Payment in Blood, Elizabeth George (1998)
Payment in Blood is the second in the Inspector Thomas Lynley / Barbara Havers mystery series. This novel starts out as pure Agatha Christie. On a cold winter night, playwright Joy Sinclair was found murdered in her bedroom in a snowbound estate in a remote town in Scotland. She had been a guest at the manor along with a handful of actors who were to be in Sinclair’s next play, the producer, a drama critic, the director, and his lady love, Lady Helen Clyde, and the servants. One of them must surely be the murderer.
For reasons that are not immediately apparent, Lynley and Havers were sent to investigate the murder. Lynley enlists the help of his forensic friend, Simon St. James, to assist in the investigation. Odd, because Scotland Yard had virtually no authority over the crime committed in Scotland. Lynley is in love with Lady Helen, and so focuses his attention on Rhys Davies-Jones, who was sleeping with Helen in the room adjacent to Joy Sinclair’s room. Havers and St. James, however, focus on Sinclair’s revised play, which they believe holds the key to the murder.
Complicating the investigation is the 1973 of Hannah Darrow. What is her connection with the manor? Was her death really a suicide? Following clues leading to her death point to a spy scandal involving the family that owns the manor.
This is the second novel in the series. The author is still introducing the characters. Lady Helen seems to have many lovers. Havers lives with her working-class parents and feels quite out of place with her aristocratic partner. Lynley has some skeletons in his past, which are only hinted at, although we learned from the first book that he was the driver responsible for the accident that crippled St. James.
I am glad that I started this series in the middle where the characters are more developed. Had I started at the beginning of the series, I probably would not have been compelled to read further.
Read: June 23, 2023
3 Stars
Other Books Read in the Series:
A Great Deliverance (# 1) // Read June 1, 2023
Well-Schooled in Murder (# 3) // Read June 29, 2003
For the Sake of Elana (# 5) // Read February 21, 1994
Missing Joseph (# 6) // Read June 12, 1996 and January 25, 2003
Playing for the Ashes (# 7) // Read January 6, 1996
A Traitor to Memory (# 11) // Read January 3, 2004
With No One as Witness (# 13) // Read May 13, 2023
A Banquet of Consequences (# 19) // Read July 4, 2018
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