Elizabeth George writes English police procedural even though she lives in America, born in Warren, Ohio. She maintains a flat in England to help her with her research. I just finished her first novel, " A Great Deliverance" with the characters Thomas Lynley as Inspector and Barbara Havers as his partner. A great novel with a psychological study to keep the mystery intriguing. With Agatha Christie as her model, George writes the crime novel without the suspense that is usually found in the more gritty thrillers. There is a who-dun-it aspect of the novel, but the story meanders through the personal histories of the detectives and their colleagues. Her first novel was a great success winning the Anthony and the Agatha awards for best first novel. She has continued her series successfully with seventeen more mysteries in the psychological suspense genre. This was a wonderful introduction to the series and I hope to check out some of the PBS television series based on her characters as well.
In this story Barbara Havers is taken off the street patrol duty to give her another chance as detective. She is furious and hates being partnered with Thomas Lynley, a complicated character who is of the titled gentry. Told to learn something from Lynley, Havers stutters through the beginning days, trying hard to keep up the appearance of cooperating, but the strain is too hard on her.Their case is the decapitation of a farmer in York, whose only witness is his daughter who confesses to the crime and then is put into an asylum. Lynley is unsure of her guilt and wants to understand the town and its inhabitants and the incongruity of a daughter using a ax to kill her father. This is a study of the village life and the mysteries of the villagers. Lynley wants to know who is lying and why. The story contains a runaway mother and a runaway sister to the accused. What they discover only adds to the horror of the decapitation.
No comments:
Post a Comment