- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: New English Library (15 Nov 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0340822406
- ISBN-13: 978-0340822401
- Product Dimensions: 17.4 x 11 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 531,984 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
I, Richard
and over 900,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'Excellent . . . a wonderful example of how a talented writer can inflict unexpected twists and turns on the unsuspecting reader.' (Yorkshire Post )
'five nimbly written and gripping tales, each with a stunning conclusion.' (Publishers Weekly )
Praise for Elizabeth George:
'The multi-faceted surprise ending to the taut, suspenseful plot is the juiciest plum in this can't-put-down novel.' (Publishers Weekly )
'She writes extremely well, plots brilliantly and reaches an emotional level deeper than most ... Captivating' (The Times )
'The best plotter in the mystery game, [her] elegant literate flow puts many Brits to shame' (Time Out )
'five nimbly written and gripping tales, each with a stunning conclusion.' (Publishers Weekly )
Praise for Elizabeth George:
'The multi-faceted surprise ending to the taut, suspenseful plot is the juiciest plum in this can't-put-down novel.' (Publishers Weekly )
'She writes extremely well, plots brilliantly and reaches an emotional level deeper than most ... Captivating' (The Times )
'The best plotter in the mystery game, [her] elegant literate flow puts many Brits to shame' (Time Out )
Publishers Weekly
Praise for Elizabeth George:
‘The multi-faceted surprise ending to the taut, suspenseful plot is the juiciest plum in this can't-put-down novel.'
‘The multi-faceted surprise ending to the taut, suspenseful plot is the juiciest plum in this can't-put-down novel.'
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Ironies Tied Up in Little Mysteries,
By Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 110,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)
This review is from: I Richard (Paperback)
Short stories that contain mysteries are a challenge. You cannot do much character development, add many plot details nor use extensive red herrings.Ms. George's writing holds up surprisingly well in this format considering that she normally pens novels that run 500-600 pages. The charm of her work is that she loves ironies, and provides us with some delicious ones. In Exposure, Thomas Lynley and Lady Helen are visiting Lynley's aunt while some of the heritage silver is pinched by a tour group. A man dies in the process. Can Lynley sort out the crime before this turns into an even bigger problem? In The Surprise of His Life, a middle-aged man finds himself having ED problems and grows concerned that his young wife is obtaining satisfaction elsewhere. He becomes obsessed with stopping this cuckolding . . . with unexpected results. Good Fences Aren't Enough is a sad commentary on how we can become accustomed to anything . . . and actually seek out the perverse. A new neighbor moves in and doesn't keep up the property values. Her neighbors decide to do something about it and get more than they bargained for. Remember, I'll Always Love You reminds of the best of O'Henry's short stories. Just before he dies, a husband shares that wonderful sentiment with his wife. Only with time can she put the comment into its proper context. I, Richard is the opposite of the last story . . . about getting a gift that you didn't want but that someone else would assume that you did. It has a wonderful background in historical references to Richard III that will appeal to those who enjoyed The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. The weakness of the stories is that the irony is usually too easy to anticipate. For that reason, Remember, I'll Always Love You works best . . . because the irony is better disguised.
2.0 out of 5 stars
A curate's egg of a book,
By
This review is from: I Richard (Paperback)
Bits of this work are OK, but overall I think that the problem is that Elizabeth George is not really a short story writer. The stories are thin and some of the plots are stale. I enjoy the Inspector Lynley novels but I wouldn't really recommend this book.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
2.5 out of 5 stars (37 customer reviews) 32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
I love Elizabeth George's novels; I disliked this book,
By Daniel P. Smith "Daniel P. B. Smith" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: I, Richard (Hardcover)
I'm a great Elizabeth George fan. She is one of a small number of writers whose works I buy in hardbound. But I'm afraid she's no short story writer. The collection gets off to a bad start with "Exposure," which ought to be interesting to George fans because of the presence of detective Thomas Lynley. But the story is a mess. I don't understand the perpetrator's motive. The "puzzle" aspect is poorly presented--we're not really given enough of a clue to solve the puzzle ourselves. The perpetrator actually commits two crimes--and I don't believe that the methods used to commit either crime would have worked in real life. Three of the the stories feature "O. Henry endings," none of which, in my opinion, quite come off. The title story, "I, Richard" intertwines a sort of pseudo-mystery story concerning the truth about Richard III and the Princes in the Tower, with a modern-day murder story. Unfortunately, to someone who isn't a "Ricardian," the Richard III part is muddled and boring--and the framing murder mystery is unbelievable, except for the ending--which is all too predictable. Similar motifs recur in several of the stories--giving a slightly stale or repetitious flavor to the collection. Perhaps the best is "Good Fences Aren't Always Enough," which comes close to being sad and touching. But all of them, even this one, read more like extended jokes than like real stories. The characters in them are paper cutouts. The author's attitude toward her characters is remote and almost contemptuous. She never seems involved with them, nor do we. The stories succeed neither as slices of life nor as clever little clockwork gadgets. And, incidentally, the book is a rather poor value. There are only five stories in it. It's thin, the type is large, and the lines are widely spaced. By my estimate, it contains roughly about 70,000 words (for [money amount]) or about one-fifth as many as "A Traitor to Memory" ([money amount]). Distinctly short measure, to my way of thinking. 13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
What a disappointment!,
By bett - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: I, Richard (Hardcover)
I was so excited when I saw that another Elizabeth George book had been published I wanted to read it right away - but what a disappointment it was! I was willing to give her plenty of leeway because I'd enjoyed all her other books so much. But some of the stories were not even well written, and none of them are up to her usual fine writing, characterization and plot development. I do hope she is at this moment working on a mystery novel that will make me forget that this one ever saw the light of day.
31 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
George back on track,
By W. Oliver - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: I, Richard (Hardcover)
For the Elizabeth George fans who have been disappointed with her increasingly long-winded and convoluted novels - take note!. This latest offering - her first ever collection of short stories (to appear in the U.S. at least) - contains five stories which average around 30 pages each. This is indeed refreshing! George includes an introductory preface to each story explaining her inspiration for writing them. The first one is a reworking of an earlier story she did and is, in my opinion, the weakest of the five. It involves a murder among a group of architecture students visiting a manor estate. Thomas Lynley makes an appearance in this one and solves the case with ease. "The Surprise of His Life" was inspired by a famous celebrity murder case (and it is obvious from George's description that it was the O.J. Simpson case) and involves a man who, prompted by a psychic, becomes increasingly paranoid that his wife is cheating on him. The third story (and my personal favorite) shows what happens when an eccentric old woman with a peculiar fondness for rats moves into a cozy New England neighborhood. "Remember I'll Always Love You" is the story of a woman who discovers that her recently deceased young husband led a mysterious life outside their marriage and the final story, "I, Richard", follows a man whose literary masterpiece, an enlightenment on the life of Richard III, results in dire consequences. All of the stories are page turners and most of them end with surprising conclusions. Many are psychological in nature and reminded me of the works of Ruth Rendell. Recommended!
|
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
