Playing for the Ashes

This, basically, normal George. Exactly what we have come to expect from a practioner of some really beautiful english language. Her books are always incredibly involving, centring not just on the lives of the main characters, but featuring lives of all the subisidiary characters heavily. This makes the book feel more realisitc, lifelike. More true. After all, it is more like a proper murder case. The writing is excellent. Sometimes she needs to learn the secret of brevity, though. Also, on occasion she takes the "show, don't tell" rule a bit too far. Nonetheless, her writing is often beautiful, complex, and a joy to read. Her characters are so well developed. Its more like watching a real-life drama than it is reading a book. All their small insecurities, personality traits, personal relationships, interactions with other characters, are brought to the fore, making them jump off the page, and sometimes going a bit over the top. (Which is Elizabeth George's only crime.)This is probably the best book, in terms of plotting, solution, structure, etc. The parrallel tracks the story runs on are done gloriously well, and they finally both converge together brilliantly. The solution is unexpted, and the culprit a surprise. Overall, this is a very good crime novel, but it does suffer a bit from some of George's normal flaws. Her depictions of english life are apt to be a little off and over the top. SHe sometimes takes character development too far. And most of the books are a bit too long. Nonetheless, i can live with all that. After all, this is still a really good mystery.

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!

Before reading this book, I had read all the previous books in the series, and loved them. As I began reading this novel, I was at first a little put-off by the sudden change in the author's style. With this novel, Ms. George had a adopted a new method of narration...the simultaneous telling of two stories. Both stories are completely compelling. However, the character Olivia quickly became one of the most vivid and well defined characters I've ever encountered in a novel of this type. The telling of her story left me stunned. On occasion I've had to remind myself that Olivia is a character in a novel and not a real person. Her impact on me was that great. In my opinion, the challenge now facing Ms. George is attempting to surpass with future novels, the heights she's attained with this one. I'm actually reluctant to read the subsequent novels. Playing for the Ashes has left some very big shoes to fill.

I have been a mystery reader for decades, and have probably read close to a thousand mystery novels. This is probably the best of them. George manages to delve into relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children, professional colleagues, and various other combinations, with a penetrating and sympathetic insight. The mystery itself is not the most complex or difficult case that I have ever read about, but it is more than enough to keep the reader guessing and interested. The sheer beauty of George's writing is incomparable in the mystery field, but then anyone who has read one of her novels already knows that. It has become a cliche to praise a mystery novel by saying that it could stand on its own as a wonderful novel even without the mystery element, but this time the cliche is absolutely true