I'm a big fan of Elizabeth George's novels.  One of the things I most admire is her ability to make her characters come to life.  And I'm not just referring to the recurring characters.  But even brand new characters who only appear in one book manage to very quickly feel familiar and well-known to us, as if we've been acquainted for years. 

This is especially true in Deception On His Mind where we are introduced to an entire sub-segment of England's population.  The Pakistanis there, who are despised by many of the English play a pivotal role in this book.  As a result, we meet many of them, and immediately become immersed in their culture.

In fact, the only recurring character to appear in this book is Barbara Havers, a Detective with Scotland Yard.  She is home, recovering from the injuries received in the previous novel, when we meet her Pakistani neighbors, a father and his young daughter.  They are heading to the coast, having just heard of some trouble, involving some of their family members.  It seems that a distant cousin's intended groom has just been found murdered. 

Unable to keep away, Barbara follows her neighbors, and ends up becoming part of the murder investigation.  And that's when we learn that anytime a Pakistani is found dead in England, tensions and tempers flare.  With each side certain that the other is the cause of the problem, it seems that finding the truth sometimes takes a backseat.

That's the basic theme in this book, touched upon in many different ways.  While both sides claim to simply want to discover the truth behind the murder, that seems to be a secondary goal.  The first goal seems to be finding a way to blame the other side.  In fact, this theme occurred so frequently that I felt the author was hitting me over the head with it.  I felt like screaming "OK, we get it already... Let's move on!!!". 

It's not only cultural differences delaying the investigation, there are cover-ups galore as multiple people have secrets they want kept private.  Including Barbara, herself, who is less-than-honest with the reasons for her being in this coastal town in the first place.  With so many people (including the good guys) keeping secrets, it's a wonder the murder is ever solved!

In fact, one of my complaints is that this book is quite long (over 700 pages) and it takes over 600 pages until we start actually solving the murder.  Most of the time is spent teaching us the Pakistani culture, and showing us exactly how bad the tensions are, between them and the English.  I felt so bad for the murder victim - receiving practically no attention through so much of the book, almost like he's a mere afterthought.

Another complaint concerns the loose ends, of which there are many.  With so many characters, and so many subplots I realize there was a lot to tie up at the end.  But instead of dropping so many stories, why not add just a few pages of epilogue so we can have some closure?

So, while I enjoyed getting to know the characters in this book, it's not my favorite George novel by any means.  It was simply too long, and focused on too many things other than the murder.  And, since most of George's usual characters were absent, it read more like a stand-alone story, than part of the Havers/Lynley series.  I'll give it a hesitant recommendation, but will say that it's OK to skip this one, and not feel you'll be missing anything important to the series.

Also by Elizabeth George:

In the Presence of the Enemy
Well-Schooled in Murder

Recommended: Yes