Deception on His Mind

I have read all of Elizabeth George's books and this one stands out as the best. She is a very good mystery writer. I love her books because it takes me so long to read them. I can usally devour a book in a day or two but these books always take me at least a week and a half or so. Her writing style is similar to Anne Rice's in that it is very descriptive and minute. She can take one moment in time and make it last 3 or 4 pages. Some people don't like this sort of writing, calling it flowery and over descriptive but I love detailed character studies of people that show their motivations, thoughts, feelings, etc... leading up to the showdown moment fraught with tension when Lynley and Havers almost always foil the bad(?) guys. The only thing is, by the time you read all this about these characters, there are no black and white, bad or good, just human beings trying to get through their lives. If you want a GOOD long mystery that slowly and surely draws you into peoples lives, then pick up any of Ms. George's novels.

This is my favorite Eliz. George--and I like them all a lot. Barbara Havers is a welcome change--a real type person with endearing (to me) flaws. May I have some more, please? Top notch story.

I have been a fan of Elizabeth George since I buying and listening to In The Presence Of The Enemy, read by Derek Jacobi, and, the mysterious wonders of this writer never cease! I was especially pleased to discover that the writer recognizes boys shouldn't have all the fun when it comes to crime-solving, as this particular mystery was given strictly to DS Barbara Havers, and it also gave me a better understanding of the Pakistani culture, as I was educated a little bit more every time I read the story, and again, it served its true purpose of being a fascinating mystery from the first page to the last!

I like this book of hers because the main character is Sergeant Havers, instead of Lynley, Helen, Deborah, and Simon. Don't get me wrong, I think they are good chracters but after so many books it gets boring. Also she includes a bit of her past. This was the first of her books I read and I throughly enjoyed it. After reading it I rushed out to get the rest of her books and read them as fast as possible. I think her writing style is superb and that she has a great narritive quality. I didn't like the fact that everybody on the book but Havers was prejudiced, but the book is still very good. I am also happy that she is writing more about Azhar and Hadyyiah, they are a good addition to this book. She seems to have reseached in preparation of the book intensively and makes it believble. She weaves a good plot and develops her characters very well. The ending was a bit of a surprise but I had a vague premonition of what it might be. Overall, a good, long read that is truly gratifying.

Elizabeth George has done well with her latest book. I liked her character development of Sargeant Barbara Havers very much, but then George has consistantly excelled with her characterization, and she is a leader in her objective realism mystery genre. She captures the isolation of the human condition, and the motivations of each of its seperate beings, while still providing an exciting mystery that moves along. Definitely worth the read. Did not need any editing in my opinion; this is not a ninety-minute read author. I liked the ending. And I liked the strong women characters; so often women characters are either romantic leads or background. She does well with the challenges of serious career women in male dominated professions.