Product Description

The police never suspected a serial killer was at large until they found the fourth murdered boy -- the first white victim -- his body draped over a tomb in a London graveyard. Suddenly a series of crimes and a potential public relations disaster have Scotland Yard on the defensive, scrambling to apprehend a maniac while avoiding accusations of racism.

Detective Superintendent Thomas Lynley, distracted by concerns for his pregnant wife, has been assigned to the investigation, along with his disgraced partner, Barbara Havers, who's fighting for her professional future. Winston Nkata -- deservedly, if hastily, promoted to detective sergeant -- is the black face who will speak to the media. But none of them can imagine the tenacity and ingenuity of the killer they seek . . . and no one is prepared for the savage, shocking instant when everything will change forever.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15616 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-01
• Released on: 2006-02-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 784 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780060545611
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"Always entertaining." (Nashville Tennessean )

"This one grabs the reader all the way." (Associated Press )

"George fully develops every nuance of the racially loaded case--and every thrill in the chase. But it's the note on which the novel ends that stuns as the series is violently wrenched onto new ground." (Daily News (NY) )

"Will keep readers on the edge of their seats." (Bookreporter.com )

"Delicately textured...achingly compassionate...gripping...it's one of George's best, and that's saying something." (Seattle Times )

"A good read." (San Jose Mercury News )

"[A] juicy serial killer whodunit." (USA Today )

"Excellent." (Globe and Mail (Toronto) )

"Powerful." (Orlando Sentinel )

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

Where do we go from here?
I have read all of Elizabeth George's mysteries and one book of her short stories. When I first discovered her, I was delighted to find that she is still relatively young and likely has many long years of writing ahead. It was like learning that my favorite foods would be on the table for the rest of my life.

What I liked especially about the first book of hers was that it was complex and messy. There were details of the lives of everyone involved that were not necessarily related in any way to the detection of a murderer. And even the murder investigation itself did not end neatly, with everything wrapped up. We know from real life that this is more often how it is than not. In each subsequent book the complexities build and expand, sometimes with exquisite slowness.

The mysteries develop her main characters, Scotland Yard detectives Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers, as well as their coworkers, friends, and the main suspects. Through the span of George's books, Lynley and Havers have grown and changed. The changes in each book are significant, and in this one perhaps most of all.

George lives in two worlds: Huntington Beach, California and London, England. She is an American Anglophile. Her mysteries are set in London, and it appears that she spends every waking minute there soaking it up. Every page she writes is saturated with references purely English, including spelling, customs, food, buildings and places, and especially English slang. To my mind, she tries too hard. On the other hand, P.D. James, an English mystery writer whose characters also frequent London, doesn't feel called upon to demonstrate her familiarity with England on page after page, which is clearly the privilege of having been born to it. If I hadn't known that George is not English I think I would still have suspected it. One advantage of George's insistence on accuracy in her portrayal of London is that she presents the city to us on a platter, and it isn't hard to enjoy every piece on it.

And finally I come down to it, to this particular book. Those who are George fans don't need anyone telling them to buy this book. Those who have not read any others might. Thus I say, yes, buy it. It's a lot of book at the price, and it will absorb you as few others can.

In this hefty novel we find Thomas Lynley and his new wife, Helen, expecting a baby. And we find the recently-demoted socially-inept Barbara Havers (see previous books for the cause) coping with her new status and with her fondness for her next-door neighbors. Acting Superintendent Lynley (because his chief, Superintendent Webberly, is recovering from a murder attempt - again see previous novels in the series) is forced to work directly under the politically motivated Assistant Commissioner Hillier while leading a team of thirty-plus investigators in solving a series of murders of young adolescent boys. The strains of having Hillier trample on his authority, forcing Lynley to take on an "embedded journalist", among other insults, wear deeply upon Lynley, eating away bit by bit at his original motivation for joining Scotland Yard.

What happens to Lynley during the course of this book alters him forever. What happens to Havers may seem like less but ultimately may mean even more to her future. I wait impatiently for the next...

Masterful mystery by a masterful author
George's vivid and multi-faceted characters are what always keeps me coming back for more. I think she is not only one of the finest mystery authors out there but also one of the finest authors, period. This book is certainly no exception and while one of its plot twists was ruined for me by my reading a Time review of her novel after this one before reading this one, it really didn't lessen the impact. Whenever I read one of her books, I find myself devouring the pages ravenously, completely caught up in the world she has created. What I find so endlessly fascinating about her books is that she not only writes from the perspective of the detectives on the case--Havers, Havers, Havers, I can never get enough of your character!--she also writes from the perspective of the crime's perpetrator. Thus, she delves into the darkness and depravity of those who commit unspeakable crimes.

Memorable
I started out thinking this book was too long and laborious (could have stood a bit less description of London districts and one or two fewer suspects) but ended up rationing myself for three days because I simply couldn't bear it to end.

One of the highlights is a short love scene, very moving, yet without a single word that could offend anyone. But the piece de resistance is an extraordinarily wrenching physical and emotional crisis. I've never experienced such empathy with and sympathy for a character. It's still reverberating, 11 days later.

Elizabeth George is an intelligent, thoughtful, educated writer; there are a few spelling and punctuation errors, but they can be laid at the doorstep of her editor or proofreader.

At the end, she leaves us with another compelling mystery: How will she keep Inspector Lynley going in the next book?