Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
This is NOT a Lynley/Havers mystery, BUT..., 29 Jan 2008
It is, essentially, the anatomy of a murder. It describes the events leading up to the conclusion of E. George's last work "With No One As Witness", however the connection starts taking shape only towards the end of this book. As an E. George's fan and after having enjoyed all the Lynley/Havers mysteries, I was truly looking forward to find out some answers to the unexpected and tragic ending of her previous book, but the more I read, the more my eagerness became deflated. Simply, I had mistakenly expected a sequel, and this is not it.
However, my feelings were not hurt, so to speak, as it is also true that the more I read, the more I appreciated the story line, which I would define, at this point, essential for the understanding -or, at least, for coming to terms- with what had happened previously. This is a well written tale of a dysfunctional and troubled family in North Kensington, London. As usual, I have appreciated and enjoyed the author's ever-present deep psychological insights. Also, the inclusion of slang language dialogues, where needed, represents the main characters vividly and real-life-like. Some descriptions and situations resulting from impossibly hard and complicated circumstances are simply heartbreaking.
I would categorize this book almost as a statement about those people born into less fortunate families and backgrounds. It is a work of fiction and simultaneously a sad reminder of how things can go wrong in real life if proper support lacks in many ways, for reasons that may commonly be considered avoidable but are, more often than not, beyond control, despite the well meaning efforts made by most people (some families themselves, authorities etc.) to avoid degeneration and degradation.
Conspiracy of silence and exterior toughness as means of survival dominate the scene but, predictably, they do not lead to definite/satisfactory/proper solutions but rather contribute towards the perpetuation of a cycle hard to break. Easier said than done, for both fictitious and nonfictional events.
I am now most definitely anticipating E. George's next Lynley/Havers book, "Careless in Red", which should be the "real" sequel to "With No One As Witness". It will be available next May (I've just checked!).
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting, if depressing, book, 6 Mar 2008
I've never been much of a fan of Elizabeth George. In her early books, her usual central characters came across as too stuck up (Linley) or too much of an inverted snob (Havers) for their own good.
In this book, George moves away from Linley and Havers to a book that can be best described as one that examines the 'psychology of a murderer.' In a previous book, Linley's wife was killed by a 12 year old. In this book we find out how the child came to murder someone.
It's a depressing book, if a little far fetched. It deals with the unremitting horrors that some kids have to see, and that's often unpleasant reading. The book is also a little strange, in that it seems to want to excuse the child for what he did, when for most of the book he could have stepped back and said 'No thanks, not for me.'
The twist in the tail is rather clever and was one I didn't see coming, which is a change for me. I can usually spot them coming a mile off these days. The unexpected twist made it worthwhile for me to read the book I think and might cause you to enjoy it too..
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Thought He'd Never Shoot Her!!, 2 Oct 2007
I'll be honest, I've gone off Elizabeth George's books over the years, mainly becuase her characters are such stereotypes - stereotypical English Toffs in Inspector Lynley and his friends (and most of all his wife - was I the only one glad to see her go?), stereotypical 'commoners' in Barbara Havers. And what is worse her Toffs are so anacronistic - did she steal them from Agatha Christie?
So I approached this book with some degree of pleasure - something different. But blimey, don't it go on!? I got to the point where I didn't care what happened - it could easily have lost 200 pages (almost plucked at randum since it felt that the same things kept happening over and over again)
And more stereotypes! This time stereotypical black Londoners - do they really all say "innit" at the end of ever sentence?
I'm sure that if I had been anywhere other than stuck on an Air India flight from New York with nothing else to read and only Asian films available to watch, I would have given up on this after 100 pages or so.
Massive disappointment!!
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