Rating: 
Summary: The very best thriller!!!
Review: The book is excellent, like all of its predecessors because Elizabeth George knows how to spell-bound her readers. In this book Barbara is on her one solving a mystery among Pakistani immigrants into a seaside resort town in England. Some potential readers might think that Barbara Havers can't manage alone. Ah, but they are very wrong, as Barbara shows more depth and real-life than the classy and superficial Lynley. The book is stunning, and you can believe me because I've read them all!! It is however not recommendable to read af the first of all the writers novels, as she makes several references to the things from previous episodes and novels and to her partnership with Lynley. The reader will understand those references much better if (s)he has read at least one of the previous books. In Denmark (where I come from) we love her books and Elizabeth George is one of the most popular criminal writers from USA.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, like all of its predecessors
Review: I consider Elizabeth George to be the best living writer of mysteries, by a wide margin. In this book, Barbara Havers goes more or less "solo" by getting involved in a case outside of London where she is supposed to be on vacation. In addition to being a superb mystery, this book examines the racial friction generated by the influx of Pakistani immigrants into a seaside resort town in England. I can't speak for the accuracy of her analysis, but her portrayals of the cultural misunderstandings between the police and the immigrant community ring true to my ears. I don't recommend this book as your introduction to Elizabeth George's mysteries. The previous books introduce both of the main characters, Havers and her boss, Inspector Lynley. This book makes several references to the things she learned from Lynley, and to their partnership. The reader will understand those references much better if (s)he has read at least one of the previous books. However, I want to vehemently disagree with a couple of previous reviewers who downgraded this book on the grounds that Havers is a less interesting character than the absent Lynley. I think Havers is a MUCH more interesting character than the pampered and superficial Lynley. I didn't miss him at all in this book. As always, George's writing, characterizations, and plotting put her in a class of her own among mystery writers. This is not a little paperback for an afternoon; it's a real novel. If you love mysteries or if you simply love well-written, thought-provoking fiction, you should read every one of Elizabeth George's books.
Rating: 
Summary: pare it down, please!
Review: I would have given this book a rating of 1 out of 5, except that the plot was interesting. This is the third Elizabeth George book I have read, but I couldn't get through this one. The author has an obsessive compulsive style of writing that is irritating--every bite taken, every sip taken--is added as a boring beat, until I want to scream, get on with the story--move it along! Finally, when I realized there were at least 300 more pages to go, I skipped to the end. This author would benefit from an editor who would dare to tell her to cut out a lot needless, uninteresting details. I do think she has good plots, but I don't think I'll be buying any more of her books.
Rating:
Summary: More Barbara, please!
Review: As far as I'm concerned, Lynley and Helen can stay on their honeymoon, or just stop by for occasional visits. Simon and Deborah can move to Australia. Elizabeth George has found and developed her best character yet! Barbara Havers is becoming more interesting all the time. I especially like it when she occasionally lets her heart out of its cage and her soft side shows through, as happened in this book. There were some fascinating twists her, especially involving the character development of Azhar, whom we will no doubt see more of in future books. The disfigured Rachel was really interesting, and I think George played at her motivations very well. Other characters were just too awful to be believable, I mean, Muhannad and Yumn simply had no redeeming qualities. The map actually came in handy in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Very meaty and enjoyable read.
Review: Elizabeth George has done well with her latest book. I liked her character development of Sargeant Barbara Havers very much, but then George has consistantly excelled with her characterization, and she is a leader in her objective realism mystery genre. She captures the isolation of the human condition, and the motivations of each of its seperate beings, while still providing an exciting mystery that moves along. Definitely worth the read. Did not need any editing in my opinion; this is not a ninety-minute read author. I liked the ending. And I liked the strong women characters; so often women characters are either romantic leads or background. She does well with the challenges of serious career women in male dominated professions.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic as Always
Review: I really enjoyed this book because I have always wanted to see more of the Havers character and this book is entirely devoted to her. Her neighbor, Azhar, and his daughter go to a seaside town in Essex to help out some family members. Barbara, being on medical vacation from the beating she received at the end of the last book, goes there to help out, thinking that Azhar will be out of his depth dealing with a criminal investigation. I was surprised at some of the things that she missed during her investigation particularly something with regards to her acting superior officer. The best part of the book for me was the personal interaction betwen Havers and Azhar. I am glad to see her get a personal life other than dealing with her parents' problems. The ending has a major twist and, having already bought the next book in the series, I did something I have never done before and peeked at the beginning to see what the ramifications of that twist would be....so, I guess I will be "forced" to read on...
Rating:
Summary: One of her best.
Review: I have read all of Elizabeth George's books and this one stands out as the best. She is a very good mystery writer. I love her books because it takes me so long to read them. I can usally devour a book in a day or two but these books always take me at least a week and a half or so.
Her writing style is similar to Anne Rice's in that it is very descriptive and minute. She can take one moment in time and make it last 3 or 4 pages. Some people don't like this sort of writing, calling it flowery and over descriptive but I love detailed character studies of people that show their motivations, thoughts, feelings, etc... leading up to the showdown moment fraught with tension when Lynley and Havers almost always foil the bad(?) guys. The only thing is, by the time you read all this about these characters, there are no black and white, bad or good, just human beings trying to get through their lives.
If you want a GOOD long mystery that slowly and surely draws you into peoples lives, then pick up any of Ms. George's novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Does Bantam need editors??
Review: Cause I'm available. How the heck could ANYONE let this book go on for so long... I'm all for a good long mystery but then the minutia of everybody's thoughts is expounded on endlessly and nothing seems to get plot moving, it's time to get the scissors! I found the mystery interesting enough (I managed to slog through the 713 pages only by skipping huge lumps of text) but on the whole, I found it too full of repetitive chatter. Now, the thought of reading another Elizabeth George seems too much like work. So much in this book was extraneous, incidental and ultimately unsatisfying, that I'm led to believe this is more about the author than the reader. Seems to be more about the successful writer who can't/won't be cut, but good grief, someone has to be the voice of reason and insist on tightening these endless ramblings. I couldn't recommmend George to anyone, unless it was a person who rated mysteries by the pound. Hell, next time I read 700+ pages of anything, it'll be "War and Peace". At least Tolstoy's characters are compelling and his stories hold together. And it's literature, not lava.
Rating:
Summary: Really a Wonderful Book!
Review: At first I didn't think that I'd like this book as much as the others in the series because there seemed to be so much about racism and I didn't think I'd get past that. But Ms. George has a way of bringing you into her own world no matter what your preconceived notions are. This book is a wonderful thriller, and a masterpiece of psychological suspense. In this book Barbara Havers is on her own, and the book does not suffer for that. Barbara is a wonderful character and we really get into her head with this book. Believe me it's a worthwhile place to be. She is, I think, one of the best female detective characters that I have ever read. This book is so well written, and so complex, and there are all kinds of twists and turns in the plot to keep you guessing. I can't say enough good about it.
Rating:
Summary: Thanks to God, and Allah too
Review: Someone has murdered Mr. Haytham Querashi, a recent Pakistani immigrant, in Balford-le-Nez, a small, economically depressed town on the coast of Essex, England. Mr. Querashi was to soon wed the beautiful Sahlah, daughter of Akram Malik. In the Pakistani tradition, the parents of the bride and groom had arranged the marriage. As part of the deal, Mr. Querashi had become Production Manager in Mr. Malik's mustard factory where he displaced the last non-Pakistani, full-time employee. Just a few weeks ago Mr. Malik became the first Pakistani on the Town Council when his formidable adversary, the aging Agatha Shaw, was forced to resign due to a stroke. Despite her condition and Malik's appointment, Mrs. Shaw, with the help of her grandson Theo, is determined to obtain the Council's approval for her project. She is resolute in the renovation and development of the pleasure pier to attract tourists, resuscitate the town's economy and thus assure her legacy as savior of the community. Querashi's death is threatening to ignite smoldering racial tensions, however. The Asian's in general and Malik's son in particular suspect the murder was racially motivated and expect the police will ignore white suspects and blame a Pakistani. Enter Sgt. Barbara Havers, who is conveniently vacationing in the town, to mediate with the Pakistani as police liaison. As the case proceeds, Barbara discovers that nearly all the players have something to hide, including her self. Indeed, the title of this English mystery novel should be "Deception on Their Minds." Elizabeth George is a master of this genre. Her characters are believable, the events are realistic, the scenes evolve with interesting complexity and the plot is superb, although sometimes I found her style more descriptive and dragging than in her prior novel, "In the Presence of the Enemy." And unlike her previous novel, I had the killer figured in this one before the cops did. "Deception" is unusual and outstanding, however, for George's treatment of the culture clash. Her characters cover the full spectrum of personalities one would expect to find in her hypothetical community. Thanks to God and Allah too, she does it without the least bit of moralizing.
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