I have just finished one of the best mysteries I’ve read. Ever. It took me almost all of February, granted, but as I closed the cover twenty minutes ago I felt as much satisfaction as having finished a quintessential slice of chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and a bit of raspberry sorbet on the side: perfection.
The book is swirling around in my brain with these threads teasing out:
- the plot is intricately woven with no possibility of guessing the outcome before its arrival…
- the characters are perfectly drawn: from their physical appearance to their emotional upheavals, I feel as if I’ve met them and understand them…
- the phrasing, the vocabulary, makes me rest completely in the author’s care. No word is out of place, or unnecessarily implanted; no word makes me gag at its awkwardness within the sentence…
- the setting is so accurate, so well drawn, I’m amazed that Elizabeth is from Ohio and not London itself.
Here she is, Mrs. Elizabeth George:
“She has won the Anthony Award, the Agatha Award, and France’s Le Grand Prix de Literature Policiere for her novel A Great Deliverance, for which she was also nominated for the Edgar and the Macavity Awards.
She has also been awarded Germany’s MIMI for her novel Well-Schooled in Murder. Most of her novels have been filmed by for television by the BBC and have been broadcast in the US on PBS’s MYSTERY.” (from the author’s website)
If you’d like me to send you my paperback edition, let me know in the comments below and I’ll pull a name by next Sunday. But, you might want to find your own copy before then.
Dolce Bellezza 
Bellezza -Any book that has you talking like that is one I'd love to read.I love the new header, btw. It makes me want to go for a long walk on the beach – which in my neck of the woods is impossible until May…cjh
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Oooh, throw my name in the hat. I've never read Elizabeth George and I trust your opinion. Is this a stand-alone?
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yes, put my name in the hat!!! It sounds wonderful and if it has you that excited, then I must read it!I am currently reading The Associate by John Grisham…..very good!
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CJ, we had six or seven inches of snow here yesterday. The new header picture is one I took when we were in Naples last month; I'm rather in the mood for a beach myself!Les, the novel is a stand alone. Perhaps previous ones have told us bits and pieces about Lynley or other police officers, but it's not necessary information to read this book. I'm going to pick up more of hers, though, because I love a good mystery.Sara, John Grisham has lost some of his pizzazz to me. My favorite was The Firm, wait, or the one before that, and they've steadily lost my interest since. This book by Elizabeth George is rather gruesome in parts, as it deals with a man who preys on boys; still, it's worth the read.
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I'm gald you enjoyed the book. I have read many of Elizabeth George's books and they are all excellent. With No One As Witness was fabulous! Don't you love that feeling you have when you finish the last page of a good book and how it just whirls in your head 🙂
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I love when a book ends with all the questions answered. Every once in awhile, I don't mind hanging, but not in a mystery!
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You've hit on all the points that make the Lynley books so excellent. Don't enter me in your draw, I've had this on my bedside table for 2 years, but it is so hard to pick up knowing that it will take a full month. I find her stories very dense to read, with the plot points and the crazy vocabulary.
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I love discovering those types of books (of course I tend to change my mind and replace them often in my case lol)!No need to enter me, I have WAY too much on my plate at the moment.
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Raidergirl3, it probably wouldn't take you a full month to read. I've just been insanely busy, and not had the time I've wanted to devote to reading. The story is dense, quite complicated and all, but it's not like some 800 page books that Will Not End. You feel every page as it turns in those.Lady Tink, she's a whole new discovery to me, but apparently not to very many! I know what you mean about way too much on one's plate at the moment. Looking at all the challenges I've signed up for rather makes me gasp.
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Bellezza, I'm so glad you enjoyed this Lynley book so much. I've read several of Elizabeth George's Lynley series. Such a good series. I've watched all, every single one, of the BBC productions. TV Lynley did not look like Book Lynley to me at first, but I came to love him just as much. I love the characters. Now, don't enter me in your drawing. I have this one in hardcover here on my shelf. I must admit that I haven't read it, but will pick it up this year. I'll have to look back and see where I am in this series. Being a little picky, I must read a series in order. Thanks for the review!
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I've never read Elizabeth George, but it sure sounds like I should!Please throw my name into the hat.Love the new header – it makes me want to head back to Sanibel!
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Sounds wonderful! Please put my name in the hat.I've seen her books on the shelf and been curious. So, she is from Ohio? Go Buckeyes! I'm a desert girl, but I was born in Ohio and still have family living there. I have vivid memories of all the worms that would come out and wiggle around on the street when it rained. They seemed HUGE to a 6-year old needing to cross the street to catch the school bus! Funny what we remember :o)
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No need to enter me in the giveaway but just wanted to agree that she's great. I've just discovered her series late last year so I've got a long ways to go but I have most of her books already waiting for me 🙂
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See? Everyone's known about her long before me! I've seen her books, but never really picked them up until walking by the huge book table at Costco. Now I have to read the previous ones to see all I've missed.
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I just saw your comment on this book on Iliana's blog and had to come on over. This was one of the better mysteries I've read in a very long time. Careless in Red was the follow-up to this one, and was excellent as well! I just did not want the book to end, lengthy as it was…
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Sandy, how nice of you to come on over and comment. I didn't want to end the book, either, and I'm looking forward to reading more of hers. Don't you love a good mystery?!
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