Vous voulez voir cette page en français ? Cliquez ici.

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
100 used & new from CDN$ 0.01
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Playing for the Ashes
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book

Playing for the Ashes (Mass Market Paperback)

by Elizabeth George (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 11.99
Price: CDN$ 10.79 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details
You Save: CDN$ 1.20 (10%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca. Gift-wrap available.

Only 5 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

13 new from CDN$ 4.86 87 used from CDN$ 0.01

Frequently Bought Together

Playing for the Ashes + For the Sake of Elena + A Suitable Vengeance
Total List Price: CDN$ 35.97
Price For All Three: CDN$ 32.37

Show availability and shipping details

  • This item: Playing for the Ashes by Elizabeth George

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details

  • For the Sake of Elena by Elizabeth George

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details

  • A Suitable Vengeance by Elizabeth George

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

For the Sake of Elena

For the Sake of Elena

by Elizabeth George
3.8 out of 5 stars (20)  CDN$ 10.79
Missing Joseph

Missing Joseph

by Elizabeth George
3.8 out of 5 stars (30)  CDN$ 10.79
In the Presence of the Enemy

In the Presence of the Enemy

by Elizabeth George
4.0 out of 5 stars (50)  CDN$ 10.79
A Suitable Vengeance

A Suitable Vengeance

by Elizabeth George
3.4 out of 5 stars (27)  CDN$ 10.79
With No One As Witness

With No One As Witness

by Elizabeth George
5.0 out of 5 stars (5)  CDN$ 9.89
› Explore similar items

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.


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.
See all Product Description
Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
Search inside this book:

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What do customers ultimately buy after viewing this item?

Playing for the Ashes
57% buy the item featured on this page:
Playing for the Ashes 4.4 out of 5 stars (36)
CDN$ 10.79
With No One As Witness
15% buy
With No One As Witness 5.0 out of 5 stars (5)
CDN$ 9.89
Payment in Blood
10% buy
Payment in Blood 4.1 out of 5 stars (16)
CDN$ 33.74
A Great Deliverance
9% buy
A Great Deliverance 4.1 out of 5 stars (48)
CDN$ 10.79
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

36 Reviews
5 star:
 (20)
4 star:
 (11)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (36 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most helpful customer reviews

 
5.0 out of 5 stars Returning Again and Again, April 10 2004
By "lauernicksmom" (New York NY) - See all my reviews
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.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
4.0 out of 5 stars Commendable, but..., Feb 26 2004
By A Customer
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.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
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)   
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.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 		 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

Only search this product's reviews


Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject










i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.