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Playing for the Ashes
 
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Playing for the Ashes [Abridged] [Audiobook] (Audio Cassette)

by Elizabeth George (Author), Derek Jacobi (Reader)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

British crime writer George's seventh book featuring detectives Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers spent seven weeks on PW's bestseller list.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.


From Booklist

George is a gifted writer who spins rich, colorful, mesmerizing, multifaceted stories that combine an absorbing mystery with provocative insights into her characters' innermost thoughts and emotions. Her latest story once again features Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and his sidekick, Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers. Chalk and cheese when it comes to background, philosophy, style, and personality, Lynley and Havers easily forget their differences when a tough homicide needs solving--take, for example, the asphyxiation death of renowned, all-England cricket player Kenneth Fleming. The duo's inquiries turn up some disturbing facts about the cricket star. Not only was his personal life a shambles, but he had a very odd relationship with a former teacher. The case is more byzantine than any Lynley and Havers have encountered in their years as a crack homicide team, and even when they've identified Fleming's killer, the file isn't really closed. As usual, there's more to think about in George's story than simply whodunit. Readers will be astounded by the ease with which she weaves complex relationships and provocative moral, emotional, and ethical questions into the compelling plot. Another tour de force from one of today's best storytellers. Emily Melton --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews

36 Reviews
5 star:
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4 star:
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3 star:
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2 star:    (0)
1 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (36 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5.0 out of 5 stars Returning Again and Again, April 10 2004
By "lauernicksmom" (New York NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Playing for the Ashes (Mass Market Paperback)
Playinng for the Ashes is the best mystery I have ever read. The skill of the narrative is amazing. I am a student of Henry James and know he himself would be astounded at the complex weaving of character and situation and the evolution of a self-centered, self-destructive young woman into a caring and loving individual. Chris Farady has to be one of the great characters of the English novel. George has a way of putting true goodness on the page that is utterly credible and, most of all, ever human. I love this book and turn to it over and over. I feel the characters are real people who influence the ways I think and treat others. I hope Elizabeth George brings these characters back to us, as she does her major ones.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Commendable, but..., Feb 26 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Playing for the Ashes (Mass Market Paperback)
Numerous reviews have detailed the virtues of this work. I especially agree with the praise for George's integration of multiple plot lines and her employment of a "diary" element in the voice of Olivia.

I do have some reservations about Olivia, however. Though we may be persuaded to grant her a fair amount of native intelligence, it is hard to think she would have been a devoted student. So her level of articulateness frequently seems implausible.

The "romance" of Lynley and Lady Helen ranges from cloying to tedious. Helen describes herself as "utterly useless," and proceeds to do nothing to dispel this impression. (Elsewhere in the series she is depicted more favorably.) The best Lynley can muster is the assurance that she "distracts" him from the demands of his occupation. Some compliment from an ardent lover! On the other hand, Havers is surely George's most inspired character creation and does much to leaven the proceedings.

Despite its flaws, Playing For the Ashes is absorbing and mostly quite well written.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Excruciatingly dragged out, Jan 1 2004
By Barbara L. Pinzka "Book Friend" (Cincinnati, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Playing for the Ashes (Mass Market Paperback)
No plot twist goes unexexamined, and no sub-plot is too small, in this tedious, over-blown mystery. It takes true dedication to pull through.
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 		 Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Maybe the Best Thus Far?
Having read the previous Lynley/Havers mysteries by Elizabeth George, I have come to expect nothing but the best from her and this book did not disappoint. Read more
Published on Mar 25 2003 by Louis M. Perdue

5.0 out of 5 stars Magestic work of Art,
I have read all the Elizabeth George mysteries starting with A Great Deliverance that I happened to buy one night at a book store. Read more
Published on Nov 9 2002 by Avid Reader

5.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing, Intense, Live in the narrator's shoes!
. . . .~ ~ - ~ ~
~ - ~ One of Elizabeth George's strengths as a mystery writer is her ability to create complex intriguing characters, who can alternate between... Read more
Published on Oct 9 2002 by lynkfri13

4.0 out of 5 stars A lot in one book!
This book covers a tremendous amount of ground, and it is sometimes unclear how all the pieces fit together. Read more
Published on Sep 10 2002 by Martha E. Nelson

5.0 out of 5 stars The best one yet
This, basically, normal George. Exactly what we have come to expect from a practioner of some really beautiful english language. Read more
Published on April 26 2002 by RachelWalker

3.0 out of 5 stars Stretching the story
I found this book to be about twice as long as should have been. In some places the dialogue just went on and on and on. Read more
Published on Mar 14 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Like All the Books in This Series
I am very glad that I found Elizabeth George. I really love her books. Lynley and Havers are such a great team. They are so opposite that they complement each other. Read more
Published on Mar 9 2002 by S. Schwartz

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible - over long
I read the first 300 pages then gave up completely frustrated at the amount of time I had wasted. I skipped to the last few chapters to find out "who dunit" and even... Read more
Published on Dec 9 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent mystery
I have read every book from Elizabeth George and this is one of my favorites. It is well written and I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Lynley and Havers. Read more
Published on Jul 18 2001 by Laura M. Gorski

5.0 out of 5 stars I still think about these characters
This book, unlike many in the series, focuses more on the figures in the crime than the police investigating the crime. Read more
Published on Jul 17 2001 by nickne

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