American roommate China River, on her doorstep. With no prompting he tells the couple that he has come to ask for help. His sister has been arrested for murder and is in a musty jail on the isolated island of Guernsey, which is situated in the English Channel. He prefaces his story by taking all responsibility for her trouble. His explanation is long and complicated but very convincing. Thus, by the time he's finished, Deborah feels duty-bound to drop everything and help them.

Simon is not as eager to get involved and he's not about to let Deborah go off with a charismatic and handsome young man, about whom he knows nothing. The stakes grow exponentially once the threesome land on Guernsey and each damning puzzle piece starts to fit into place. China River has been charged with the grizzly murder of Guy Brouard, the richest and most influential man on the island. He and his sister immigrated to the Channel Island, where he chose a very pubic life and spread his money around. Ruth Brouard, on the other hand, preferred to live a quiet and more private life.

Their wealth and lifestyles separated them from most of the population, but they felt a spiritual connection to this island's populace because they too were victims of the Holocaust. One of the island's war heroes owned an extraordinary collection of memorabilia. He, his son and Brouard were planning a World War II museum to honor those who were at the mercy of the Nazis during occupation.

Simon tries to convince Le Gallez, the investigator in charge of the murder, that many islanders, even some who were part of the plans for the memorial, are much more likely to have killed Brouard than China River. However, not a shred of evidence emerges against them. But Simon is relentless, determined to find anyone who might have a motive for wanting Brouard dead. Still, the inspector has no interest in looking beyond his current prisoner; for him, the case has been solved. How and why China River became the prime suspect is the matrix for this multilayered, well-plotted and highly suspenseful novel.

A PLACE OF HIDING is a complex and absorbing tale populated with interesting and chameleon-like characters. At first, fans may be surprised that Helen Clyde and Thomas Lynley make fast cameo appearances, while Barbara Havers isn't mentioned at all. After all, George has built her reputation with eleven previous books featuring those stars. Until now, Deborah and Simon St. James have played supporting roles in those novels. But as they take center stage in this one, they are strong, fully realized characters who carry the tale on able shoulders. Through them, George "looks unflinchingly at the emotional and psychological composition of her characters to weave a compelling ... suspenseful narrative."

All of George's novels feature a large cast, the members of whom are carefully limned. But they are plot propelled and their mission is to catch a killer. In A PLACE OF HIDING George shifts that focus a bit. Here, she allows for inner dialogue and soul searching. Deborah and Simon are forced to confront the tensions in their May-December marriage and come to terms (or not) with their differences. Also, Deborah must re-think her place in the world and tame her own demons. However, none of this takes anything away from the mystery that surrounds Brouard's murder. As a matter of fact, the need to re-evaluate themselves reaches beyond the St. James's as other islanders are forced to take a good look at their own lives, motives and actions.

Elizabeth George is an American with an uncanny ability to capture the landscape and ambience of her "English world." Her British characters are always painted with perfect strokes. Her narratives are exceptional. Not many writers of series characters allow the second string to come forward and play the leads. But George is such a strong writer and her ensemble so talented and diverse that A PLACE OF HIDING loses nothing with Deborah and Simon St. James at the helm. Readers will find themselves totally smitten with the couple and cheer them on. A surprise ending adds to the verisimilitude of the story and offers satisfying relief. This book is a keeper and one not to miss.

--- Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum

Rating:
Summary: For fans only
Review: If you're an Elizabeth George fan - and I am - this book is still a satisfying installment. But it's really just for fans, since it's relatively weak in plot.

Rating:
Summary: whine whine whine whine...
Review: Gosh - I really did not enjoy this book. I love Elizabeth George's books but Deborah St. James is the biggest baby and what a schmuck her husband, Simon, is. He needs to tell Deb to grow up. Okay - so she can not have a baby. Hello, adopt!!! It is not like money is an issue for them. This books was long and made longer by having the reader suffer with the unsufferable (is that a word??) Deb. Lynley and Havers and their relationship with London is what makes George's books so entertaining and interesting. When she writes a story with boring and silly characters throughout the whole story (like Adrian's Mom)it is just too tedious for words...

I wonder what Ms. George has to say to all the critism regarding her leaving out Barbara.

Rating:
Summary: Okay, but not the best....
Review: Along with many other readers, I missed Barbara Havers in Elizabeth George's latest 'detective' novel. Sorry, but Debs just isn't the same. Barbara has some depth. However, to set A PLACE OF HIDING in Guernsey, George had to use someone who could actually travel there and conduct an investigation. Since Lynley and Havers are British cops they have no jurisdiction in Guernsey. That St James and his spouse are able to do anything given the downright hostility of the local gendarme, stretches credulity almost to the breaking point.

George writes what some critics characterize as a "cozy" mystery-a setting associated with a big old house, several possible suspects (not the whole world), and a victim with many character defects and/or lots of money potential heirs covet. The mystery is solved within a few days by a "hero" (sometimes a cop, sometimes not), who has little dependance on forensic evidence. Generally, the plot is the strong part of these types of novel and there is little character development.

Although George is very good and I'll read her in a pinch, I much prefer books by P.D. James-and when he was writing the Morse series, Colin Dexter. Perhaps the quality of the mystery is associated with the author's age. Miss Marple, Poirot, and Morse, although very different had lived a bit and understood human nature--as had their creators. Dalgliesh, the son of a vicar, is troubled by existential issues and has a creator in her 80s. Both Lynley and St James are young, relatively well off, and apparently both pretty good looking. Most of their problems seem to involve interpersonal relations with the opposite sex (girlfriends, spouses, or wives, and in Lynley's case-Sgt. Havers). Perhaps as she grows older George will bring a deeper sense of existential angst to her main characters, but at this point, she does not appear to be able to do so. She had several opportunities in A PLACE OF HIDING, but did not follow through. At times, I get the feeling that George would like to write like George Simeon (the master of the psychological novel) or Agatha Christie (the queen of mystery plots), but does not have the skill. As far as I am concerned she gets a B- on both plot and character development in this book. I still buy her books, however, which tells you something about what is available on the market.

George uses "notions" that remind me of material found in novels by other authors, most obviously LIVING WITH THE ENEMY by Roy McLoughlin--which she acknowledges. McLoughlin's novel is set in Guernsey during WWII. What will mystery writers do for plot material when they can't harken back to WWII. Go back to WWI, I suppose. Take MAISIE DOBBS.....now there's a protagonist who shows a great deal of promise...

Rating:
Summary: Until reading her last three books, I was a fan of George.
Review: This last book needs severe editing. The style is increasingly sef-indulgent, repetitive and muddy. I struggled with the confused syntax and clumsy metaphors. Various sections using changes in characters' voices and streams of consciousness makes A Place of Hiding almost unreadable. I tried following the story for a while because the setting (the island of Guernsey, occupied by the Nazis from 1940-43) interested me, but found myself skipping through the second half to find the conclusion. A deeper and more fulfilling treatment of the setting can be found in Tim Binding's novel, Lying with the Enemy, which I heartily recommend. This will be the last E. George book that I will open.

Rating:
Summary: Sisters and Brothers
Review: Mystery stories derive fuel from resentment and other forms of insecurity. The setting is Guernsey. Guy Bouchard chokes to death on the sort of stone islanders use to ward off evil. A friend of Deborah St. James is charged with the murder. An assorted group of people is involved evidencing difficult relationships with the deceased. Still, he was a rich man and played the role of a sort of Santa Claus in Guernsey. He was not the sort to have enemies.

His sister, who had been something of a lifelong companion, is dying of cancer and has considerable pain. In fact, the dead man was swimming the morning of his death in order to help alleviate his anxiety over her condition. It would be hard to find the person who wished him ill. It would be hard to find a motive.

The island had been occupied by the Germans in World War II. A great deal of Nazi memorabilia has been discovered and there is a plan to create a museum for it. The decedent, though, made no provision for this in his will. His will is very surprising to everyone, his sister included. Something strange had been going on and his sister isn't sure what it is. She explains the Norman customary law to Simon St. James to explain the Guernsey laws of inheritance. The deceased had circumvented these.

Things are not what they seem. A son has to face the fact that his heroic-seeming father was a collaborator. The supposed plans for a museum are unsigned and are stock plans for a spa. The estate is missing a lot of the expected funds.

It turns out a sibling is untrustworthy and this suffices to set up everything else in this picture of misunderstandings. The plotting is wonderful. Elizabeth George is the best mystery writer. It is to be regretted that Inspector Lynley and some of the other regular characters play hardly any role in this adventure.

Rating:
Summary: Maybe The Next One Will Be Bettre
Review: I always snag Ms George's books hot off the press. I
was happy to read it quickly and sell it back to a
used bookstore before the jig was up. This was a collection
of truly unappealing characters, engaged in unbelievable
and peculiar activities. I read to the end to see 'whodunnit'
but didn't enjoy the trip. Ms. George is an outstanding
writer and somehow I think I'd enjoy her version of a
grocery list. But the characters were just not people
I'd want to spend time with.I'd rather have Lynley and Havers back again. Simon is third on the list and Deborah needs to grow up beforeshe's trotted out for the public again.

As to the focus on a druggie ne'r do well young man and
his misguided sister, it was a poor choice. Cherokee
was a bum and his sister China either incredibly naive
or just plain stupid. I kept hoping they'd disappear
along with the trophy wife, the chain smoking kid and
his disgusting mother.

Rating:
Summary: Oh dear, where have all the flowers gone?
Review: If this were the first book of Elizabeth George's I had read then I most certainly would be crossing her off my list. This is a shame because those of us who might be classed as fans know she is far better than this latest novel demonstrates.

I did an awful lot of scanning during my read which can result in much confusion if the plot is well detailed and constructed. However,I did not have to refer back to the texr once, indicating, at least to me, that my scanning had cost me little and there is far too much padding. Essentially though the whole story was a gigantic contrivance and this probably contributed greatly to its incredulity.
On a very personally biased note I was really disappointed that Barbara Havers was missing from George's latest story. Of all the regular characters Havers stands out like a beacon. Shining far brighter than the soppy, egocentric and at times plain incompetent Thomas Lynley. Certainly much brighter than the bland Simon St James and his silly and spoilt little wife who both seem to have walked out of some Mills and Boon novelette. So please lets have Barbara back and playing the lead.

Finally, a piece of real nit picking. I was always remember that the guidance provide by Fowler's "... Modern English Usage includes the following comment under the entry 'French Words'

"Display of superior knowledge is as great a vulgarity as dislay of superior wealth - greater, indeed, inasmuch as knowledge should tend more definitely than wealth towards discretion and good manners. That is the guiding principle ... in the using ... of French words in English writing... . To use French words that your reader does not know...is inconsiderate and rude."

Lets hope Elizabeth George remembers her manners in her future writings.

Rating:
Summary: Where's Havers?
Review: I was terribly disappointed in this book and that's bad because I didn't like the last one as much as I'd hoped either. I'm beginning to question my devotion to the inhabitants of George's imaginary London world.

Perhaps I'm in a literary rut but I like to read about the clever and dashing Tommy Lynley and the realistically complex Barbara Havers. I like the other constables (Webberly, et al) and I enjoy St. James' contributions to the plot twists, too, but I should have known that a book with the whiny and self-absorbed Deborah as protagonist would not satisfy me.

I find that George's upper class female characters are not as inherently interesting as the grittier, working-class Havers. Their lives, so privileged and easy, so lacking in actual achievement, seem petty when compared to Havers' struggle to define herself as a woman professional in a man's field, while still clutching tightly to the traditional woman's role, namely caring for her elderly and infirm parents. I admire and enjoy the raw honesty of Havers' internal struggles as she makes her choice every day about how much time and energy she can afford to devote to two competing, nearly opposite, responsibilities. Additionally, I love her fierce devotion to her values and principals, her strength of character in the face of adversity, and her tightly constricted, yet aching to burst, heart. She's probably among my favorite contemporary female characters and deserves another story of her own. Next to her, many other women pale to beige.

Deborah is one of these. As a peripheral character, Deborah is fine, adding a pretty atmosphere and sexual tension to the loving, yet tortured, relationship between Simon and Tommy, but I cannot identify with her self-obsessed whinging. It's hard to feel sorry for a woman who feels brutalized by life merely because she doesn't get whatever she wants whenever she wants it. Lots of women long for families and struggle to make their professional mark, yet few can afford to indulge in such navel-gazing in Cheyne Walk. Most, like Havers and Deborah's art school friend China Rivers, must get up and hustle to work every day. Deborah freely admits that observers might find it hard to feel sorry for her, as she bears no financial responsibility for her own or anyone else's support, and can shoot only what she likes (ten thousand developed images as she searches for her own perspective) as she has no clients to please, as China has. Despite these observations of her obvious privileges, she wallows, envying China's professional interests and status, but unwilling to pay the emotional and financial price for artistic freedom, as China has.

Deborah hasn't the strength of personality to front a novel, even one with as ephemeral a plot as this one, in which Deborah, nearly single-handedly, discovers who murdered a manipulative rich man and framed China for it. Maybe I've read too many of these, but it wasn't as hard as I'd hoped to figure out who done it. The novel lacked the sparkle and punch of George's earlier work. The main internal conflict comes from Deborah's unhappiness with the way the courtly Simon treats her, not from the pangs of her own confused, yet determined, desire to grow into a self-actualized woman. The external class-conflict that George brings to life so vividly between Tommy and Havers is dimly recalled by the obvious class differences between Deborah and China. Unfortunately, these conflicts aren't examined closely enough for anyone (including the reader) to learn anything. No one takes a stand, no one overcomes prejudices, no one develops as a character: everyone stands around and means well but nothing really happens, except. . . Deborah goes home to reinvent herself again.

Rating:
Summary: Poor showing
Review: Elizabeth George is generally a top-notch writer, but A Place of Hiding is an unfortunate exception. The plot was extremely disjointed, and so contrived that at the story's conclusion, very little of the set-up actually made logical sense. George's heretofore tight prose has given way to high school level analogy. Readers looking for the further adventures of Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers will be disappointed to note that Lynley appears only peripherally, and Havers not at all. Simon & Deborah spearhead this investigation (most improbably), dragging with them the detritus of their marriage, a relationship which is now beyond boring.

Truly a disappointment.