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A review by candacesiegle_greedyreader
This Body of Death by Elizabeth George
5.0
After the disappointing "Careless in Red" Elizabeth George is back in character with the kind well-developed, complex, can't-put-it-down book her readers look forward to. In "This Body of Death" Lynley is still on compassionate leave. but is called back to the Met to help his temporary replacement, the ambitious Isabelle Ardery.
The novel begins with excerpts from a report about a murder in the 1990s. Two boys snag a toddler from a shopping center, torture, and kill him. Based on the case of Jamie Bolger, chapters are interspersed throughout George's book. This was a shocking crime (the version George creates is less appalling that the real killing), not only for the horror of the murder, but because of the British government's treatment of the killers, who were given new identities and released after the minimum sentence. (Google James Bolger and you'll see that one of his killers is back in the news again). It is this kind of detail, combined with George's interest in British social conditions and her knack for incorporating unusual aspects of English culture that make her books so satisfying.
It's also interesting to see Lynley making poor choices and behaving more like a mere mortal. The always-appealing Barbara Havers has a big role (Isabelle Ardery makes her buy a professional wardrobe and get her teeth fixed--Barbara in Top Shop is worth the price of the novel!)
"This Body of Death" is Elizabeth George at her best.
The novel begins with excerpts from a report about a murder in the 1990s. Two boys snag a toddler from a shopping center, torture, and kill him. Based on the case of Jamie Bolger, chapters are interspersed throughout George's book. This was a shocking crime (the version George creates is less appalling that the real killing), not only for the horror of the murder, but because of the British government's treatment of the killers, who were given new identities and released after the minimum sentence. (Google James Bolger and you'll see that one of his killers is back in the news again). It is this kind of detail, combined with George's interest in British social conditions and her knack for incorporating unusual aspects of English culture that make her books so satisfying.
It's also interesting to see Lynley making poor choices and behaving more like a mere mortal. The always-appealing Barbara Havers has a big role (Isabelle Ardery makes her buy a professional wardrobe and get her teeth fixed--Barbara in Top Shop is worth the price of the novel!)
"This Body of Death" is Elizabeth George at her best.