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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"In de ban van bedrog kan intussen wel rekenen op een mooie 4 sterren score want ondanks mijn scepsis vond ik het toch een goed in elkaar gestoken verhaal dat me kon boeien."
https://elinevandm.wordpress.com/2020/11/21/in-de-ban-van-bedrog-van-elizabeth-george-4/
https://elinevandm.wordpress.com/2020/11/21/in-de-ban-van-bedrog-van-elizabeth-george-4/
I can confidently say that I have never given up on a book after getting at least a few pages into it...until now. I had high hopes for this since I've known people who bought the hardcover of Elizabeth George books the day they were released. But this book was too slow. After two weeks and 100 pages, all I know is that some guy died and some lady is fixing to start investigating it. More is bound to happen in the next 600+ pages, but that will remain as big a mystery to me as the popularity of Elizabeth George's books.
Si les chapitres auraient été plus courts, ce roman aurait été un coup de coeur. Malgré qu'il date de 1997, cette enquête policière est très d'actualité lorsque l'on pense au racisme présent dans la société et son lien avec les forces de l'ordre. Une enquête qui nous plonge à la fois dans une culture totalement différente à la notre et qui permet de mieux comprendre et repsecter les autres.
Une lecture enrichissante et chaude dans notre climat très hivernal.
Une lecture enrichissante et chaude dans notre climat très hivernal.
Book #53 read in 2013
This book featured Barbara Havers and it made me like her even more. However, nearly every other character in this book was unlikable. I found myself rolling my eyes at the dialogue and actions of many of the characters in this book. The best part was the progress of the relationship between Havers and Azhar and Hadiyyah.
This book featured Barbara Havers and it made me like her even more. However, nearly every other character in this book was unlikable. I found myself rolling my eyes at the dialogue and actions of many of the characters in this book. The best part was the progress of the relationship between Havers and Azhar and Hadiyyah.
POV change from the rest of the series. Havers is the main focus and all other characters related to Lynley are excluded from the plot this time. Good in terms of plot for the series and character development but turned out to be a tougher read than other books in the series.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"Barbara was well aware of the myriad prices women had to pay to succeed in police work. Men in the profession didn't have to persuade a single soul that their competence was unaffected by their sex. Women lived with having to do that daily."
Another amazing police procedural under my belt. I can't get over how good this series is, and why I hadn't thought to continue the series years ago. I will own that you have to be in the right frame of mind to really appreciate George's style of writing. It's not all plot, and that's where it requires patience. In the past, I've slugged through a couple that weren't favorites for me, but now I wonder if I should have just picked them up at another time. I might have to revisit those.
As regards this book, it seems so timely! Although written in 1997, the topic of xenophobia is at the forefront of the novel. A Pakistani man is murdered in a small Essex community, and the small Asian community has banded together in protest because the police have been slow to look into the murder, treating it as a botched burglary. How Barbara finds herself in the mix when she's supposed to be on leave from work, I'll leave for you to piece together...but demonstrates how this is a series that needs to be read in order.
The angles George pulls on this one are just spot on, and even before 9-11. So many of the characters are esteemed members of society, but don't realize what bigots they are, or even that they're sexist, ageist and/or homophobes. It's all here! And the extent that people will go to in order to hide their true colors is at the heart of this mystery. So good. I'm trying to limit myself to one Lynley mystery a month, but that's getting harder and harder to do when I have the next books sitting on my shelf.
