In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner

Rating:
Summary: A Return to Excellence
Review: A very satisfactory and complex work from Ms. George. I have read all her mysteries, and was concerned because the previous book, "Deception On His Mind", fell apart so badly in the end. I held my breath and bought this one anyway, and was amply rewarded. It has an intriguing plot which lives up to its title.

Rating:
Summary: Layers of Mysteries...
Review: In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner is a profound and intricate mystery, a stunning book! It is so because it consists of layers upon layers of mysteries, each with its own victims and its own protagonists. Throughout the 600 tightly-written pages these characters interact with each other, and the layers of plot become interwoven, untangled, and enmeshed again.

The question is asked over and over: who is the 'proper sinner'? And for what crime? If the title word 'proper' means 'appropriate', one must ask, for which crime? Murder? Pornography? Theft? Blackmail? Prositution? Insubordination? And if the title word 'proper' means 'possessed of propriety', then most of the many sinners in this intriguing novel qualify: they are all enamored of their own self worth and gratification--including Thomas Lynley and his partner Barbara Havers.

There is no resolution of the mysteries in this novel: there never can be a resolution to human frailty and the pain it causes. But in the end, a murderer is caught and the tangled skeins rest coiled and ready for use again.

Hopefully it won't take Elizabeth George too long to weave another spell. I'll be waiting.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This book revolves around the murder investigation into the deaths of the daughter of a retired policeman and an unknown young man. Early on, it is learned that the young woman had given up the study of law to become a professional dominatrix. There are more twists and turns than a roller coaster at Cedar Point, Ohio! The investigation is also complicated by the attitude of DI Thomas Lynley toward his one-time partner Barbara Havers. It is a well-written book with a convoluted ending.

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully crafted and a terrific, complex story
Review: This is the first of Elizabeth George's books I've read and I was deeply impressed. The writing is exceptional and it's a suspenseful, harrowing story.

Rating:
Summary: Keeps your interest but disappointing. . .
Review: This is my first EG novel. My attention was definitely kept throughout and I enjoyed her command of the English language. It's silly to criticize an author for using a large vocabulary .... I loved her portrayal of the English moors and her mood setting. However, I agree with some of the other readers that the plot lacked-it was just too obvious! It would have been much more interesting had someone else been the murderer. Her excessive characters were also annoying such as her neighbor, Lynley's hackneyed attitude toward women, and the foolishness of Havers. I could have certainly done without the sex scenes and general immorality rampant in the novel. Mistakes happen but let's not glorify them ....

Rating:
Summary: This author needs a new English editor!
Review: While I have to admit that Elizabeth George is a good writer of stories I am always intensely irritated by her books because they present a picture of Britain that I do not recognise. So much of the vocabulary is wrong - either the wrong register or the wrong tenor - and I do wonder who edits her novels in Britain. This book is perhaps better than some she has published. Playing for the Ashes was utterly amazing and very far short of reality regarding cricket, who plays the game and how English teams are selected although the worst part was the character who frequently bought a 'carton' of cigarettes (please someone tell the author that the word is 'packet' in Britain. In this novel the opening chapter was spoilt by the conversation Havers reportedly had with the Assistant Comissionerand if he really did call her a 'slag' he would not still be in the job anymore please believe me!.

I expect that one day a Brit like me will write a book about the NYPD and introduce characters that play American Football and not get it right. In the meantime if readers in the States want a book that reflects the British way of life in any respect steer clear of Elizabeth George.If you just like a good detective yarn (that's British slang for story by the way)and the poor use of language and setting does not bother you then carry on reading this author.

Rating:
Summary: Perhaps her best - but aren't they all?
Review: I find it aggravating when I discover that an Elizabeth George novel is awarded four stars by the readers, and then find that some forgettable, superficial 210-page mystery by someone else is classified as a five-star work. It shows that the "star" system has some deficiencies, because those formulaic genre mysteries (and I enjoy them as much as anyone) can't be mentioned in the same breath as George's work.

If you haven't read an Elizabeth George novel before, then this isn't the one to start with. At the very least, you need to read "Deception On His Mind" first. (I really believe that everybody should start with her first Lynley/Havers novel, "A Great Deliverance", and read them all in sequence, but I have to accept that some people may not be that ambitious or as fervent an admirer of Ms. George as I am!)

The long-simmering conflict between Havers and Lynley takes center stage in this novel. In order to accentuate the conflict, George has Lynley acting even more rigidly than usual, while Havers becomes even more impulsive. Masterful writer that she is, George uses the conflict between the two of them to make the mystery itself even more complex and interesting than usual.

The bare outlines of the story are that two murders are committed one night in an isolated area of a moor. One victim is the daughter of a retired Scotland Yard detective of Lynley's acquaintance; the other is a young man who aspired to be an artist but actually made his living distributing the business cards of prostitutes to phone booths and other public places. At the beginning the two victims seem to have no connection to each other, but we soon learn that the daughter had been living a double life, and was a highly paid dominatrix in London. There is, of course, an ample supply of suspects and motives. George handles both the mystery and the relationship between Havers and Lynley masterfully. And George has not forgotten the relationship between Havers and her Pakistani neighbor family that was so central to "Deception on his Mind". Although that relationship occupies only a few pages of this book, it is still perhaps the most emotionally moving part of the story.

In sum, this is another memorably wonderful Elizabeth George novel. I hope she never, never stops writing them.

Rating:
Summary: A solid enjoyable read
Review: This is the first George book I've read. I hope it won't be my last. You can read the other reviews to find out the basic plot/premise, but I will say that it is at least interesting enough to keep you turning the pages to find out what is going to happen next. And that's the most important thing in a murder mystery isn't it?? The only dissappointments were that I thought a couple situations (like how they found the coat) a little unbelievable and the ending seemed a little to neat and tidy after being led up to it for 650+ pages. But other than that, the book was a good, fun read.

Rating:
Summary: Too long
Review: I stuck with all 594 pages of "In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner" because I figured the end must be fabulous to justify the long slow pace of the book. It wasn't worth it.

The book is the story of the search for the killer of two young people. Scotland Yard and the local police are working on different facets of the case, and we are fed the clues and facts they collect in a painstakingly slow manner.

Rating:
Summary: EG at her best
Review: This is by far my favorite Elizabeth George mystery. Her characters are complex and flawed, but they do grow and learn from their behavior. Havers is beginning to realize that her defeatist attitude affects her relationships with her co-workers and leads to much unfair prejudice on her part. To that end pairing her with Winston Nkata was brilliant. I wonder what will happen between Havers and Azhar. The moments between them are so wonderful, and Havers' friendship with the sweet and charming little Hiddyah is just beautiful. George did an excellent job of handling of secondary characters and story lines, especially the Julian-Samantha relationship. I would love to know how she conducted her research on the S&M scene. This book is full of terrific moments and altogether makes up a terrifc book.