Rating: 
Summary: Fan: Skip this one
Review: I read the reviews that wrote that Havers and Lynley were MIA in this book and the books main focus was on Deborah and Simon St. James - who are uninteresting characters in the best of times - but I refused to believe I waited like 2 years for a new Lynley George book and I got stuck with this! For shame Ms. George - to deprive your readers of one of the great mystery characters, especially a woman, to have come around in a long time. Hint: the PBS series is based on Havers and Lynley, not Deborah!!! Take my word for it George fans: skip this book as it might put you off for good!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Read Deborah Crombie Instead
Review: I have been an Elizabeth George fan for years, but I have finally learned my lesson, and I will never rush to buy her books in hardcover again. This book was a slow and sometimes painful read. Too much attention was devoted to flesh out subplots that were never resolved and characters with only an incidental relationship to the main plot. At least I think it was the main plot. It's impossible to make specific criticisms without spoiling the plot, so let me just say that I was disappointed that separate plots were not brought together but left to lumber off in different directions. The focus on Deborah was unfortunate, as Deborah is the weakest of George's main characters, and this novel did nothing to redeem her from her constant whining. Simon and Deborah's relationship also seemed different than it was characterized in "A Suitable Vengeance," which I found odd. My biggest problem with the novel was none of the above, amazingly enough. My biggest problem was that I found the motivation for the crime being investigated totally unconvincing, and the behavior of many of the main characters unbelieveable. Luckily Deborah Crombie has a new novel due soon. I discovered her a few years ago, and her novels have filled the gap left by my disappointment in Elizabeth George's recent novels.
Rating:
Summary: Blah!
Review: No Havers and Lynley and, as everyone has noted, Deborah and Simon St. James are uninteresting characters: she whines, he patronizes. The plot is pedestrian and, for George, uncharacteristically banal -- a terminally ill old ladies and her ammoral old rake of the brother, both victimized and permanently scarred by the Holocaust; Deborah and St. James scarred by insecurity and a bad automobile accident that left him crippled; Cherokee and China, victimized by their neglectful mother (a rabid environmentalist who abandoned them for the trees; a poor abused teenager -- I mean, even the little dog gets kicked around in this book. I am a fan of Elizabeth George and had eagerly awaited her new novel. While I can't call myself a victim -- I read it, after all -- I certainly feel neglected. Bring back Havers and Lynley! Bring back Helen! Unless you're a die-hard George fan (pun intended), you might do well to skip this one.
Rating:
Summary: Not her best
Review: Having read all of the author's previous books, I am disappointed to say that this was far from her best. I found it boring and didn't even finish it. I've noticed in the past few books that she has focused on different characters instead of her previously successful blend of Thomas, Helen, Deborah, Simon and Barbara. This time she apparently decided to make Simon and Deborah the major team. However (in my opinion) they are quite boring when the novel is focused on just them. I also thought the story started off well, but bogged down. It wasn't as compelling as her other tales. A slow go.
Rating: 
Summary: George is perfecting her character development abilities.
Review: As the type of George fan who buys hardbacks because I can't wait for the paperback versions to come out, I don't need any encouragement to buy her latest. A Place of Hiding was a satisfying, fascinating read, and certainly well worth the rush I made to buy it early and savor the reading experience.
Even though Lynley only makes a cameo appearance and Havers doesn't appear at all, it really doesn't matter since the story is so bloody good.
Simon St. James, forensic specialist friend to Lynley whom we have met on previous cases, and his red-haired photographer wife Deborah who just so happens to be Lynley's former lover prior to marriage, lead the way in this mystery. Their marriage takes a roller coaster ride as they work together (and apart) to solve the puzzle.
But who is taking the lead on this mystery isn't really all that important. What leads the way in this story is the lush character portrayal both of the people and physical locale involved. Deborah and Simon come to the channel island of Guernsey to help free her American friend accused of murdering a local wealthy philanthropist. What is so fascinating about all the characters involved is how you discover them. They become 3-dimensional as you meet them in first person, then through the eyes of more characters. You think you know a character, then you meet him/her through another person's eyes and it sometimes takes a paragraph or two to identify who it is.
I'd like to see Lynley and Havers back for the next mystery. But, meanwhile, I was very happy to uncover the mysteries hiding in Guernsey in this latest installment of my favorite mystery writer.
Rating: 
Summary: Too bad Stephen King already copy-writed the title, "Misery"
Review: Scotland Yard consultant forensic expert Simon Allcourt-St. James and his pretty, passionate, and perpetually pouting wife, Debra, journey to the island of Guernsey off the Channel coast of Britain to free Debra's childhood friend, China Rivers, who has been arrested for murdering Guy Brouard, elderly wealthy habitant of Guernsey whose sexual appetite borders kinkily on the pedophilic. The unravelling of the "mystery" is middling-satisfying for Elizabeth George fans, and I won't go into that for fear of unleashing a spoiler. Equally interesting is George's illuminating a part of the world that many, or most of us, know very little about. Overall, however, I can only give the book an unenthusiastic three stars. From the opening page, we are pummeled with character upon character who share the one trait: being miserable. China is miserable. China's brother, Cherokee, is miserable. The two taunt each other at how even more miserable the one sibling is than the other. A mother is referred to throughout the book but is never seen, as seeing her would contribute to China's misery level in a negative way. Simon is sorry to have to go to Guernsey on the mission of mercy (though he summons a stiff upper lip as always); Debra of course is miserable because her husband, who is after all a policeman of sorts and must walk over coals to pull off the politics of an unauthorized "hobbyist" investigation abroad, is actually trying to solve the crime, rather than simply trying to get out of jail by hook or crook a strange, moody American woman whom he virtually does not know from Eve. The island of course is populated by sad, mean-spirited ugly people who are miserable. As always, George's depiction of food is stomach-turning, quite a contrast to other English mystery writers (Christie and above all Ian Fleming) who write delightfully about food. Then again, George spends her time in Southern California and England so how poetic about grub can she wax? It took 160 pages for the action to kick, a clear motive was never established, and not only was Inspector Thomas Lynley essentially absent, but his sidekick, Barbara Havers--who to many is the star of the series--merits nary a reference. Still, Elizaeth George writes better than the rest of the pack and if you've kept the faith thus far, you won't be unreasonably let down by this, 12th, installment. Note to author: bring back Havers, okay?
Rating: 
Summary: Not My Favourite!
Review: I am a huge Elizabeth George fan, but this book was not my favourite. Maybe because we did not see Lynley nor Havers in the story at all. Havers is definitely my favourite character and I missed her in the story. But a "not-so-good" Elizabeth George is better than most works of detective fiction by other authors. I love the way Ms. George writes novels that happen to be detective stories. In this book an old friend of Deborah St. James turns up in her and Simon's lives in England. Simon and Deborah travel to the island of Guernsey to go to China and her brother Cherokee's aid. A local magnate has turned up dead and China is thought to have done the deed. Deborah can't believe that her old friend would hurt anyone so she comes to her aid. In the book we find out a lot about Guernsey and a lot about Guernsey in the Second World War and I found that interesting. But I found Deborah to be a spoiled brat and found that I had a hard time maintaining my liking for her. And really the mystery is not that much of a mystery, but some of the people that we meet (in true Elizabeth George fashion) are wonderful - Paul, Ruth and Frank for example).
Rating:
Summary: Worth the plod
Review: Okay, so even though Deborah is not someone I'd like to spend time with, and the story lacks energy, it's an interesting setting and Ms George still tells a good tale. BUT, Ms George, let's get back on track please. Is it safe to assume that this story had to be gotten out of the way to seque into the next novel?
Rating:
Summary: A Place of Hiding
Review: I found this to be the most boring of Elizabeth George's novels.
The characters were boring, the plot turgid and by the time I got to the end of it all I was past caring...Bring back Lynley and Havers!
Rating:
Summary: Great Expectations
Review: Although I'm very fond of Lynley & Barbara, I looked forward to a book focusing on St. James & Deborah. After reading A Place for Hiding, I must recommend this book highly. I especially enjoyed George's variations on the theme of expectations. Almost every character is a permutation of this theme. Deborah & her friend share similarities in their reactions to disappointed expectations. St. James & the victim share similarities in their roles as mentors to expectations. Many characters are encouraged to raise their expectations, some with disastrous consequences. Two characters in particular, Margaret the mother of Adrian and Frank the son of Graham, are superb creations, both with grandiose expectations and both with deadly deceptions hiding in the past, deceptions ready to strike in the present and ready to destroy the future. Guernsey is a perfect setting for this world of thwarted expectations; its insularity and odd differences are reminders that character cannot escape context, no matter how great the expectations. The last chapter is heart-breaking.
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