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On compassionate leave after the murder of his wife, Thomas Lynley is called back to Scotland Yard when the body of a woman is found stabbed and abandoned in an isolated London cemetery. His former team doesn't trust the leadership of their new department chief, Isabelle Ardery, whose management style seems to rub everyone the wrong way. In fact, Lynley may be the sole person who can see beneath his superior officer's hard-as-nails exterior to a hidden and possibly attractive vulnerability.
While Lynley works in London, his former colleagues Barbara Havers and Winston Nkata follow the murder trail south to the New Forest. There they discover a beautiful and strange place where animals roam free, the long-lost art of thatching is very much alive, and outsiders are not entirely welcome. What they don't know is that more than one dark secret lurks among the trees, and that their investigation will lead them to an outcome that is both tragic and shocking.
A multilayered jigsaw puzzle of a story skillfully structured to keep readers guessing until the very end, This Body of Death is a magnificent achievement from a writer at the peak of her powers.
Elizabeth George is the New York Times bestselling author of sixteen novels of psychological suspense, one book of nonfiction, and two short story collections. Her work has been honored with the Anthony and Agatha awards, the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, and the MIMI, Germany's prestigious prize for suspense fiction. She lives in Washington State.
Scratch that. She's happy now. At the time, it wasn't her best day. But the notes from her editor helped her realize that she had written the wrong book and chosen the wrong leading man. She threw out her Agatha-Christie/drawing-room-whodunit model in favor of a more modern police procedural set in the world of Scotland Yard. She promoted a minor character to her leading man, the handsome, aristocratic, Bentley-driving Thomas Lynley. And she invented a partner for him, the blue-collar, foul-mouthed, messy Barbara Havers.
"I was very lucky when the first one was rejected, because the editor explained to me why," George told the Los Angeles Times in 1999. "I had written a very Agatha Christie-esque book and she said that wasn't the way it was done. The modern crime novel doesn't have the detective call everyone into the library. It must deal with more topical crimes and the motives must be more psychological because the things you kill for are different now. Things like getting rid of a spouse who won't divorce you, or hiding an illegitimate child, or blackmail over a family scandal -- those are no longer realistic motivations."
And so, in A Great Deliverance, her first published novel, she opens with the decapitated body of a farmer, his blood-splattered daughter holding an ax, the horrified clergyman who happens on to the crime scene, and a rat feasting on the remains. Nope, not in Agatha Christie territory anymore.
George began writing as child when her mother gave her an old 1939 typewriter. When she graduated from high school, she graduated to an electric typewriter. But not until she graduated to a home computer (purchased by her husband in the 1983), did she actually try her hand at a novel. At the time, she was a schoolteacher and had been since 1974. But with the computer in front of her, she has said, it was put-up-or-shut-up time. She finished her first manuscript in 1983. But her first book wasn't published for five more years.
Though the Lynley/Havers novels are set in England -- as are the tales in her first book of short stories, 2002's I, Richard -- George is a Yank, born in Ohio and raised in Southern California. Maintaining a flat in London's South Kensington as a home base for research, George has been an Anglophile since a trip as a teenager to the United Kingdom, where she ultimately found that a British setting better served the fiction that she wanted to write. "The English tradition offers the great tapestry novel," she told Publishers Weekly in 1996, "where you have the emotional aspect of a detective's personal life, the circumstances of the crime and, most important, the atmosphere of the English countryside that functions as another character."
Readers have made her books standard features on the bestseller lists, and critics have noted the psychologically deft motives of her characters and her detailed, well-researched plotting. "A behemoth, staggering in depth and breadth, A Traitor to Memory leaves you simultaneously satisfied and longing for more. It's simply a supreme pleasure to spend time engrossed in this intense, well-written novel," the Miami Herald said in 2001. The Washington Post called 1990's Well-Schooled in Murder " a bewitching book, exasperatingly clever, and with a complex plot that must be peeled layer by layer like an onion." The Los Angeles Times once called her "the California author who does Britain as well as P.D. James." And in 1996, Entertainment Weekly placed George's eighth novel, In the Presence of the Enemy in their fiction top ten list of the year, where she kept company with John Updike, Frank McCourt, Stephen King, and Jon Krakauer.
In her mind, each book begins with the killer, the victim and the motive. She travels to London and stays at her flat there to research locales. And she writes long profiles about what drives her characters psychologically. The kick for the reader isn't necessarily whodunit but why they dun it.
"I don't mind if they know who the killer is," she has said. "I'm happy to surprise them with the psychology behind the crime. I'm interested in the dark side of man. I'm interested in taboos, and murder is the greatest taboo. Characters are fascinating in their extremity not in their happiness."
On page 900 of the rough draft for Deception on His Mind, George changed her mind about the identity of the killer.
George's ex-husband is her business manager.
On compassionate leave, Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley remains in Cornwell still grieving the murder of his wife. However, Metropolitan Police acting Superintendent Isabelle Ardery wants to be London's top cop without the acting label. To do so, she needs Lynley to eliminate a potential impediment.
Someone murdered Jemima Hastings; the Hampshire native was found dead in a London cemetery. Whereas Lynley's team detests Ardery, they investigate the case. Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers and Detective Inspector John Stewart follow clues to New Forest where animals are welcome and people are not. Meanwhile Lynley returns to London to help solve the Hastings homicide.
This is a terrific police procedural that reads more like a psychological suspense than a typical investigation story line. In London and in New Forest, suspects seem everywhere, which makes for a delightfully convoluted inquiry. Lynley is terrific as he grieves for his late spouse yet seems to understand his superior is much more than just an ambitions bi*ch. His team is also fascinating as everyone one of them loath Ardery as an aggressive SOB whose career supersedes case solving and compassion. The Body of Death is a great character driven English thriller.
Harriet Klausner
21 out of 21 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 28, 2010
If you go back and look at Payment in Blood or one of the other early novels, you'll see what George has lost: a realization that we come back for the main characters and like to spend time with them. We do NOT care to spend time with the suspects and do not want to read hundreds of pages about their damaged lives. We want to be at the side of the detectives and see the case as they see it; one or more of them should be on virtually every page.
George's recent books are more sociology than mystery, and she needs a good editor to rein her in; she has totally lost her way. The recent books are all overlong and boring. I am desperately trying to finish this one, skimming like crazy, pulling out the good scenes with Lynley, Ardery, Havers, St. James et al.
I used to loan these books to friends, but I don't anymore...the last three have been a huge disappointment. Elizabeth George is not George Eliot, and mystery novels are not meant to be Victorian fiction. The plots should be simple and sharp, the detectives at center stage, the human interactions focused mainly on the characters we love. Think Stieg Larsson, Kate Atkinson, Louise Penny, PD James, Michael Connelly, John Sandford, Peter Robinson.
Elizabeth, I hope you're reading this...you're writing your way to oblivion; Lynley and Havers deserve better.
6 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Between the British accents and the plot going back and forth between 2 different stories its a difficult read. I didn't enjoy it at all and those who wrote that they were disappointed that George killed off Linley's wife are right. The story was not the same but, the book itself was soooooooo long and drawn out I skipped papes just to get to the end! Sorry no more Elizabeth George books for me.
6 out of 13 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.whoizme88
Posted March 30, 2010
This book for me is not up to the level of Elizabeth George's series on Detective Inspector Lynley.
Though the quality of writing is a bit off from the Lynley series it is a book that mystery readers will enjoy. Her quality is so high it is a little disappointing to read this one. She has different plots here and different characters, which are ok but not to the quality of the others, in my opinion.
All in all a decent and good read.
J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"
5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.GrammaSharon
Posted June 28, 2010
As always, Elizabeth George's Lynley and the other characters continue to change and grow. She has included a parallel story that intertwines and keeps you on the edge of your seat. The series gets more deep and intense with every book as the characters lives go on.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.1louise1
Posted June 1, 2010
I Also Recommend:
The body of a young woman is found, gruesomely murdered in an old cemetery in London. Nothing much to go on as far as identification except that she has one blue eye and one brown eye. The case is handed off to Superintendent Isabelle Ardery, a recent transfer to New Scotland Yard, and who has a chip on her shoulder. On compassionate leave, Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley remains in Cornwell still grieving the murder of his wife. Isabelle Ardery wants to be London's top cop. To do so, she needs Lynley to eliminate a potential problem. Even though Lynley's team detests Ardery, they investigate the case anyway. Thomas and Isabelle are emotionally at odds, and although they would seem to make an unlikely couple, the two manage to form a bond.and so on and so forth.ENJOYED!
Others favorites of mine are: PERFECT, EXPLOSION IN PARIS, RAINWATER, and THE DOUBLE COMFORT SAFARIS CLUB
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Ceidhle
Posted May 20, 2010
I Also Recommend:
I have enjoyed most of Elizabeth George's books, I really liked Careless In Red which many readers did not like at all. Probably the only book of hers that I really disliked was What Came Before He Shot Her. It might be true to say that George is one of my favorite authors so I was looking forward to this new one and disliked it so much that I put it down and will not finish it. First of all I can't handle reading about crimes committed against innocent children. I remember studying the mystery story genre when I was in college and one of the prime requisites of a good mystery is that the murder victim must be disliked by the reader. I ask you who can stomach the idea of murdering a three year old child. Admittedly this was a very minor part of the story but it turned me off right at the very beginning.
Secondly, this book was way too long with so many minor characters popping up I couldn't keep up with them all. I enjoy reading about the major characters, Lynley and Barbara Havers but this book didn't do justice to them. I would rather go back and reread George's earlier books than try to plow through another tedious read like this.
3 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Will someone please get a decent editor for Ms George? Oh, wait, these are the same people who advised her to pen "What Came Before He Shot Her," a woefully depressing and plodding tale that didn't need to be told in the first place. And here we have many of the same characters again: (1) children of impoverished circumstances and even worse parents who end up being bullies (at the least) and criminals at the worst; (2) at least one sadistic SOB who uses sex as a weapon of control; (3) at least one promiscuous young woman who started her sexual exploits early on due to a great trauma; (4) political games in the upper echelons of New Scotland Yarn; (5) a female rising to a management position who is devoid of emotion because she's conscientious of being in "a man's world" -- and no surprise that she's not liked by anyone; (6) several other "colorful" characters whose stories are told ad nauseum before we even need to hear them, and whose background turns out to be mostly irrelevant; (7) sexual exploits of any number of adults which have little or nothing to do with the story, (8) minutiae about a particular occupation -- roof thatching in this book, surfing in "Careless in Red" -- which has little to do with the plot in the end . . . the list is too long to reiterate. Suffice it to say that it takes entirely too long to get to the meat of this story which is merely that Lynley is back at work a mere five months after his wife's death.
The earlier novels in the Lynley/Havers series were interesting to read because there was a need to develop the central characters against the background of the various mysteries that need to be solved. As readers we are are five years away from the shocking death of Lynley's wife ("With No One as Witness" was released in 2005); we deserve a story that goes beyond this amateurish rehash of characters and social commentary. If Elizabeth George doesn't have anywhere to go with her main characters, then she should leave off writing about them.
Here's the plot: A girl is found dead in a North London cemetary. The interim superintendant convinces Lynley to return to the team. The interim superintendant, in an effort to look good for the job, makes an early arrest of the wrong person. Lynley, Havers, Nkata, St. James (the usual squad) solve the crime by their usual cooperative work.
While numerous suspects are proposed and lots of people are interviewed, the rest of the story is just a bunch of characters we've read about previously and they don't add much to the overall story. It's a yawn.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 18, 2010
I looked forward to this new Lynley book with great anticipation. I was not disappointed.
The story evolved from the murder of a young woman from Hampshire in a London cemetery. Of course, along with the detectives we learned about her life, her friends, family and acquaintances in order for the crime to be solved. Once again, the supporting characters and details make interesting reading. I also enjoyed learning about life in the New Forest. This author always brings rich detail to her stories.
Throughout the book, the author used a different typeface to insert the story of a horrific crime committed by three young boys against a toddler. The details appear to be taken right from the newspaper as they are similar to the James Bulger case, including the special dock created to allow the young defendants to see the proceedings. As usual the details of how the system worked in their apprehension, questionning and trial all appear to be accurate based on news accounts. I admit that during the read I sometimes felt these accounts were an intrusion but in the end it worked well in parallel to the story to provide necessary context to explain events in a creative way. While the subject of life after the commission of a crime isn't new to this author or in general, the fact that she weaves it into the story of familiar characters makes it perhaps more successful than either Ruth Rendell or P.D. James.
The book reintroduces Isabella Ardery into the mix. She was trying out for Webberley's old position. Her tryout was remarkably unsuccessful though she is given a second chance with Lynley's intervention and his promise to return full time. If not for the efforts of Havers, Lynley and the other detectives, it is unlikely the case would have been solved as Ardery's performance as the "guv" was so poor. She was depicted in a poor light as a unit leader. She was dismissive of her detectives' suggestions, disdainful and argumentative. It is not credible that she would be given another opportunity to lead the unit even if though it keeps her in the picture as a romantic interest for Lynley. It was clear that Lynley was much more suited to the role and one wonders if Ardery could perform successfully without his help. It was interesting to see Lynley in action with an attractive female co-worker because, of course, his approach to late night discussion and dinner to discuss the case reminded me of Havers disdain for his reputation for that exact behavior with attractive co-workers when they were first partnered together. I did miss their partnership on this case and if there are future installments, I hope that they will work together again. It seems likely since if Ardery is to be the boss I would assume she would act less the case detective in the future.
I enjoyed the interaction between Lynley, St. James and Deb. It struck the right note of long time friends. Ardery's perception that they communicated in short hand was a good view of a newcomer's perspective of an established relationship. I also am interested to see where we go next in Havers life with the return of Hadiyyah's mother. I can't help but assume that Havers closest friends will have less time for her now. It seemed that her home with its proximity to her friends home had become a welcome place for her. I admit to feeling sad that she will once again be alone and her relationship with Azhar is not likely to develop.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted August 3, 2010
It is another good book from George, but a little too wordy. Could have easily knocked out at least 150 pages and lost nothing in either suspense or plot. I had a little trouble believing in some of the characters in this book...not a problem I've had before with her other Linley stories. I mistakenly ordered the large print edition...easy to read but impossible to take anywhere!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I've read all 15 of the Inspector Lynley Series and I thought this was a great read. I ignored all sorts of things I should be doing to read this in a few days. I agree with a couple of previous reviews that Helen should not have been killed in a previous book, but she was so if you like that other characters you'll still want to read the next in the series. The one thing I didn't like was the relationship with Lynley and Ardrey - just didn't seem like him. As some of the other reviewers noted I would also like more of Deborah and Simon St.James. All in all though I couldn't put it down.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 18, 2010
I Also Recommend:
This book is consistent with the series, but not one of my favorites. Linley comes across appropriately as a widower emerging from a state of mourning, and believably as the politically savvy and mildly reluctant inspector. Although Simon and Deborah St James make several appearances, their roles are minimal; I would love to see them add more complexity to the storylines, both professionally and socially. Havers remains a sad scapegoat for negative images--rather surprising from a woman author--but there are subtle indications that her deeper character may be emerging slowly. Visions of the countyside are pleasantly evoked, providing a nice contract to London. Overall, however, the elements are not terribly fulfilling: character development is very slow, both new and old characters are fussy and unlovable, and the storylines are mild and unfulfilling. Nice, long read, beautifully written grammatically, but uninspring.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I am a huge fan of Elizabeth George and all her Lynley novels. I applaud her for keeping her recurring characters, Lynley, Havers, St. James, et al, fresh and relevant, book after book. She simultaneously satisfies the fans who want the familiarity of their favorite characters, and the other fans who want to see them change over time and through trials and tribulations. And certainly she's put Lynley and his Scooby Gang through the ringer. Death, disgrace, despair, dementia and that's just the d's. This Body of Death is no different from her others. She combines the familiar crowd with a guest cast of real people (as opposed to "characters") and then puts them all in a blender with a scoopful of crazy, a pinch of danger, a dollop of horror and hits the PUREE button! George is a fan favorite and unfortunately this has lead her to honor their pleas for longer novels. She has acquiesced and made This Body far longer than it needs to be with needless, meandering descriptions of food, pet antics, pastoral scenes, and more. Too many more. I, an avid fan, loved the extra helpings of minutae, but not everyone will. If you have not read the other Lynley novels, you will feel lost as the rich history of all the recurring characters is frequently referenced with no explanation for the uninitiated. But if you're a Lynley-phile like me, you will love this book!
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 18, 2010
Yes this book was enjoyable and a quick read but what has happened to Thomas Lynley? This post Helen character seems a bit confused and to have blurred the lines between professional and private man. It is the first time that his judgement is impaired. I was truly disappointed in him.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 14, 2010
After reading the dissapointing Careless in Red, I was ready for Lynley/Havers and team to return. This book is good and has a great plot but the author spends way too much time with the supporting cast. Where was Tommy in all this? Not in the book as much as I wanted. We meet a new very unlikable boss who seems to have no respect for the talent of the team. Tommy shows up here and there and ends up spending way too much with her in and out of the office. That does not seem to be his style. Its only been 5 months since he lost Helen,and being the classy guy that he is the first person he gets involved with is her!!!! Fortunately Barbara Havers is represented well in the book with her talent and dress code. The author needs to remember that the fans love the two main characters. Don't mess up too much with them. Stop telling us about thatching a roof. Too much wasted time in the book with unimportant tales.
I did like it but way too long of a read that probably could have been about 200 pages less.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 4, 2010
I Also Recommend:
This book was somewhat disappointing in that it wasn't up to Elizabeth George's usual standards; however, that bar is set so high, even though this one doesn't measure up, it's still superior to most crime fiction out there.
Some characters are disappointing...they behave uncharacteristically (Lyndley) or are poorly written (Isabelle, who flip-flops between trite writing and three-dimensional development. Not a consistently imagined character). Barbara Havers is the exception - she continues to grow (and delight) in nuanced fashion.
The language in the book is also flawed - a few absolutely cliched metaphors that cause the reader to wince. The plot is dense and unfolds slowly enough that the reader will find that he/she can anticipate the next development and be pulled along the path of the mystery knowingly, but without resentment that it was too easy or hard to grasp. Slightly "tighter" writing could have helped the story keep a more sustained pace.
BTW, I'm a fan who appreciates that in the past Ms. George has taken great risks with her characters. I don't blame her at all for events in past books that disappointed other readers. If anything, that sense of edgy I-didn't-see-that-coming suspense is totally lacking from this book, to its detriment.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.The Inspector's wife was such a beloved character that when Ms George kill3ed her off many, many people, including myself took it personally.
Crazy HUH! Her novels will never be the same nor shall I ever read them.
SORRY!
1 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Havenite
Posted March 25, 2013
What a treat! I feel that I know the St. James family, Inspector Lynley and the Indian family as well as I know my own. Ms. George is simply an excellent study of real human beings. Of course, the mystery is great, too. But it is her writing and character development that especially thrills me.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged. I received this novel as a gift. This is my first time reading sharing her work.
Synopsis:
The first case we hear about is the case of the murder of John Dresser. Three boys are accused of the crime. Pieces from this case are woven throughout the novel. The other case is the murder of Jemima Hastings. Acting Inspector Superintendent Isabelle Ardery has asked Thomas Lynley to help out in the investigation and help her work with his team. He consents to assist in the investigation that seems a little over Isabel’s head. Meredith Powell who is a friend of Jemima’s also conducts her own investigation focusing on Gordon Jossie and Gina Dickens. Gordon is one of Jemima’s exboyfriends who seems very suspicious. Who killed Jemima? Will inspector Lynley be able to help Isabelle?
My Thoughts:
When I first saw this novel I couldn’t believe how long it was. I feel that I should give you some background on the Inspector Lynley novels, and this is the sixteenth novel in the series. This series is set in London England in the Scotland Yard police force. Lynley is an Inspector but doesn’t really need to work because of his family’s wealth. The other location is Hampshire where Jemima Hastings used to live.
This novel was a little on the long side for me. I had a hard time with staying interested. I felt like I needed a notebook to keep track of all of the characters. My favorite character was Barbara Havers. She is the partner of Inspector Linley with her own style. This character acted as comic relief throughout this novel. I think it would be highly doubtful that I would find it worth it to read another.
Anonymous
Posted February 8, 2013
This is not her best effort. Too long on extraneous detail and too short on plot.
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Overview
On compassionate leave after the murder of his wife, Thomas Lynley is called back to Scotland Yard when the body of a woman is found stabbed and abandoned in an isolated London cemetery. His former team doesn't trust the leadership of their new department chief, Isabelle Ardery, whose management style seems to rub ...