Books Set in Europe: United Kingdom

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

Books Set in Europe, United Kingdom, England

A Great Deliverance, by Elizabeth George (1988)  //  Inspector Thomas Lynley # 1

This is the first in the Lynley / Havers detective series.  It provides the origin story of how Barbara Havers, a somewhat cantankerous low-level Detective Sergeant in the Scotland Yard, begins working with the aristocratic Inspector Thomas Lynley.

The novel revolves around a murder in a small village north of London.  A teenage girl confessed to beheading her father, but some of the townfolk question whether or not she actually committed the crime.  Enter Lynley and Havers.

The reader learns some of the backstories of Lynley and Havers.  Lynley is dating Helen, but he is also something of a lothario.  We are also introduced to Simon St. James, who is a close friend of Lynley and planned on a career in law enforcement before he was crippled in a car accident.  Lynley was the intoxicated driver of the car.  St. James just married Deborah, who was a former lover of Lynley.

Meanwhile, we learn a bit about Havers’ background.  She comes from a lower-middle class family and lost her young brother to leukemia when he was a child.  His death lies heavy on her family life.

I didn’t find the mystery as intriguing as other stories in the series.

Read: June 1, 2023

3 Stars

Other Books Read in the Series:

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

Books Set in Europe: United Kingdom, London, England

With No One As Witness, by Elizabeth George (2005)  //  Inspector Thomas Lynley # 13

 

This mystery novel is the thirteenth in the Inspector Thomas Lynley series.  It had been nearly a decade since I read the last Lynley novel.  While each novel is a stand-alone mystery, it seemed that there was a lot in this book that relied on considerable knowledge of the characters backstories.  That being said …

 

New Scotland Yard officers, Inspector Lynley (Acting Superintendent Lynley in this volume) and his sidekick Constable Barbara Havers (she had apparently been demoted from Sergeant in the previous novel), have stumbled upon a serial killer.  Three mixed race young boys were left for dead before Kimmo Thorne, a young white, gay female impersonator, turned up dead.  The prior three bodies had been assumed to be runaways and their deaths weren’t thoroughly investigated.  It isn’t until Kimmo’s body is found that the police compare notes and realize that all the deaths were committed in a similar fashion.  To curb accusations of institutional racism, Winston Nkata was hastily promoted to Sergeant to serve as the face for the press briefings.

 

Lynley and his team’s investigation led them to Colossus, a low-budget organization intended to help at-risk children.  The Colossus employees and volunteers all have checkered pasts.  Could they have a hand in the murders?  There also appears to be a link to shady organization called MABIL (Men And Boys In Love), a group of pedophiles who groom young boys for sex.  When a fifth body is found, there are some substantial differences, leading the investigators to believe there may be a copy-cat killing.

 

In between following where the evidence may lead, the reader also gets a peek into the private lives of Lynley and Havers.  Lynley’s wife is expecting their first child, while Havers lives her solitary life and tries to connect with her neighbor.  Their lives are not without their own personal drama and tragedy.  [Spoiler Alert:  Lynley’s wife, Helen, was shot on her doorstep in the wealthy neighborhood of Belgravia.  By the time she was transported to the hospital, too much time had elapsed, and she was brain dead.  Both she and her unborn baby were taken off life support.  Also, the book ends with Lynley appearing to turn in his badge.]

 

This book comes in at over 600 pages.  While it kept my attention, it could have been pared down to about half that size.  I also found one plot thread to have been resolved too quickly.  Still, I enjoy reading about the gentry Thomas Lynley and his working-class side-kick, Barbara Havers.

 

Read:  May 13, 2023

 

4 Stars

 

Other Books Read in the Series:

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

A Banquet of Consequences (# 19)  //  Read July 4, 2018

 

 

Books Set in Europe: United Kingdom, England

A Banquet of Consequences, by Elizabeth George (2015)  //  Thomas Lynley # 19

I generally like Elizabeth George’s novels with Detective Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers.  I have missed a few books in the series, however, thus missed some of the references in this mystery novel regarding their personal lives.

This novel is less a mystery to be solved by Lynley and Havers and more a look into the lives of too many damaged people with too problems.

The book begins with the suicide of Will Goldacre.  Not a spoiler, as he kills himself in the first few pages of this nearly 600 page tome.  His mother, Caroline Goldacre, can’t get over his death, and years later, when most of the action takes place, she is still grieving.

Caroline is a busybody who meddled into Will’s life and now is trying to save her other son, Charlie’s marriage.  She is also the personal assistant to militant feminist Clare Adley.  When Clare is found dead, Lynley and Havers become involved.  Havers has apparently (in a previous Lynley mystery), come sideways with the big boss, so is on a short leash to solve Clare’s murder.

There were just too many people and too many threads, many of which had nothing to do with the murder of Clare, but not significant enough to make they “red herrings.”

I found this book to be less than satisfying as a good murder mystery.

Read: July 4, 2018

2.5 Stars