Well-Schooled in Murder (Inspector Lynley Book 3)

As always, Elizabeth George's books are a great way to spend time out of this world. I love it that the murders are usually a sub-plot; the relationships amongst the characters are always more lively and interesting.

I love Elizabeth George. Her characterization, her plot, the "feeling" of the book grabs me and holds me to the end. I was sorry to have it end. I wanted it to keep going so I could know how each of the character's lives would evolve.

Love all the Inspector Linley series. Elizabeth George is one of my favorite authors. The stories are great and the lives of the characters are very interesting. The description of the scenery is so good I can see it.

Well written and easy to follow. The subject was pretty grisly. I'm not a mystery reader but my sister suggested I would like Elizabeth George's Inspector Lynley. Liked his character a lot. Typical mystery these days where there are about 5-6 people who could have committed the murder. You don't find out until the final pages. Her style of writing is enjoyable.

I was dismayed by Ms. George'm s constant reference pairing Pedophilia with homosexuality. Further demonstrating her English provincial mores of this perversion by allowing her protagonist, Inspector Lynley to actually protect a fellow classmate and not disclose or better yet arrest the fellow for possessing "child pornography"(even giving it a name seems to relegate it's status to acceptable seems beyond comprehension).

I always enjoy Linley books! I believe this one was made into a PBS movie but I would rather read the book than watch the movie...The setting at the school with the parallels to Linley's Eaton experience gave details into his character that I found insightful.

I listen to a lot of Audible audiobooks during my long commute to and from work.

Recently, I had listened to a couple of other Inspector Lynley books by Elizabeth George, and, narrated by Davina Porter, they were wonderful. Somehow, this particular book was narrated by someone who spoke in a rapid and clipped English accent (I listen to a lot of British authors narrated by British narrators and love them), but am astounded that they even published an audio version that sounded like this.

I want to be very clear that this one-star rating has nothing to do with the quality of the authorship of the book. I have no idea what the content of the book is as I couldn't understand what the narrator was saying; partly because of his style, but by and large due to the terrible sound technology used to record the book.

It sounded like it was recorded in the 1930's. That aspect coupled with the narrator's mahine-gun narration style coupled with his lack of annunciation and I had to terminate the book at only about 10 percent into it.

I'm sure the book is up to the usual stellar standards of the author - but for those who are considering buying the audible version, you may want to pass this one by.

Elizabeth George may write this book, but the first five sentences of J. D. Robb’s “Reunion in Death” describe the alpha and the omega of this work more succinctly than anything I can manufacture:

“Murder was work. Death was a serious chore for the killer, the victim, for the survivors. And for those who stood for the dead. Some went about the job devotedly, others carelessly. And for some, murder was a labor of love.”

And as you read this book, it all comes down to how one defines murder and how one defines love.

This third novel in the Inspector Lynley series opens two months after the disastrous events at the conclusion of the previous novel. Thomas Lynley is working every case available to him at Scotland Yard, trying to survive Lady Helen’s self-imposed exile in Greece. As the author writes on page 8: “For the past two months Lynley had been burning the candle not only at both ends but right through the middle.”

On one Sunday evening, Barbara Havers has just about convinced Lynley to leave the Yard when they are visited by John Corntel, one of Lynley’s old classmates from Eton. Corntel is there to ask for Lynley’s help in the case of a child just discovered missing from the Bredgar Chambers school where Corntel is a faculty member and housemaster. Even though missing persons’ cases are out of his jurisdiction and the Yard’s help has not been officially requested, Lynley agrees to check it out, just as a favor to “the old school tie.”

Unknown to Lynley, Havers and Corntel, the missing child has just been found – naked, tortured and very dead. And, it seems, Lynley’s best friend’s wife, Deborah St. James, has found the body while on a photographic shoot in a famous church’s graveyard. And thus begins a most convoluted and emotionally draining murder mystery, because Matthew Whateley is not the first person to die at this school nor is he the last. Matthew Whateley is simply the only person who is murdered.

There are actually five sub-plots weaving throughout and sharing the billing with the murder investigation. First, there is Lynley’s tenuous relationship with Lady Helen. Secondly are Havers’ problems with her ailing father and mentally ill mother. Third is Deborah St. James’ estrangement from Simon following her fourth miscarriage. Fourth is the devastation and disintegration of the lives of Matthew Whateley’s parents. And lastly is Lynley’s struggle with his personal ethics versus his professional responsibilities.

Before the identity of the murderer is revealed, Elizabeth George takes us on a pointed exploration into both the written and unwritten codes of behavior that exist in many boarding schools. She tracks the effects of these codes on not only the current students and staff but on the adults who have graduated from these types of schools, particularly Lynley and Corntel. We get a hard look into bullying in a situation where a parent is not readily available, and into racial bias and class bias by both students and staff. We get just as hard a look into pedophilia, pregnancy, abortion and unrequited love.

But regardless of which plot line the author is exploring, the murder itself or the subplots, we are taken down the pathways of guilt, earned or unearned, as well as remorse, genuine or totally lacking. These elements of guilt, remorse and honor take Lynley and the reader through multiple dead ends, blind alleys and twists. Before the final pages, these elements are part and parcel of the destruction of at least a dozen people, not counting the murderer and the murdered. But these same elements become the beginning threads of redemption for at least three others.

This book covers only four days in the lives of many people. It begins with death and it ends with death. There are no smiles in this book; there is no laughter. There is no happy ending even though the murderer is identified. But there is hope. In the last pages, there is hope.

Well Schooled in Murder by Elizabeth George is more a psychological drama couched in an English murder mystery, but then the best English murder stories always are. The author manages to shed light in dark places while being both entertaining and enlightening. A must read for all those who love classic English murder mysteries.
The murder of a poor boy at a school for wealthy children becomes the emotional trigger that sets everyone looking into themselves for who is to blame. Everyone was so involved with their own problems and keeping those problems secret that it is several days before the boy is even missed. It is how the characters respond to the building pressure as bit by bit their secrets are uncovered that creates the suspense and that's what makes this story unique. No one is afraid of the killer, they're all afraid of being found out.
Weaving continually through the story is a strong indictment against the traditional education of the wealthy. A boy born into a rich family is treated like a little prince. He has servants to do his every biding, eats only the best food and frolics away his days on the family's grand estate. Then he turns twelve and is booted off to a school that is cold, ugly and too far away for anyone to hear him screaming. He has to share a room with other boys and the food is terrible. His teachers range from senile to sadistic and violent bullying is laughed off as part of the coming of age ritual. Almost all British aristocrats pass through this trial by fire and that's why they always stand together, inside they are still frightened little boys, fearful of what will happen if they break ranks.
The students fear a loss of honor if they talk and the younger ones also fear retribution from the older ones. Detective Lynley went to the same kind of school, and feels the same pressures even now; most of the staff is in the same emotional bind. The `don't tattle' tradition is so pervasive that even those who are willing to talk, don't know who to talk too, everyone but the boy's parents and Sergeant Havers seems to have an old school tie.
There are numerous suspects and almost too many motives, but if you read carefully you might ferret out who killed the boy just before Lynley does. Like all great detective stories, it is a puzzle; by carefully piecing together the evidence Lynley follows the trail that leads to the last import clue, the old school tie.

"We live by codes, Lynley thought. We call them our morals, our standards, our values, our ethics, as if they were part of our genetic make up. But they are only behaviours that we have learned from our society, and there are times to act in defiance of them, to fly in the face of their conventions because it is right to do so."

- Inspector Lynley (Well Schooled in Murder)

The setting of Elizabeth George's Inspector Lynley mysteries is England and this story is set at a private boys school called Bredgar Chambers School. The code of silence may be reminiscent of the military; but it is alive and well at this boys school where a murder of a 13 year old boy takes place. Why was a boy from a working class family murdered and who was culpable is the case that Inspector Thomas (Tommy) Lynley of Scotland Yard is called by his former boyhood friend to solve. Lynley is played by Nathanial Parker; and is a rather posh inspector who is also an earl. His sidekick is played by Sharon Small (Sergeant Havers) and she is from a diametrically opposed background from a working class family. She is not terribly good with authority and has a bit of a chip on her shoulder.

Some of the same actors from The History Boys are cast in some of the roles and the acting is very well done.

Though only boys, there is the grim undercurrent of rules being broken and bad behavior being covered up leading to the ultimate cover up - a murder of a 13 year old boy.

The cover ups unravel and more than one death occurs in the sinister image conscious environment of this upper class English boarding school; possibly more concerned with its image, reputation and funding versus uncovering the cause of death of one of its students; who as it turned out marched to a different drummer and followed his principles and conscience; because these were his standards and his personal codes.

Interesting character study of Lynley created by American mystery writer Elizabeth George.

Recommended B+

Bentley 2008
Well-Schooled in Murder (Inspector Lynley)
Well-Schooled in Murder
Well-Schooled in Murder published by Bantam
Well Schooled in Murder
Well-Schooled in MurderWell Schooled in Murder
Well Schooled in Murder 1ST Edition Inscribed
Well Schooled in Murder (New Portway Large Print Books)Well-Schooled in Murder

The early Elizabeth George mysteries are her best. I love the vivid description of setting, the well developed characters, and the complex plotting.Yes, she overdoes the 'British' element, which rather indicates she's not actually a Brit, but that's kind of a small flaw. She also tends to overuse 'comprised/comprising' because she is one of the few authors who uses it correctly. (Still, enough already, LOL)

If you pick up one of her first 5 or so, you will fall in love with her. But, alas, things changed and her last several books have lost the greatness of the first ones.

Well-Schooled in Murder is a fascinating and critical look at social class, the traditions of English public schools and the problems with having a "stiff upper lip." What is more remarkable is that those themes are developed in the context of an unusually complex and rewarding murder mystery. This book barely misses becoming a classic in detective fiction and will greatly reward fans of Elizabeth George's series about Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers and those who do not know the novels.

This is the third book in the series. You can read this book as a stand-alone, but it will work better for you if you first read A Great Deliverance and Payment in Blood.

As the story opens, Lynley is still reeling from having destroyed his relationship with Lady Helen. She's gone off to Greece and sends him occasional noncommittal post cards. Lynley is burying himself in his work. That's making life hard on Barbara Havers whose parents are not doing well.

John Corntel, an old school chum from Eton, approaches Lynley for unofficial assistance in locating a missing student who was under the chum's care. The situation soon changes when the student is found in an unlikely place dead, nude and having been tortured. Lynley takes on the case to avoid having free time to mourn his lost love. A delayed autopsy means that Lynley has to develop a sense of means, motive and opportunity without knowing the facts. The various "suspects" and "witnesses" do their best to mislead him, adhering to a code of silence that protects their most delicate secrets as well.

As the case evolves, it's not a pretty picture that is revealed behind the "privileged" walls of Bredgar Chambers.

There's little to complain about with this book and much to praise. There's a powerful subplot about the marriage of Simon Allcourt-St. James that nicely develops Simon and his wife as characters. You also get a deep look into several other marriages and relationships. Elizabeth George seems to be saying that as much as we crave intimacy with others; such intimacy will probably bring us more pain than pleasure or happiness. That's a pretty downbeat message, and one that keeps the book from working quite as well as it could. The lesson is that we have to perfect ourselves with another perfected person who shares a mutual attraction before we can achieve happy intimacy. Even then, if we are not candid with one another . . . all bets are off!

Ms. George is equally suspicious of physical attraction. It only seems to lead to no good in this book.

For fans of taut, challenging plotting, this book has few peers. It's as though Ms. George wanted to move away from writing novels that contain mysteries into writing mysteries that reveal the darkest secrets of the human condition. I defy any normal reader to sense the outcome of this book in all of its dimensions until right before the end.

This book will haunt you the most if you read it on a dark and stormy night when unhappiness is poisoning your sleep.

Darker than the the first two books, only because of the subject matter of the murder victim.
Her character development from book to book continues. You become more and more attached to these characters and care about the directions life takes them.
Clever, twists and turns, logical yet frustratingly surreal at times. You may think you know who the murderer is but, as usual, you must and will read on til the end to find out who did it and why.
Once again a book I didn't want to put down and must quickly pick up the next in the series to see, not only the next mystery unfold, but what happens in the lives of Inspector Lynley, Sgt. Havers, Lady Helen, St. James, Deborah and even some of the lesser characters in their lives.

In my effort to give Elizabeth George a fair chance, I read this book, the third in the series of the Lynley/Havers books. Reading the book's description, it sounded like an interesting story.
I knew right away, though, that coincidence was going to play a large part when Deborah, St. James' wife, was the one who discovered Matthew's body in the churchyard while she was traveling around the countryside taking photos. The story would have worked just as well, and not seemed so contrived, had the body been found by someone who was not associated with Lynley or the other main characters.
As the book progressed, I found myself wanting to slap some sense in Deborah. Her "poor me" attitude and attempts to hide her problem from her husband by withdrawing seemed so immature.
Then I started doing some math and figured out that she was about 12 years younger than her husband. I also deduced that when she had her affair with Lynley, she had been 18 and he was 29! I find that hard to envision in the kind of world that George has set these characters into.
I thought the goings on, especially the hazing, in the school were a bit overdone. Maybe this does go on, and, if so, it certainly does not bode well for the reputation of British boarding schools.
I am going to read the next book just to satisfy my curiosity about the early years of these characters.

"Well-Schooled in Murder" is an entertaining and well-written mystery by Elizabeth George. Detective Inspector Lynley and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers investigate the brutal torture and murder of a young British boarding school student named Matthew Whately. As in so many police procedurals by such skilled authors such as Ruth Rendell, George explores the hypocrisy and brutality that underlie the British veneer of politeness. With believable dialogue and careful plotting, George explores such social problems as class snobbery, abuse by older students against younger students, and the friction between parents and children. George also gives glimpses into the private lives and psyches of Havers, Lynley, Simon St. James, and his wife, Deborah, all of whom are trying to cope with serious personal problems. With compassion and insight, George's novel reveals that when people are grossly dishonest with themselves and others, they may destroy not only their relationships but one another's lives, as well. I recommend "Well-Schooled in Murder" for fans of thought-provoking British murder mysteries.

Ah, murder at the English public school. It's practically a mandatory setting for writers of English mysteries. And while I haven't read all of these books, this certainly is a solid example of this sub-sub-genre. There are dysfunctional families, odd faculty members and alumni/parent politics. More importantly there's the school's honor code and then the unwritten but very powerful student code. (Reminds me of some military academy scandals we've seen in the USA.)
In all events, this is a good read assuming the reader is looking for the features of an English mystery - not much gore, a bit of class struggle, a stiff upper lip hiding the passions underneath and such. Some of the other reviewers said this was boring a read. I'd counter that the book is what it sets out to be, an exercise of the mind rather than the gun.
A note to readers not familiar with Elizabeth George -- this is a series that is well worth reading in order. The relationship of Lynley and his partner, Havers, is a complex one and grows in each book. Likewise, the story of St. James, his forensic consultant, doesn't make much sense when read out of order (in my experience). This is the third book in the series.
So, want to settle in for the night and be transported to English school life - this is a good choice.

This is an awesome book. Each time I read another of her books I never cease to marvel at how well done they are. The story is complex, the human psyche that she reveals is so real. And the mystery is good. This book is particularly heart wrenching as it deals with the death of a young child. Lynley and Havers find themselves caught up in so many underlying plots, and each one, as it is revealed, is worse than the last one that they discovered. It has been a long time since I've read a book that deals with the dreadful death of someone young with so much compassion and empathy. Yes, it's dreadful, but we the readers feel compelled to read it in order to find out who did this terrible deed, and we, like Lynley and Havers, try to make some sense of it. I have enjoyed all the Elizabeth George novels that I've read, but this one is my favourite so far. We see the human side of so many of the characters - Lynley, Havers, St. James and his wife Deborah - all are laid open to our view. Hopefully, we too can feel compassion for them and their troubles.

"Well-Schooled in Murder" was the first book in the Inspector Lynley series that I had read, having been attracted initially by the murder's setting in a British school, rather than by the author's name, with which I was unfamiliar.
Although I found the subject matter extremely disturbing, i.e. the torture and murder of a young male student, the level of detail Elizabeth George gives to the physical setting and the fleshing out of her characters, made me feel as though I were an internal observer of the events themselves, rather than simply a reader on the outside.
Despite this, I felt the primary characters and array of suspects lacked warmth; I didn't experience any particular empathy for them and, consequently, focused my attention more on the brilliantly-conceived plot, which kept me eagerly turning the pages as each layer of the story was revealed.
"Well-Schooled in Murder" is well-crafted and an excellent addition to the Inspector Lynley series and has spurred my interest in reading other books in this British mystery series.

In college I took a class in detective fiction and this was one of the six books that we had to read -- it proved to be my favorite.
The murder of a child from a British boarding school whose parental lineage is a bit of a mystery is found by Deborah St. James. This places a huge emotional strain on her as she recently suffered a miscarriage.
Enter Detectives Lynley and Havers on the scene. (This book also explores their personal lives outside of the crime scene as you get a very clear dichotomy of their social standing -- Lynley with his fine house and surroundings; Havers with her aging and ailing family members. This was heavily debated in our class and it was interesting to see how George pulls it off so well.) They explore the inner sanctum of the all-boys school and learn more than they expected (although something tells me Lynley already knew what to expect and just didn't want to mention it) along with some more than suprising twists that left many a jaw on the floor.
Elizabeth George has always had a deft handling of her characters and their emotions and this book is no different. With this book, she really hit her stride.

"Well-Schooled in Murder" is the first Inspector Lynley novel I've ever read, and I must say that I liked it quite a bit. I see now from reading some other reviews on the store that it is probably best to read these novels in order, but I really had very little trouble figuring out the personal issues the characters were dealing with.

This is a solid, tightly-plotted book with tons of clues, red-herrings, and all the conventional trappings mystery fans expect of a British detective novel. In many ways, it goes above and beyond the typical mystery novel, in that George takes quite a bit of time to explain the inner workings of her characters. I must say that in the case of Deborah and Simon, I skipped over pages and pages of Deborah's incessant whining about her previous abortion and state of her marriage. It felt like such a conservative-esque cliche: woman has abortion, regrets it, and OOPS, now can't get pregnant and is tormented incessantly by this choice. This sub-plot had absolutely nothing (let me repeat that: nothing) to do with the mystery at hand, and I found it rather tiring to slog through. Perhaps I would have cared more about these people if I had read the earlier novels, but I found the book coming to a screeching halt any time Deborah or Simon was on the page.

Lynley himself is a well-drawn character, although he makes one decision about not turning in an admitted pedophile that I found morally repugnant. Apart from that and the moments with Deborah/Simon, this was a really great book that moves along at a quick pace, always giving the reader something to chew on. I will definitely be reading more novels in this series.

The brutal torture and murder of school boy Matthew Whateley send Linley and Havers into the world of the British public school system. Havers' disdain for the British class system is down played in this intricately plotted novel.
Elizabeth George in WELL-SCHOOLED IN MURDER delves into the behind the scenes of British education system to the boys who build their own class within closed walls, which allows the older students to subjugate the younger ones to their rule.
Fans of this series will enjoy the exploration of the lives of Simon St. James and his wife Deborah.
A thoughtful presentation of an on going problem in all school systems.
Nash Black, author of SINS OF THE FATHERS.