Product Description

In her most eagerly anticipated novel yet, Elizabeth George brings back Scotland Yard's Thomas Lynley to investigate a ruthless crime.

After the senseless murder of his wife, Detective Superintendent Thomas Lynley retreated to Cornwall, where he has spent six solitary weeks hiking the bleak and rugged coastline. But no matter how far he walks, no matter how exhausting his days, the painful memories of Helen's death do not diminish.

On the forty-third day of his walk, at the base of a cliff, Lynley discovers the body of a young man who appears to have fallen to his death. The closest town, better known for its tourists and its surfing than its intrigue, seems an unlikely place for murder. However, it soon becomes apparent that a clever killer is indeed at work, and this time Lynley is not a detective but a witness and possibly a suspect.

The head of the vastly understaffed local police department needs Lynley's help, though, especially when it comes to the mysterious, secretive woman whose cottage lies not far from where the body was discovered. But can Lynley let go of the past long enough to solve a most devious and carefully planned crime?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-01
• Released on: 2008-05-06
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 640 pages

About the Author

Elizabeth George is the New York Times bestselling author of fourteen 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.

Customer Reviews

A little disappointed
As an avid Elizabeth George reader, I was quite disappointed with her latest novel. What I have loved about her books was the story, and her wonderful ability to flesh out characters that you could really identify with or understand on some level. Her books always left me thinking about the strengths and frailities of human relationships. Some of her characters have left a lasting impression on me: Thomas Lynley (if I could ever meet a fictional character, it would be him!), his wife Helen, Barbara Havers. Their many-layered, complex personalities made for great reading.

This latest effort failed me. The story was pretty good, although it lacked the usual suspense of a George novel. The descriptions of surfing were somewhat interesting, given this novel was set in bloody England!!!! Speaking of bloody England, the blinding love of all things English got to me a bit (I think maybe the "sorting" thing comes from too much Harry Potter). But the biggest fault for me lay in the area of character development. There was so much of it, the story got lost for me. So many characters were developed who didn't really seem to matter to the essential tale, in the end, and for whom you were never allowed to develop an affinity. And nothing prepared me for the version of the Superintendent Thonmas Lynley who appeared in this book. I didn't feel that I knew him at all; the portrayal of him as a broken man did not work for me, sorry to say. The newly sympathetic Havers was not exactly her old self either. If I could say anything to the author about this book, it would be: "What have you done with the real Thomas Lynley?"

A Disappointment, Though Not Without Some Merits
I've been a fan of Elizabeth George since 1988, when I read her first novel, "A Great Deliverance." Unfortunately, she has now and then produced a book that I've found rather tedious, largely it is heavily populated with secondary characters who have been of little real interest to me. These books, in my opinion, have included "In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner" and "A Place of Hiding."

Sadly, "Careless in Red" falls into that category. The premise is that Thomas Lynley, in dazed mourning after the violent death of his wife, Lady Helen, just weeks earlier, and having resigned (he thinks) from New Scotland Yard, is hiking the Cornish coastline when he stumbles across the murder of a young man. Naturally, he is recruited by the investigating officer to assist, particularly by looking into the background of a female suspect, while around him swirl intrigue and conflict involving the family of the dead man and several other people associated with him. As is usual in a George novel, these many characters have secrets -- some decades-old -- along with sexual/marital problems, parent/child problems, hatreds, resentments, and neuroses, which are examined at great length.

Normally, George's large casts of dysfunctional characters add depth and psychological interest. Here, however, the cast had me rolling my eyes in boredom. Perhaps I've read too many George books, so that her approach and self-consciously very studied prose style have begun to pall; or perhaps the surfing/rock climbing theme just didn't excite me; or perhaps I felt that the setting, a relatively isolated area of Cornwall, felt a little claustrophobic. (I tend to prefer George's London-based novels over those that take us to rural locations.) Whatever was irritating me, the reality is that I WAS irritated and grimly urging the author to "just get on with it, please."

The novel sparkles to life, not surprisingly, whenever Barbara Havers appears. There can be no doubt that Havers is George's most appealing and imaginative creation, given that the other regulars -- Lynley, and Simon and Deborah St. James, who do not play roles here -- tend to be a bit two-dimensional and repetitive in terms of their personalities and ongoing relationship crises. Havers crackles with energy in this book and manages to drag it out of the Slough of Despond in which everyone else is wallowing. George may once have been enchanted by the romantic and unlikely notion of a belted earl who is also a homicide detective, but she has clearly found that Havers offers considerably more scope for character development. If it hadn't been for Barbara in her rumpled clothes, puffing away on her ever-present cigarettes and puncturing the pretensions of everyone around her, I might well have chosen, for the very first time, not to finish a book by Elizabeth George.

But I did finish, and I'm not sorry. "Careless in Red" picks up a bit towards the end, which is laden with ambiguity -- not a fault, in my view, though some readers may experience frustration. And because the novel is undeniably well-written and thoughtful, I don't feel entirely negative about it and recognize that it simply didn't address my personal tastes. I can't fully recommend it, but there may well be some readers who will find it a considerably more enjoyable experience than I did.

What Has Happened to Elizabeth George?
Time was when a plunge into a Elizabeth George book pushed her fans to finish it in a few sessions, but "Careless in Red" is a slo mo study of dysfunctional families with so many secrets that they finally underwhelm the reader.

Yes, George still shows brilliance in portraying her adopted England, this time the rocky coast of Cornwall. She still is a mesmerizing writer and a meticulous researcher. This time she carefully details the technical aspects of cliff climbing which does in the teenage victim Santo Kerne whom we never get to know. She also delves into surfing, the central preoccupation of several characters in several seaside towns of Casvelyn, Pengelly Cove, Truro, Zennor, and Falmouth.

But for her fans, something is missing. It's not that her characters have grown and changed. According to George, that literary device sustains her interest in this popular series. Unlike her last novel "What Happened Before He Shot Her" (which I liked), Detective Superintendent Linley immediately appears in the first scene, and his sidekick Barbara Havers shows up half way through. But George is so busy introducing new settings, characters, backgrounds, and motivations that nothing flows. A fragmentary quality keeps interrupting the story.

Sex is a motivating force with a a portrait of least four characters with insatiable "irregular" appetites for the beast with two backs. There's teenage pregnancy, a hint that Linley's libido is being restored, and a reference to Internet trawling for partners. Even that theme grows tiresome with multiple encounters and partners creating a ho-hum, almost unbelievable environment.

Too many characters and themes (like an unrelated glimpse into the sordid world of today's "travellers" or gypsies) appear too late. Minor characters (like a portrait of an anorexic child intent on joining an evil cult that's actually the Carmelite order) distract. It's true that good mysteries must take readers down wrong paths, but George takes us down too many. When we finally come to the final tributary, the culminating revelation seems rushed, holds little tension and is a major let down.

"Careless in Red" raises many red herrings and too many red flags. However, fans remain loyal to this compelling author. Hopefully George is working on a sequel where Linley & Havers & any new characters she has introduced will return to more comfortable roles of transporting us to adventures that unfold in a more convincing, less frenetic pace.