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From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Acting Supt. Thomas Lynley and Det. Constable Barbara Havers face their most challenging and perilous case yet—the linked murders of four youths, three of black or mixed parentage—in bestseller George's absorbing 13th British police procedural (after 2003's A Place of Hiding). Crime fans will find plenty of forensic minutiae and details of police bureaucracy and politics, but it's characterization at which George really excels. The up-and-down career of Havers is at low ebb following her demotion from sergeant to constable, and her rocky personal life doesn't make that easier to bear. Lynley's professional life has become more difficult due to the continued absence of Supt. Malcolm Webberly and the need to deal directly with Asst. Commissioner David Hillier. The tension builds as the brutal serial killings continue and the pressure to solve them mounts. George expertly uses every device in the book from red herrings to blind alleys, from subtle twists to swift shocks. This is an outstanding and explosive addition to a popular series.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Issues of racism within the police are brought to the fore when the ritualistic murder of a teenage boy is linked to the deaths of three other youths. It's clear there's a serial killer at work, and New Scotland Yard is called in to solve the case and quell accusations of police prejudice. Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley has his hands full----not only with finding the murderer but also with ensuring that volatile Barbara Havers doesn't further damage her career. Then there's the matter of keeping an eye on a tabloid reporter and a profiler whom intractable Assistant Commissioner Hillier has foisted on the team. Veteran thriller writer George, an American, is as at home with the social dynamics of the seedier parts of London as she is with the multidimensional personalities of Lynley and his colleagues (Winston Nkata, in particular, really comes into his own here). This is a riveting installment in a superb series--far more than just plain good. It's also a turning point for the series as George makes some bold, surprising decisions that permanently change the lives of the characters her fans have come to know. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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First Sentence
DETECTIVE CONSTABLE BARBARA HAVERS CONSIDERED HERSELF one lucky bird: The drive was empty. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
DETECTIVE CONSTABLE BARBARA HAVERS CONSIDERED HERSELF one lucky bird: The drive was empty. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Terrific Plot, Wonderful Character Development and Suspense!,
By Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 112,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (#1 HALL OF FAME)
This review is from: With No One As Witness (Mass Market Paperback)
Highly recommended!With No One as Witness is one of the most memorable of the Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers novels. If you haven't read this book yet, you have a great treat ahead of you. The book uses its over 600 page length well to deliver a deliciously complex plot in a detailed police procedural with lots of great forensics, action, suspense and interesting character developments. As the book opens, a teenager who favors Boy George makeup and impersonating famous female singers heads out to meet with "friends." By the next morning, Kimmo Thorne has become a murder statistic, the victim of a strange mutilation that seems like the work of an unusually deranged mind. Clearly, this could be a serial killer at work . . . and the police begin to realize that three other young men have experienced a similar fate. But no one has taken their deaths seriously . . . they're just "throwaway boys" of black or mixed race parentage. Anticipating a public relations firestorm tied to charges of racism in not investigating the earlier murders very well, the ultimately annoying Assistant Commissioner David Hillier focuses on managing press relations . . . even while he hampers the actual investigation with his "directions." While Acting Superintendent Lynley and Detective Constable Havers gnash their teeth in extreme frustration, Hillier pushes them to the brink of rebellion. Newly promoted Detective Sergeant Winston Nkata finds himself the token black in Hillier's playbook and doesn't appreciate this abuse of his identity, but usually manages to bite his tongue. Throughout the story, the narration alternates among Lynley, Havers, Nkata, the serial killer and Ulrike Ellis, the head of a nonprofit agency for boys in trouble with the law. That makes the story more interesting by changing perspectives and varying the pacing. Each of the major characters has the usual problems to deal with. Lynley's wife is expecting their first child and the in-laws are in an uproar about which christening garments to use. Havers is still smarting from her demotion, her car barely runs and she's annoyed with a neighbor who's too protective of his daughter. Nkata continues to be attracted to an unsuitable woman who spurns him while worrying about her son. The serial killer wants attention and is annoyed at how slow the police are to catch on. Ellis is losing her self-control with a married man, and her job is collapsing around her. Those touches humanized what is otherwise a very grim and dark tale. As the investigation begins, the killer finds himself needing to kill again and again. That puts further pressure on the police to stop the potential rampage. How will it end? Badly, of course. Police procedurals about stopping serial killers can be the most rewarding part of the genre if the author keeps the reader off balance about the who, what and why of the next step in the story. Ms. George does a commendable job of keeping the killer's identity shrouded until quite late in the book. Her misdirection is excellent and unforced. Yet she lets us in on the mind of the killer in a rewarding way that sets up the contest of hunted versus hunters very well. This is the best mystery I have read about a serial killer in many years. I especially liked the way that breakthrough clues seemed to be about to unravel the killer's identity, but would actually turn into plot complications instead. These turns in the story were delicious in their ironies. The book's main drawback is that the story involves the most disgusting types of sexual child abuse. If you have a weak stomach for that particular form of perversion, this story will thoroughly disgust you. The book also achieves true pathos with a heart-rending tragedy during the investigation that will move all readers to sadness. I seldom stay up past 1 a.m. to finish a book, but With No One as Witness kept me going last night until 2:17 with this one.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best yet,
By
This review is from: With No One As Witness (Mass Market Paperback)
Elizabeth George tells her best yet story with the Lynley/Havers team. Character development is excellent and the plot is very strong. You'll be finished the book before you know it, as the story doesn't let you put it down. Disturbing topic of child abuse covered in this one, so be prepared. Also, I really like that the British authors aren't afraid to not make everything turn our well in the end. The characters are real, not fluffy. If you haven't tried Ian Rankin, give him a try as well. Excellent mystery author with stories set in Edinburgh.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Engaging,
By
This review is from: With No One As Witness (Mass Market Paperback)
Book 13, in the Inspector Lynley seriesI am happy to see with this instalment my beloved protagonists Thomas Lynley and his partner Barbara Havers back to the forefront and plunged into a suspenseful case complete with red herrings and gritty crime scenes. The book provides an intellectual challenge, its 600 pages or more is a kaleidoscope of complicated themes and sub-themes crisscrossed with a rich narrative that keeps us on the edge of our seat while tracking the numerous players that pop in an out of the storyline. In this novel we follow the procedures that Scotland Yard Detectives employ on the trail of a serial killer who targets young boys in London and displays their bodies in a gruesome manner. Commissioner Hillier realises he has a serial killer when a fourth victim, a white teen, surfaces with similar wounds to three other non- white victims, he also realises he has to stay ahead of media hype and diffuse any accusations of racial preference by promoting officer Nkate a black man) to Detective Sergeant. The commissioner wants full control, puppets on a string style, Nkate handling the general public side and he is pressuring Lynley to work closely with a respected profiler and a in your face reporter. Thomas Lynley is at odds with these orders and the friction between them quickly builds' Where there is friction Barbara Havers' name always surfaces. She is still under scrutiny since her demotion but once more her style of working against the grain will bring success to the case. Meanwhile on another thread, on Lynley's home front a tragedy awaits that will alter his life for ever'.. Although overall the storyline moves at a slow pace I was immediately engaged in this drama that is far darker, more sombre and definitely more tragic than any of the previous endeavours in Lynley's career. I can't wait to see what happens next, my library is a little behind in this series.
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