Rating: 
Summary: My least favorite of the series thus far...
Review: But that is still a step above 99% of the mystery writers writing today. I don't know why I was a little disappointed in this entry in the long-running series.One thing that bothered me was the fact that, while Inspector Lynley has always be insufferable with his thinking that he is always right, that attribute is kicked up a notch in the current circumstances. He finds Havers' actions at the end of the last book to be unexcusable and refuses to see her side of the story. While I can see him reacting in that way, it is exaggerated a bit much for my liking; he is an intelligent man, after all, and his actions are those of one with lesser intelligence. Anyway, the writing is fine as always. I particularly like the parts dealing with Havers - she and Lynley are working on the same case in different parts of England so most of the book goes back & forth between London and the scene of the crime in the Peak District. I am particularly interested in seeing where the relationship between Havers and her neighbor, Azhar, is heading. I already have the next in the series, A Traitor to Memory, and will be reading it soon.
Rating:
Summary: In Pursuit of a Good Read
Review: Elizabeth George fans will love this book, but it may be a bit difficult for those who are not acquainted with this mystery series and her main characters, Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers. While a double murder provides a clever, intriguing read, the conflict between Lynley and Havers provides the best character development yet for these two. Along those lines, I strongly suggest you read Deception on the Mind before this book as its outcome plays a key role in this novel. Can't wait for her newest book, which comes out July 29!!!
Rating: 
Summary: She does it Again!
Review: Elizabeth George is a wonderful writer-she grabs hold of you and doesn't let go, even after you have closed the book. This, along with A Great Deliverance and Deception on His Mind, is one of my favorites of hers.
The book twists and turns at breakneck speed. The characters are, as always, wonderfully written (and while I agree with others that Lynley's neuroses are getting a little tiring, I found it necessary in this book for him to be dealing with what he was dealing with).
Altogether, this is a marvelous mystery. I was completely engrossed, and came to feel, as I always do, that Havers and Lynley are people I know well, and I am a fly on the wall eagerly hunting for the same clues they are (although I have to admit, I got the "picture at games" clue almost immediately after we discovered what the oak was used for.)
If you like mystery/suspense, don't miss Elizabeth George.
Rating:
Summary: The Odd Couple: Lynley and Havers
Review: Elizabeth George is an American who writes mystery novels set in England, thus encroaching on the sacred soil of Agatha Christie et al. As an American I can't judge how authentic her books may be to an English reader, but I detect in them an American expansiveness --- this one is 709 pages long. "In Pursuit...." is about two murders on an English moor and the investigation to catch the killer or killers. The merit -- and the mystery -- in the story is which of two Scotland Yard detectives is pursuing the line of investigation that will lead to solving the case. Detective number one is Thomas Lynley -- elegant, privileged, earnest, respected, of noble heritage and the owner of a Bentley automobile which he loves almost as much as he loves his upper-crust wife. Detective number two is Barbara Havers, a dumpy, working-class slob with the personality of a bulldog and an appetite for pop tarts and cigarettes. She uses her t-shirt for a napkin and does not have a Bentley -- or a flourishing social life. Lynley and Havers have different notions as to the motives and the perpetrators of the murders on the moors and they embark on parallel -- and competitive -- investigations. I didn't really care much about solving the mystery; rather I cared about who won the match between Lynley and Havers. Which one will you root for? A compilation of the answers to that question from English and American readers would be interesting. George is a good plotter and pacer and a decent writer and this one kept my interest to the end despite its formidable length. George can be spoken of in the same breath as P.D. James, the reigning queen of British whodunits.
Rating:
Summary: THANK YOU, ELIZABETH GEORGE - YOU'RE BACK!!!
Review: Elizabeth George is one of my favorite authors, and I'm thrilled that she is back with the latest addition to her Inspector Lynley series. This book was wonderful - almost as good as In the Presence of the Enemy (my personal favorite, and I've read them all). The characters are well-drawn, the plot was intriguing, and the whole book reeks of civility, style, and class. A welcome change from some of the crap I've read this summer (Thomas Harris, please note). George's characters are people you realy care about, her reasearch is first-rate, and the plot, while convoluted at times, is wrapped up nicely in the end. Elizabeth George and Martha Grimes are my two favorite authors, and I'm happy to say that I am now about to start on Grimes' latest Richard Jury novel. I hope it will be as satisfying as this book was. For those of you who like to be taken seriously as readers, do yourself a favor and read this book. Elizabeth George never disappoints!
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but with shortcomings
Review: Even of Elizabeth George's weaker novels are still good books. And "In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner" is even one of her better novels and a very enjoyable read. Lynley and Havers are intriguing characters, well-developed and definitely interesting. Where in other suspense novels the personal life of the investigators just interrupts the actual story in the most disturbing way, Ms. George manages to keep the reader interested both in what happens to Lynley and Havers and to the crime they are currently solving. In this book, Havers is more or less the main character and it is a pleasure reading about her. Her professional and personal difficulties are touching and the reader remains glued to the book to see if in the end things will work out well for her. - There was mercifully little about constantly miserable Deborah St. James, which I liked as this character is too boring and wallowing in self-pity to do anything for the story.
The actual crime story is just as meticulously planned, bringing surprising twists and revelations (though some of them are not quite as surprising as intended by the author). A large number of suspects keep the reader guessing, new motives are discovered and as always the personal difficulties and connections of the victim, the suspects and their family and friends are well thought out. However, for my taste there were a bit too many different leads and theories about the crime. Here, less would have been more.
Ms. George also indulged the one weakness of hers - giving the reader too many details about side characters. She has done that in excess in "Missing Joseph" and "Playing for the Ashes", which were - in my opinion - her weakest books as they didn't focus on the crime and the main characters but rather meandered off into the lives of side characters, unnecessarily interrupting the story. In this book, it happens again, though fortunately not to the same extent. The thoughts of the mother of Nicola, one of the murder victims, are described in all detail, for page upon page - boring to read eventually. The family problems of Nicola's boyfriend Julian are given about a third of the book, with uninteresting dialogues and lines of thought that mostly have nothing to do with the actual story. This actually highly dimished the reading pleasure and I wish Ms. George would return to the style she used in her earlier books and stop adding so many unnecessary scenes to the books.
I also don't quite see the necessity of making Lynley quite so unlikeable in this novel and though I usually enjoy any scene with Helen, the slightly repetitive conversations between the newly-weds weren't very thrilling to read.
One thing I noticed here is that while Ms. George has a sophisticated and enjoyable writing style, she likes to enjoy writing about the darker side of humanity. Unncessary little bits of information (we neither need to nor care to know where exactly the office building security guy was scratching himself before noticing havers) and a way-too-detailed description of prostitution and S/M don't do anything for the story. It's okay to describe it where necessary, but the reader is not interested in every little detail and it really harms the style of the book.
So, while this was not the best of the Lynley/Havers novels, it certainly was a reasonably good one, though with some avoidable weaknesses.
Rating:
Summary: It Never Ends
Review: I have read a number of Elizabeth George's books. Many reviewers compare her to Ruth Rendell and P D James and she is certainly their equal in terms of characterization and plotting. Arguably, Lynley can be compared to Dalgleish and Wexford, my favourite, however, is Morse. Her research is thorough and her descriptions of names and places are phenomenal. The way she weaves her plots are excellent and her pace rivets the reader. Her novels have been criticized for their length, but I don't notice the it with the way she dangles the suspense. She even spells the English way. This, of course, may only be for the English and Canadian editions. I want to give her 5 stars, so what is holding me back. She has an annoying habit of using the term "fag" and other slang expressions out of context with the quality of her writing. As an expat Brit I suppose I speak with some authority on this matter. Fag is old country jargon for a cigarette. Although that word does have a pejorative meaning elsewhere, it is still used as a colourful description for a cigarette in Britain and parts of the old empire. Its use is primarily colloquial and in Elizabeth George's books she uses it too often in her narrative. It looks out of place given the overall quality of her writing. She doesn't do it all the time, but it is enough to be annoying. Other than that, anyone who is considering reading an Elizabeth George book should do so. I am surprised that the BBC hasn't started a series based on her characters yet. If they have, I am not aware of it. I have heard that the A and E network is considering a production.
Rating:
Summary: acceptable
Review: I've always enjoyed reading Elizabeth George mysteries because of the high quality of the writings as well as the analytical descriptions of her characters and settings. However, I've come to notice that none of her characters, whether they be good or bad, are genuinely likeable. Lynley is a turnoff, he's arrogant and a self-entitled, Helen, while nice, is somewhat pretentious, Havers is more sympathetic but her defeatist attitude is annoying. Simeon and Deborah, I simply don't know enough about them, they're quiet but not terribly interesting. As for the rest of the characters, they're interesting, they may be fascinating, but they're simply not the kind of people you'd want to be friends with. George's portrayal of the United Kingdom is also interesting. She seems to focus solely on two sectors of society: the aristocratic upper class and the seamy underbelly/working class. Very little is said of the vast bulk of English in between, nice, normal and quiet people who are not too different from nice, normal and quiet Americans. I've spent a fair amount of time in the UK, and while I do recognize the country that George presents, I also recognize that there's a huge slice of Britain that is missing from her novels. Overall, I give her novels a 4 star ranking solely because of the quality of the writing. The novels are intense and do keep one in suspense, though she does sometimes rely on suspicious coincidences. The actual plots and characters are only worth a 2 or 3 stars, but the quality of the writing strengthens the overall work.
Rating:
Summary: First time with Elizabeth George's work was a fine time
Review: I've never read any other of George's books and was given this by a colleague who thought I might appreciate a good mystery with a positive spin on SM. I'm not sure this is strictly a mystery -- its more a cop drama really and I suspect the characters are ones that George has used previously. As for the positive SM, is it positive if the lead detective is constantly thinking how sick all these people are or how much drug or alcohol use is shown or how alligned it is with prostitution? Didn't seem particularly positive to me but maybe things are quite different in England. It is a very English book -- so if British language and terms throw you, you'll have difficulty following this. I, too, got a bit tired of following one character, a female detective who's off the case really, and the two male detectives around separately but if you've seen these characters before it may be more interesting to you.
Rating:
Summary: Elizabeth George does it twice as good with In Pursuit...
Review: If you are an Elizabeth George fan you will find her latest Havers-Lynley mystery to be one of her finest. She has expertly woven not one but two murders together, leaving the reader to wonder who is the real target and who the killer. (I have read every single Havers-Lynely mystery and have yet to guess who the murder is, a mark of a truly great mystery writer.) As usual, George's grasp on English culture and language makes you want to expand your vocabulary and take a holiday to Jolly Old England. If you have never read George it is best to start with her first mystery and read in order. Though each book can and does stand well on it's own. It is easier in the long run to follow the history of the main characters DI Barbara Havers and her superiour Thomas Lynley from start to finish. I garauntee if you love mysteries that keep you guessing to the very end, if you love eloquent writing and superb use of vocabulary, you will thoroughly enjoy George. Be forwarned, once you get hooked on Havers and Lynley mysteries you will find you can hardly wait the two years George usually takes to research and write her next novel.
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