Playing for the Ashes

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Summary: A mystery centering on the complexities of love
Review: The greatest mystery in this novel revolves around the paradoxical nature of love in all its various shapes, whether between parent and child, husband and wife, lovers or friends. Why do we love someone? What do we do in the name of that love? Where does love begin and end? When should we let it go? When should we hold on? As Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and Sergeant Barbara Havers investigate the murder of a prominent cricket player, they uncover a series of relationships which either contributed to the murder itself or make it more difficult to uncover the truth. This novel, the best of the series so far, will fascinate any reader interested in the mysteries of human behavior

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Summary: George's detectives serve up a more complex plot than ever.
Review: The opening scene of Playing for the Ashes is a masterwork. The first of Elizabeth George's detective series I ever read, this book's opening riveted me to the pages from start to finish. George masterfully interlocks the plot twists and involves you immediately in the characters. You care for them. Empathise and sympathise with them. And quickly begin your own journey of trying to solve the puzzle. George is a master, however, and the answer is not so easily determined. Which makes the book all that more challenging and enjoyable. But, beware! This book was so good, I soon bought and devoured every prior and subsequent Elizabeth George mystery.

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Summary: A lot in one book!
Review: This book covers a tremendous amount of ground, and it is sometimes unclear how all the pieces fit together. Where else would you find cricket, ALS, and animal rights activists all in one novel? This is a novel that takes all of these disparate subjects, plus the lives of Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers, and manages to bring them together, in a way that is ultimately fascinating. The change of narrration from the rest of the books in this excellent series is particularly interesting. Olivia is a compelling narrator, and it is easy for the reader to get carried along in her version of her mother's and Kenneth Fleming's life and then have to remind oneself that this is her imagined version, subject to interpretation, personal issues, etc.

Barbara Havers has some new and perplexing characters to deal with here, who have promise for the future. Gradually her self-imposed isolation is starting to be broken down, leaving her puzzled, chagrinned, and more human than ever before. I was less interested in the continuing vaccilations of Thomas Lynley's relationship with Lady Helen.

Rating:
Summary: A lot in one book!
Review: This book covers a tremendous amount of ground, and it is sometimes unclear how all the pieces fit together. Where else would you find cricket, ALS, and animal rights activists all in one novel? This is a novel that takes all of these disparate subjects, plus the lives of Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers, and manages to bring them together, in a way that is ultimately fascinating. The change of narrration from the rest of the books in this excellent series is particularly interesting. Olivia is a compelling narrator, and it is easy for the reader to get carried along in her version of her mother's and Kenneth Fleming's life and then have to remind oneself that this is her imagined version, subject to interpretation, personal issues, etc.

Barbara Havers has some new and perplexing characters to deal with here, who have promise for the future. Gradually her self-imposed isolation is starting to be broken down, leaving her puzzled, chagrinned, and more human than ever before. I was less interested in the continuing vaccilations of Thomas Lynley's relationship with Lady Helen.

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Summary: Good plot, fascinating characters
Review: This book was a bit of a departure, style-wise, and I liked they way Olivia's story was developed separately from the rest of the story line then woven in. I was a little disappointed not to see Simon and Deborah in this book, and I didn't see the deeply layered themes that I normally find in George's books. That was particularly surprising given the promise of the fire imagery. But this is still an extremely worthwhile read with some interesting plot twists.

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Summary: I still think about these characters
Review: This book, unlike many in the series, focuses more on the figures in the crime than the police investigating the crime. I found the story of Olivia and her mother repelling and compelling at the same time. I hated them and loved them. I wanted to reach into the book and shake them several times. I truly cared about them and their relationship. The ending of this book made me sit in silence for several minutes and reflect on how parents and children can both love each other hate each other at the same time. I won't forget Olivia soon - nor her final request of her mother.

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Summary: A Tour-de-Force
Review: This is simply the best mystery novel I have ever read, and I have read thousands of them over the years, including all books by this author. The character development is beautifully done, and the story is so well told that I almost couldn't bear to finish it. Well done!

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Summary: What a talent!
Review: This is the third George book I have read and I can certainly say that I did not come away disappointed. There are two story lines which, while related slightly, are played out at the same time and that always gets a little confusing to me. And she throws in some "in your face" smut, not that it's not realistic--it's just a little more than I care for, and also continues the development of Barbara Havers character in a kind of mini story of it's own. I found it a little slow in places and while I don't think it is necessarily better than her other books I've read ("Missing Joseph", "Well Schooled in Murder"), her remarkable talent is establishing her as one of the premier mystery writers of our time.

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Summary: Thoroughly compelling novel of life, love and murder.
Review: This is the third George novel I've read and they just keep getting better. Her character development is truly astonishing, you feel like you know all these people very well. I was able to figure out early on "who done it" but the twist in the story made the end hard to see. A very enjoyable book.

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Summary: Disturbing -- and more than a whodunit
Review: This was the book that got me hooked on Elizabeth George. More than a whodunit, this book is about life as real people live it. It explores the characters of everyone, the victim, his wife, his sponsor, his lover, all the relationships involved, especially the bizarre one with his sponsor, even the lives of Lynley and Havers. That's what can make Elizabeth George a difficult read in the beginning -- all these intertwined lives moving in and out of the book.

The actual whodunit was devastating, but understandable. This, to me, was a sad book, to say the least, but there was a glimmer of hope in the end. I hardly read whodunits twice. This was the exception -- and I did it, not to review the movements of the killer, but to try to understand the characters better.

I have since acquired all her other books, even the first one I tried to read, and I'm waiting for the paperback edition of her latest book to come out. Elizabeth George's books are painful to read, they always hit you in the gut. I don't always like the stories, the deaths are often brutal, but, for some reason, I am hooked.