Rating: 
Summary: She does it Again!
Review: Elizabeth George is a wonderful writer-she grabs hold of you and doesn't let go, even after you have closed the book. This, along with A Great Deliverance and Deception on His Mind, is one of my favorites of hers.
The book twists and turns at breakneck speed. The characters are, as always, wonderfully written (and while I agree with others that Lynley's neuroses are getting a little tiring, I found it necessary in this book for him to be dealing with what he was dealing with).
Altogether, this is a marvelous mystery. I was completely engrossed, and came to feel, as I always do, that Havers and Lynley are people I know well, and I am a fly on the wall eagerly hunting for the same clues they are (although I have to admit, I got the "picture at games" clue almost immediately after we discovered what the oak was used for.)
If you like mystery/suspense, don't miss Elizabeth George.
Rating: 
Summary: First time with Elizabeth George's work was a fine time
Review: I've never read any other of George's books and was given this by a colleague who thought I might appreciate a good mystery with a positive spin on SM. I'm not sure this is strictly a mystery -- its more a cop drama really and I suspect the characters are ones that George has used previously. As for the positive SM, is it positive if the lead detective is constantly thinking how sick all these people are or how much drug or alcohol use is shown or how alligned it is with prostitution? Didn't seem particularly positive to me but maybe things are quite different in England. It is a very English book -- so if British language and terms throw you, you'll have difficulty following this. I, too, got a bit tired of following one character, a female detective who's off the case really, and the two male detectives around separately but if you've seen these characters before it may be more interesting to you.
Rating: 
Summary: The Odd Couple: Lynley and Havers
Review: Elizabeth George is an American who writes mystery novels set in England, thus encroaching on the sacred soil of Agatha Christie et al. As an American I can't judge how authentic her books may be to an English reader, but I detect in them an American expansiveness --- this one is 709 pages long. "In Pursuit...." is about two murders on an English moor and the investigation to catch the killer or killers. The merit -- and the mystery -- in the story is which of two Scotland Yard detectives is pursuing the line of investigation that will lead to solving the case. Detective number one is Thomas Lynley -- elegant, privileged, earnest, respected, of noble heritage and the owner of a Bentley automobile which he loves almost as much as he loves his upper-crust wife. Detective number two is Barbara Havers, a dumpy, working-class slob with the personality of a bulldog and an appetite for pop tarts and cigarettes. She uses her t-shirt for a napkin and does not have a Bentley -- or a flourishing social life. Lynley and Havers have different notions as to the motives and the perpetrators of the murders on the moors and they embark on parallel -- and competitive -- investigations. I didn't really care much about solving the mystery; rather I cared about who won the match between Lynley and Havers. Which one will you root for? A compilation of the answers to that question from English and American readers would be interesting. George is a good plotter and pacer and a decent writer and this one kept my interest to the end despite its formidable length. George can be spoken of in the same breath as P.D. James, the reigning queen of British whodunits.
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