Curious about the Inspector Lynley & Sargeant Havers Novels?
Feb 11 '08 (Updated Dec 02 '09)
The Bottom Line For those who want mystery novels that have complex plots, meaningful characters, and quite a few twists, try this series by Elizabeth George.
I've been happily reading the novels of Elizabeth George for nearly fifteen years now, and consider them to be some of the most complex -- and compelling -- reads out there. Ever since I was introduced to this series by a co-worker in the 1990's, I've been a fan.
Set in the England of the here-and-now, these are complicated stories of murder and police investigation, with plenty of emotional angst and psychological depth. The investigation team is pretty standard form -- an Detective Inspector and his Sargeant from Scotland Yard, and right there is where the traditional form breaks. For we're quick to discover that this are no ordinary policemen.
Thomas Lynley is cultivated, blond and handsome. His suits are tailor-made, he drives a Bentley, and he not only has a flat in the ritzy part of town, he even has a butler/valet to tend to his daily needs. He's also the 7th Earl of Asherton, with a sizeable estate in Cornwall, and the means to enjoy life. But his mind is also razor-sharp and his desire for justice just as keen. It also helps that he has connections and the ability to not mind exploiting them now and then to get to the bottom of a crime.
Barbara Havers couldn't be more different. For one, she's a woman, and in the male dominated world of the Yard, it's a tough road for her. She's also definitely working class, having fought her way up from not-quite-having-enough, and not having the social skills that pit her occansionally against her superiors. She's outspoken, blunt, and has a canny way of knowing how the world works outside of the aristocracy and upper crust. And in a refreshing move on George's part, she's not at all pretty, and very average.
To say that the pair are uncomfortable with each other at first is an understatement. He looks at her as a frump and a dump, unpolished and one step up from the gutter, even though he's much too polite to say so. She thinks he a snob and too top-lofty. Of course the reality is somewhere in between, and as the series unfold, we get to know them both much better.
Along with Lynley and Havers, we get to know their co-workers, families, and friends. Many of them are reoccuring characters, and several of the novels feature them in particular. Most notable are Simon and Deborah, both of whom have not just a past with Inspector Lynley, but a very complicated one at that -- he is a forensic investigator, and Lynley's best friend from University days, but also is badly handicapped. His wife, Deborah, is a struggling photographer, younger than Simon, and surprisingly, Lynley's former flame, a relationship that still has an ember or two. The marriage between these two is one of the more interesting aspects of the series, but alas, isn't that well-developed in the film versions.
A Suitable Vengeance
While the story in this one occurs before the events in A Great Deliverance, it was published as the third novel in the series. As such, this one does not have Barbara Havers in it, but it gives a compelling look at the private life of Thomas Lynley and the very complicated family relationships that he has.
A Great Deliverance
The first novel that was published in the series introduces the reader to the team of Inspector Lynley and Sargeant Barbara Havers. A farmer has been found brutally murdered in the north of England and the pair are sent to investigate. While the plot is a fairly standard one, it's the how that is beguiling to the reader. I was hooked after this one, finding both of the main characters to be complex individuals, and the author smart enough to keep them from getting emotionally involved with each other.
Payment in Blood
This time, it's a variation of the 'cozy' murder, where a group of people in an isolated house or setting, where everyone knows everyone else, and one of them is killed. The enjoyment lays in figuring out just who did it and why. Also, this is where we get really meet Lynley's love interest, Lady Helen Clyde, for the first time, and things aren't quite going as smoothly as they can hope.
Well-Schooled in Murder
Many of the stories in the series cover the death of a child or a young person. This time, the murder victim is a young boy at an exclusive school. It's with this one that the class differences between Lynley and Havers really come out. Too, the novels are starting to shift from standard mysteries to a more involved psychological drama that lift them out of the general work to be found in the genre.
For the Sake of Elena
A disabled student in Oxford is found murdered, and a web of lies and deceit are uncovered. I really liked this one, as George focuses a lot of the story on the art world and academic politics, and the very insular world that is found among scholars.
Missing Joseph
In a distant, small village, a vicar has been poisoned. In an unusual step, the author uses Simon and Deborah St. James to tell the story, and Lynley only makes a cursitory appearance. Barbara Havers isn't in the story at all. This is the point where Elizabeth George really started to hit her stride as a novelist, and it's in these next set of stories that are the best of her work, as far as I am concerned.
Playing for the Ashes
This was the first novel in the series that I read, and I was struck by the emotional rawness of it. It's a fascinating story, involving cricket (the sport, not the insect), eco-terrorism, and the peculiar arrangements in families where someone is disabled. By the end of the story, I was devastated, and determined to read more. I'm glad I did.
In the Presence of the Enemy
This is a tormented little tale about a woman in politics, and a sordid tale of blackmail. I was surprised by this one, not the least by the fact that Barbara gets to have a bit of a personal relationship of her own with a co-worker.
Deception on His Mind
This one is another one of my favourites. Unlike the previous novel, the story does not involve much of Lynley, but instead focuses on Barbara Havers and her relationship with the Ahzars, a Pakistani immigrant family.
In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner
Not everyone is going to like this one much. For one, the subject matter is very adult in content, involving the sordid sexual underworld of London. Those readers who get squeamish about content, well, you were warned. It's also one of the best that the author has written.
A Place of Hiding
As with Missing Joseph, this one doesn't involve so much of Lynley or Havers. Instead, we get to find out a great deal more about Deborah, as she travels to one of the Channel Islands, and gets invovled in a case about a Nazi war criminal.
A Traitor to Memory
A young violinist is linked to a series of murders, all of which involve the nature of the intellectually gifted. This is one of the darkest themed mysteries that I have ever read.
With No One As Witness
Oh the howls when this one was published! It's pretty much a standard mystery novel, but towards the end, the author not just bends the rules but shatters them. I was pretty distraught by the ending, I can tell you. One day I'll be up to rereading it. Just not yet.
What Came Before He Shot Her
Out of all of Elizabeth George's novels, this one is my least favourite. For one, we don't get to see Lynley or Havers at all, and the entire story is so damn bleak that I just wanted to go hang myself at the end. Some praise it as a great entry in the series, but I just couldn't get into it.
Careless in Red
We are, thankfully, back to reading about Thomas Lynley. Mourning the loss of his beloved Helen, Lynley is on a walking tour of Cornwall, going wherever the spirit moves him to. He's closed himself off from reality, his job and the rest of the world. Clearly a man with a deep death wish here. But he starts to rally when he discovers the body of a fellow hiker and is drawn into a world of a small village, surfing and the always dangerous Cornish landscape.
This Body of Death is the latest in the series, and due for publication in April 2010. I am very curious to see how the series will continue, and am looking forward to this one.
A Note about the adapations by the BBC/PBS:
If you're expecting a straight crossover to the television screen with these, be prepared for disappointment. Condensed down to the bare bones, many of the secondary themes and characters are simply discarded. It's fine if you want to know what does what to whom, but it lacks much of the subtleties of the story. Actually, once the stories started to be originals, the televised versions improved, as they were now freed of the novels' restrictions. Too, the film versions have diverged by having the relationship between Lynley and Helen turn out very different. Let's call it an alternate universe and leave it at that.
Overall, I have really enjoyed this series and every now and then, I go back to my favourite volumes for a reread (or several!). Those who want smart, non-formula mysteries are urged to find these at your local book shop. And I would love to hear from others who have read the series.
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Member: Rebecca Huston
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