An Inspector Lynley Novel - Believing the Lie

Elizabeth George has long been one of my favorite mystery novelists, but I'm afraid I'm done with her, and with Lynley and even Barbara. I've had this one on my Kindle for two weeks, and it just doesn't hold me, seeming to go on and on with nothing at all happening, even after I'm at "55%" finished. I pick it up, read a little, put it down -- and go to my other book (I had to get started on another one to keep from being bored to death!)

I agree with most of the 2-star ratings, about the language, about Deborah, about the nonsense with Isabelle, about the direction Ms. George is taking with Lynley, and even about my beloved Barbara bringing little relief.

I should never have spent the money to download it to Kindle, a luxury I allow myself only for my great favs. Elizabeth George won't get any more Kindle Kash from me, and I'm afraid that reviews for Susan Hill's series are going the same route. So ... Martha Grimes isn't writing, Ruth Rendell is virtually finished, and PD James is 90. What are we gonna do?

I purchased this E. George novel for my wife. She has read four of E. George’s novels so far. My wife says: “Very good character development. Sometimes too many characters and too many words but usually her novels have a kick butt ending.”

I really enjoyed this bookince Inspector Lynley was sent on a wild goose chase. He was able to include hih forensic cohort once again however I did not really like his wifes involvrment because of her inability to conceive. However the ending story line with Havers has me looking forward to her next book coming out in Oct.

Ms George tends to be very wordy writing exactly as one speaks. Some people would urge her to get moving. Not her style. Every word she writes is there for a reason and if you are not reading it all you may miss an important connection. I love this well planned and executed style. The British mystery at its best. Everything Elizabeth George writes is not only a novel it's traveling with friends.

I've read everything Elizabeth George has written, so I consider myself a serious fan. Her latest novel does not disappoint -- in addition to revealing the dark secrets that lie at the heart of the family, she further explores and delineates the characters her long-time readers have come to know and love -- Thomas Lynley, Deborah and Simon St. James, Barbara Havers, and the rest.

Anyone who enjoys character-driven mysteries will love the novels of Elizabeth George.

Elizabeth George can still create characters that we care about -- here the mnor character Yaffa; and characters we love to hate -- here Mignon, but her newest books are self-indulgent much much overlong pastiches of her former self. Once she wrote mystery stories with soap opera elements, the dysfunctional lives of Lynley and family and friends and of Havers. Now she write bad soap operas without any real mystery elements. It's all been downhill since the author gratuitously killed off Helen. The author has also completely lost her moral compass. I agree with many of the previous reviews that excusing Deborah's conduct, that led to a suicide is inexcusable, and Lynley's continued abuse abuse of Havers is disgusting, as is her apparent willingness to always touch the forelock. He's a rotten detective and she gets no credit. When the Inspector Lynley TV series ended, I thought that the best thing that could happen is that Barbara finally be promoted to Inspector and get to detect on her own TV series away from Lynley's baleful influence, much as Lewis has now come into his own. It's very hard to be fresh with long familiar series characters, but the way in which George seeks to do do, by making their personal lives even more wretched is exactly the wrong way to go. Unless something changes, it's either time to give up on Elizabeth George or persuade her that the only way to bring new life to the series if to kill off another major character, namely Inspector Lynley.

Although I have always loved Elizabeth George her novels are becoming longer and longer. I do not have a Kindle and can barely lift the darn things. I don't think any mystery needs to be 800 pages long, do you? By the way, that does not entice me to buy a Kindle; I still prefer holding a book in my hands.

This may be my favorite of her Inspector Lynley series. Besides Lynley, Barbara Havers is a pure delight as we watch her continuing relationship with her mysterious neighbors as well as her personal appearance changes at the behest of their obnoxious new "guv"

Multiple "side" stories to keep the reader interested. However, about 2/3 the way through, one can guess at the conclusion. The ending is clever in that the reader is almost obligated to buy the next book.

I have been reading The Linley novels for years and this one is just as good as all the others. The thread of all her characters runs through each novel and it is like meeting old friends and catching up on thier lives, loves and problems. Love the mix of different societies. Love the fact that there are a few story lines running through the novel.

Very unlike Elizabeth George's writings. The plot developed like a glacier, very slow. Too much unnecessary minutia that seem to go on for page after page. I finally decided this was not worth my time, and certainly not what I paid for the e-book.

More wonderful adventures , twists and turns you don't see coming and an ending that leaves you anxious to read the next book. I have been a voracious reader all my life and have enjoyed all of the Inspector Lynley novels as much as Bosch, and Reacher.

Talk about dysfunctional families. This was an excellent story about the inner dynamics of a family and how the secrets and hatreds and lies among the individuals in the family make an interesting plot. I found the ending to be very satisfying. George created characters that are believable, complicated, and multi-dimensional and a story line that kept me reading.

I agree with many of the negative comments already written about this book. I had a real feeling that George had plotted out this book with other characters and then was told by her publishers that it was time for a new Lynley novel. It was like she shoe-horned her characters into roles that they weren't suited for. I loved the earlier Lynley novels, and like many other reviewers, I think Havers is her best character. Here's hoping the next offering isn't quite as flat.

George always delivers.

She is deft at creating a riveting and sometimes disturbing plot along with characters who are complex. It has been fascinating to watch Lynley, St. James, Deborah, and Havers navigate their lives throughout the series. They are so fallible, and sometimes I just want to shake them and say "don't do that."

As with all of her Lynley novels, I finished with a "now-what" question, eager for the next installment.

Elizabeth George always challenges the reader through the multiple plots and sub-plots in her Insp. Lynley mysteries. It's a struggle not to rust to see how it all ends. I'm looking forward to the next "chapter" in the series.

I've just finished reading this last work by Elizabeth George,whose Inspector Lynley series I've mostly (not to mention With No-one As Witness and What Came Before He Shot Her, which I hated) enjoyed. This was a huge disappointment, with a storyline which leads nowhere and I've even felt it was not written by her.Has she got tired and hired a team of writers who are supposed to dig for formal, difficult vocabulary for some obscure motive? Not really worth buying.

Elizabeth George is a favorite author of mine. Her plots and characters usually cause me to regret finishing a book; I miss the characters for days. That was not true this time. The plot was a seeming marathon of disgusting and disturbing events; even the much-loved characters seemed without depth or real purpose. I wish I had paid attention to other reviews. It was a relief to finally reach the end of the book. It is now filed in my Kindle collection called "Poor Choices" with only one other book. i hope this disappointment was a never-to-be-repeated fluke.

I am having trouble enjoying the later ones. I don't mean any disrespect to the author, as she is a great writer, I am just personally not attracted to the way the recent books have played out and I'll leave it at that.....

I enjoyed reading Elizabeth George for many years, then had some difficulty with not just not enjoying the books, but being able to read them at all. This book reminded my I enjoyed them so much. Loved it!

In recent George books I find the central characters much diminished - childish clichés - especially the women whose motivations and responses are quite juvenile. It is such a pity. The plots are quite imaginative and George has some insight into broader human nature .... but then reduces ((in this recent book) her 6ft plus newspaperman to a dense and unobservant caricature. Deborah's astonishing mistakes are "hormonal"...just embarrassing really.

The latest adventures of Lynley and Barbara make a disappointing novel because the focus is not on the mystery, but rather on the problems of the detectives and their friends. We are led to expect a mysterious death, but the death is strictly secondary to the problems of the family involved. The novel ends with a too-neat wrapping up of several sub-plots and a hint of what is to come. This feels like it was a weak plot expanded to promote the next novel.,

Can't beat Elizabeth George for keeping a reader turning the pages through a long, intricately crafted mystery novel. Her research into the English countryside, way of life, speech patterns and police procedures is amazing!

I have been a follower of Inspector Lynley Novels by Elizabeth George as I am a mystery writer fan and have seen TV adaptations over several years. There are many of this series which I have not read, and will explore for future enjoyment. This author has a style of writing I admire.

I guess now that I have struggled through this absurd soap opera that The lives of Lynley, St. James, Deborah and Helen have always been a soap opera, but the writing kept me intrigued. This book made me realize that the soap opera nature of this series has always been there, augmented in recent books i.e. What Came Before He Shot Her, with a sociological conceit. SPOILER ALERT READ NO FURTHER. This book fields a bizarre group of characters- AMONG OTHERS a 6'6" redheaded Jewish hack journalist, transsexual, gay married lover forced to come out by his conniving partner to get an inheritance ( and how would that inheritance have worked out if the outed partner had not actually accidentally died immediately after making the will?) a disturbed teen engaging in pornography in the hope of being killed. Good Grief, all in one place plus more agonizing over infertility, oh and the tide. YOu know from early in the book that someone is going to die in the tide it is so clumsily foreshadowed I probably will never read this series again, a waste of time and not even well written anymore.