A Great Deliverance

Rating:
Summary: A Very Compelling First Book in a Series
Review: This is the first book in the Lynley/Havers series, and it is quite a powerful one. Ms. George has very strong characters. She is also not afraid to tread in dark and secretive areas, as this book does. She does not tread softly either. Rather she enters in with "gumboots"! This is one of the best psychological thrillers I've read in some time, and I intend to continue with the series. Lynley and Havers are a great team. Yes, you'll find that you lose patience with Havers as she blunders her way through some very dicey situations, but don't be fooled - she is extemely intelligent under that dumpy exterior. Lynley is a true English gentleman, and a very deep character in his own right. Unrequited love has a place in this book along with other kinds of "love" that are not nearly so wholesome.

Rating:
Summary: Great Character-Driven Mystery
Review: This novel, the first in the 'Inspector Lynley' mystery series, is complex in both plot and character. The plot concerns the murder of a Yorkshire farmer, allegedly by his youngest daughter, who is found by the local priest with the murder weapon -- an axe -- as she is guarding the body. Although the townspeople are almost all convinced the daughter could never do such a thing, it's up to Inspector (and Earl of Asherton) Thomas Lynley to find out who committed the crime. What's really interesting about this novel is the depth of character George creates: both Lynley and his partner, Barbara Havers, have lives outside of the main story that keep intruding on their investigation. And all the major characters are flawed in some way. A highlight of that aspect is the class-based hatred Havers has for Lynley; at times, it makes her irrational in her assumptions of Lynley as well as other characters. The last quarter of the novel 'reveals all': the murderer, the motive (very sordid), every head of what Lynley calls the 'Hydra' in the town of Keldale. One minor distraction -- at least to this reader -- is a subplot that detracts from the main plot and explains the disappearance of one of the suspects. A good start to a good series.

Rating:
Summary: Great Character-Driven Mystery
Review: This novel, the first in the 'Inspector Lynley' mystery series, is complex in both plot and character. The plot concerns the murder of a Yorkshire farmer, allegedly by his youngest daughter, who is found by the local priest with the murder weapon -- an axe -- as she is guarding the body. Although the townspeople are almost all convinced the daughter could never do such a thing, it's up to Inspector (and Earl of Asherton) Thomas Lynley to find out who committed the crime. What's really interesting about this novel is the depth of character George creates: both Lynley and his partner, Barbara Havers, have lives outside of the main story that keep intruding on their investigation. And all the major characters are flawed in some way. A highlight of that aspect is the class-based hatred Havers has for Lynley; at times, it makes her irrational in her assumptions of Lynley as well as other characters. The last quarter of the novel 'reveals all': the murderer, the motive (very sordid), every head of what Lynley calls the 'Hydra' in the town of Keldale. One minor distraction -- at least to this reader -- is a subplot that detracts from the main plot and explains the disappearance of one of the suspects. A good start to a good series.

Rating:
Summary: This Story Delivers Chills Down Your Spine
Review: This story is both something which sends chills down your spine when you hear the tale of the infant smothered in Keldale Abbey, and as you go deeper and deeper into the story and slowly discover not only the details of the murder--that is to say, who did it, how, and why. Do not miss this selection!

Rating:
Summary: How it all started....
Review: This will be brief, because I read this book several months ago and don't remember specifics. BUT--I am completely addicted to this series, and have enjoyed each book immensely. I've just started the last (i.e. most recent) one in print, and I plan to read it s-l-o-w-l-y since the next book isn't due out until late June. I shall be bereft when I finish it.

Rating:
Summary: Captivating!
Review: Though I started the series out of order(don't you HATE that?!), this book was a near-perfect beginning to the Lynley/Havers series. Having the dynamic between Simon and Lynley illustrated so poignantly only adds to Lynley's sensitive character. George does not make the mistake of having protagonists and victims be too likeable or unreachable, and that what makes her books all the more compelling, IMHO.

Rating:
Summary: Won 1988 Anthony & Agatha Awards for best first novel!
Review: Though this is not the first of her novels that I have read, it was the first she has published. I believe she's up to eight now, and this is my fourth. It's hard to believe that this is her first novel and, believe me, they just keep getting better. If you're looking for an author of the English mystery to follow, this would be the one!

Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: What a wonderful, multi layered mystery... Dark and chilling, it's not a "feel good" read, but you won't be able to put it down.

Rating:
Summary: layered plots and surprising turns
Review: When I stumbled across this book in the library, I decided to take it home, because it actually started with a word I did not know! I do like English mystery fiction, but I do not like plots to be shallow, the language to be simple, the characters to be full of cliches, the whole thing foreseeable. Although placed in a classical English setting (including an Earl, peasants, a Vicar and the discreet noise of tea-cups) this is a modern book, with modern crimes, and a suitable amount of gore. Lots of psychology, lots of twists and turns, lots of nice , or nasty, or at least complicated protagonists. After this first contact with books by E. George, I have read them all. You probably want to learn as well more about the fate of Lynley, Havers, and the rest. And for those readers, whose native language is not english, don't worry, I bet E.George looks up a few remote words in the dictionary herself, to put them into the novel just for fun.