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A review by nonna7
A Banquet of Consequences by Elizabeth George
5.0
"Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences," Robert Louis Stevenson
In this latest Inspector Lynley novel, Lynley has been back at work for a while. It's 18 months since his wife was shot for apparently no real reason. He is seeing Daidre, a vet he met while trying to heal at his family home in Cornwall. She is now working at the London Zoo, and while she accepts him into his bed, the bed is a simple "camp bed" that is not particularly comfortable nor really made for two. She is working on the flat she has purchased, but has not bothered with the bedroom. Lynley sees an uncomfortable symbolism in this decision. She is keeping him at arms length. Her background is very different from us, and she sees it acutely. In the meantime, Barbara Havers, his second and partner at Scotland Yard, is being kept on a short leash after going completely overboard and out of control when she tried to help her former neighbor who fled from Britain to Italy to Pakistan with his daughter. Everyone agrees that her work is suffering, but the Superintendent, Isabelle Ardery, is more concerned about her getting in line. She holds the threat of a transfer to Berwick-on-Tweed over her head.
Meanwhile one of the administrative assistants in the office, Dorothea, decides to take her in hand and try for a makeover in the hopes that this will rejuvenate her. One of their jaunts is to a book signing by a celebrated feminist author, Clare Abbott who admires a silly tee shirt she is wearing. She gives Barbara her card and an address to send a similar shirt. When Clare's meddlesome assistant takes it from her saying that Clare really doesn't mean what she said, Clare's publisher and close friend, Rory, chases Barbara down and gives her another.
The beginning of the book takes us to the past when a young man jumps to his death while on a camping trip with a woman. The only clue left behind is that he sees his beloved reading a journal he has been keeping for years. The mother of the young man is Clare's assistant.
Back to the present and Clare is on a trip with her assistant. She is poisoned in a particularly horrible way. Her publisher who has Barbara's card contacts Barbara, insisting that the initial pathologist's report of heart failure makes no sense. Another autopsy is ordered, and that is when the poison becomes apparent. Rory asks Barbara to investigate, but it's not her "patch."
Lynley persuades Isabelle to allow Barbara to investigate as long as she respects the local police. Isabelle agrees as long as she is accompanied by someone who will keep her on the straight and narrow. She is sent to the town along with Winston Nkata, a former gang member, turned police officer who is fastidious with his life and his car. He is appalled by Barbara's smoking and bad eating habits: a pop tart is fine for breakfast accompanied by coffee and a cigarette. They are expected to be more or less joined at the hip.
This is a very long book - 573 pages, but then so are most of her other books. Elizabeth George doesn't just write mysteries. She writes novels that explore emotions, families and more. This book throws out a lot of red herrings with a wonderful twist. That's all I'm going to say about it. George is not everyone's favorite, but she certainly is one of mine.
In this latest Inspector Lynley novel, Lynley has been back at work for a while. It's 18 months since his wife was shot for apparently no real reason. He is seeing Daidre, a vet he met while trying to heal at his family home in Cornwall. She is now working at the London Zoo, and while she accepts him into his bed, the bed is a simple "camp bed" that is not particularly comfortable nor really made for two. She is working on the flat she has purchased, but has not bothered with the bedroom. Lynley sees an uncomfortable symbolism in this decision. She is keeping him at arms length. Her background is very different from us, and she sees it acutely. In the meantime, Barbara Havers, his second and partner at Scotland Yard, is being kept on a short leash after going completely overboard and out of control when she tried to help her former neighbor who fled from Britain to Italy to Pakistan with his daughter. Everyone agrees that her work is suffering, but the Superintendent, Isabelle Ardery, is more concerned about her getting in line. She holds the threat of a transfer to Berwick-on-Tweed over her head.
Meanwhile one of the administrative assistants in the office, Dorothea, decides to take her in hand and try for a makeover in the hopes that this will rejuvenate her. One of their jaunts is to a book signing by a celebrated feminist author, Clare Abbott who admires a silly tee shirt she is wearing. She gives Barbara her card and an address to send a similar shirt. When Clare's meddlesome assistant takes it from her saying that Clare really doesn't mean what she said, Clare's publisher and close friend, Rory, chases Barbara down and gives her another.
The beginning of the book takes us to the past when a young man jumps to his death while on a camping trip with a woman. The only clue left behind is that he sees his beloved reading a journal he has been keeping for years. The mother of the young man is Clare's assistant.
Back to the present and Clare is on a trip with her assistant. She is poisoned in a particularly horrible way. Her publisher who has Barbara's card contacts Barbara, insisting that the initial pathologist's report of heart failure makes no sense. Another autopsy is ordered, and that is when the poison becomes apparent. Rory asks Barbara to investigate, but it's not her "patch."
Lynley persuades Isabelle to allow Barbara to investigate as long as she respects the local police. Isabelle agrees as long as she is accompanied by someone who will keep her on the straight and narrow. She is sent to the town along with Winston Nkata, a former gang member, turned police officer who is fastidious with his life and his car. He is appalled by Barbara's smoking and bad eating habits: a pop tart is fine for breakfast accompanied by coffee and a cigarette. They are expected to be more or less joined at the hip.
This is a very long book - 573 pages, but then so are most of her other books. Elizabeth George doesn't just write mysteries. She writes novels that explore emotions, families and more. This book throws out a lot of red herrings with a wonderful twist. That's all I'm going to say about it. George is not everyone's favorite, but she certainly is one of mine.