In the Presence of the Enemy

Elizabeth George is one of the most imaginative writers out there. Her books are just wonderful!

Ms. George just gets better and better. I read one of her books by accident and enjoyed it so much that I went back to the first Lynley/Havers book and am reading them in sequence. Each stands alone, but it is fun to watch the characters develop. This book is the best one yet. Complicated plot with no loose ends, well written fiction as well as a good whodunit. Definitely worth reading!

After a disappointing turn with Playing for the Ashes, George goes back to the creativity and readability that she showed in Missing Joseph. Equally pleasing is the emphasis on Barbara Havers (for those of us who are fans of the character). The supporting characters are well-drawn and in Eve Bowen, George has designed one of the most coolly evil characters I have ever encountered. Additionally, the careful reader is rewarded with a mystery that, while not simplistic, can be figured out before the perpetrator is revealed. Like most of the Lynley/Havers novels, this one delivers.

(Paperback version.)This mystery suspense thriller opens with the kidnapping of Charlotte, a.k.a. Lottie, a.k.a. Charlie, the ten-year old daughter of Eve Bowen, the Undersecretary of State for Britain's Home Office. Lottie, we soon discover, is the result of a brief but torrid romance with one Dennis Luxford while Eve attended a political conference eleven years previous. Now, Dennis is the editor in chief of The Source, a "tawdry and noisome" tabloid that has achieved spectacular gains in circulation by exposing the scandalous behavior of Eve's peers in the Tory government. The kidnapper is demanding that Luxford acknowledge his firstborn child on the front page of The Source. The problem is no one except Eve and Luxford are supposed to know that he is Lottie's daddy, and be it known, Eve's political career will be ruined. Certain that Luxford has staged Lottie's disappearance so he can print her humiliating disgrace, Eve hardly acknowledges that "she's gone missing." But the reader knows Dennis is innocent.Elisabeth George develops this confused situation into an intricate and superbly plotted mystery with well-developed characters and rich dialogue. George writes in the King's (or is it the Queen's?) English, though. You might wonder what's going on when the sprat is told to shut his gob or he'll be gated for talking bosh. But then, it's a mystery isn't it.Whether or not you're a fan of British mystery genre novels, this is a highly recommended read.

The genius behind Presence of the Enemy is the in-depth and comprehensive character analysis. Too many mysteries are driven by a contrived puzzle or by a shoot-em-up mentality. The real mystery in Presence of the Enemy is not the mechanics of the situation, but is the complicated entanglements of men and women's hearts. Transcending genre fiction, it is a true work of art.

I have been an Elizabeth George fan since high school, as she is the wife of my former high school principal. She very simply blew me away, with this one. I was in the Phoenix airport waiting for my plane to take off in bad weather, when approaching the climax of this book. The passengers beside me must have thought me a fright, when I literally gasped a "Oh No!" This book had me so completely caught up in the moment, a freight train could have barrelled through the cab of the plane without a wince from me. I love the way Barbara Havers begins to come into her own here and as always, Detective Thomas Lynley is at his charming and sensual best. I have often said, the idea of a perfect man, is what Lynley possesses. Thank you Ms. George, for another wonderful glimpse into the Britain that I love so dearly.