A Place of Hiding

Rating:
Summary: Riveting, Robust-George Back in Form!
Review: Elizabeth George delivers another wonderful edition of her British mystery series.
This time, two characters-Simon Allcourt-James and his red haired, moody wife Deborah-who have always been supporting players, take center stage. The book pays tribute to George's many strengths in character development-any of the characters that she has written about over the years could easily become the focus of a book.
The plot: Cherokee River,a California friend from Deborah's past, shows up on the doorstep of the Allcourt-James' in London. His half-sister, China River (there mother was a child of the 60's), has been arrested in Guernsey on charges of murder. He enlists the help of the Allcourt-James' and their promise to travel to Guernsey.
The murder victim is Guy Brouard, a wealthy hotelier, who escaped the Nazis as a child. He lived with his sister Ruth in a mansion on Guernsey. His life was--and the book is--filled with an assortment of wives, mistresses, children, hangers-on, local friends. Plenty of evidence points to China: however, she is the only one who has no motive.
George's book explores human relationships and dynamics in a way unknown to most mystery authors. The passionate yet challenging marriage of Simon and Deborah--with her numerous insecurities (she can't bear children due to an abortion, her father is his servant)and his embarassment over his crippled legs--is explored in depth. The loyalty that Ruth, the murder victim's sister, feels to her brother-despite her knowledge of his weaknesses--is woven masterfully throughout the book. Several other family relationships are also presented and worked through in the pages.
Of course the mystery itself is great: plenty of twists and turns, a Nazi or two from the past, lots of atmosphere.
I would recommend this book to fans of the mystery genre ( particularly English mystery), fans of Elizabeth George (she's back in form-I, Richard was a disappointment), fans of "english books" (A Place of Hiding is more than just a mystery). I would caution die hard George groupies-her two main characers, Barbara Havers and her partner, the aristocratic and dashing Inspector Thomas Lynley, are not featured in this book. (Lynley makes one or two perfunctory appearances but that's it.) Don't let that stop you-the book is still wonderful without them.

Rating:
Summary: Just what was the point here?
Review: I have read all of Elizabeth George's novels after watching the BBC series based on them. This one was a real dud as far as I was concerned. The plotting was thick and full of dead ends and the story populated by characters who never caught my imagination. And although the author does a pretty good interpretation of ordinary daily life in odd corners of Britain (in this case Guernsey) she still just misses making her characters believably British for me.

Although Barbara Havers is the UK equivalent of "trailer park trash", she is without doubt the most successful of George's regulars and I think she is a truly memorable character. However, when it comes to rich, titled, aristocratic British men, I don't think she comes close to making them believable, sympathetic or attractive.

I have always thought that Deborah and Simon had the potential to be George's most interesting characters because their personal backgrounds was fertile ground ripe for exploitation. However, this time, I just got annoyed. Sorry, but the way Simon is made to handle his disability, the way he blows it all out of proportion, Deborah's unwillingness to be open and honest with a man who adores her and the generally slovenly development of their characters in this story was just terribly, terribly disappointing. Also, I should think any reader who had not read the previous novels would have been wondering just what the hell was going on here with Deborah and Simon - too many allusions to the past makes this novel difficult to "stand alone".

Sorry, I nearly gave up after the first 100 pages. The last 30 pages were a frantic attempt to dig out a believable conclusion (and it was credulous to say the least) and the most interesting character was a council house bully of an elder brother who clearly was nuts!

Oh dear; what a disappointment - can't really recommend this and hope the author can do better next time.

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.