Product Description

It is barely three months since the murder of his wife and Thomas Lynley takes to the South-West Coast Path in Cornwall, determined to walk its length in an attempt to distract himself from his loss. On the forty-third day of this walk, he sees a cliff climber fall to his death a death apparently witnessed by a surfer in a nearby cove. Shortly afterwards, Lynley encounters a young woman from Bristol whose personal history is a blank before her thirteenth year. These events propel him into a case that brings Barbara Havers from London and thrusts both detectives into a world where revenge is only one of the motives they must sift through to identify a killer.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2909 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 544 pages

Review
'George is one of the best crime novelists around -- there's a richness and psychological depth to her work which lifts it well above genre fluff.' -- Time Out 'Her account of surfers' lives, with their terrifying techniques and almost religious passion is worth reading.' -- Jessica Mann, Literary Review On WHAT CAME BEFORE HE SHOT HER: 'She's brilliant.' -- Guardian 'Absolutely remarkable and a great achievement" -- Boyd Hilton, BBC Radio FiveLive On A TRAITOR TO MEMORY: 'Absorbing ... the pleasure of the book is the slow, surprising and often shocking unravelling of the various links between the main characters' -- Marcel Berlins, The Times

Thomas Lynley, formerly acting superintendent of New Scotland Yard, returns to his Cornish roots to grieve for his wife Helen and finds a body.Resolutely tramping the seaside cliffs of Cornwall to come to terms with the murder of his pregnant wife (With No One as Witness, 2005), Lynley spies a fallen rock-climber and heads for the nearest cottage to call in his discovery. The cottage belongs to veterinarian Daidre Trahair, who claims not to recognize the victim. She's lying, of course, but Lynley doesn't relay this information to DI Bea Hannaford, now in charge of the case. Instead he calls his former partner, Barbara Havers, and asks her to check out Trahair's background. Havers, under orders from the Yard to help the understaffed Hannaford and nudge Lynley toward returning, heads for Cornwall, where there's no shortage of suspects as to who cut Santo Kerne's climbing gear: discarded lovers, disappointed fathers, surfing experts, long-ago school chums and a demented mum. Every one of them has a secret worth lying to protect, including familial circumstances far more lowly than Lynley's patrician background.As you'd expect from George, a windy exploration of angst, grief and the feelings that pass for love. Much surfing and rock-climbing, but also many wretchedly oblique confrontations and overwrought similes. Even so, it's nice to have Lynley back. (Kirkus Reviews)

Review
'George is one of the best crime novelists around – there's a richness and psychological depth to her work which lifts it well above genre fluff.' (Time Out )

'Her account of surfers' lives, with their terrifying techniques and almost religious passion is worth reading.' (Jessica Mann, Literary Review )

On WHAT CAME BEFORE HE SHOT HER: 'She's brilliant.' (Guardian )

'Absolutely remarkable and a great achievement’' (Boyd Hilton, BBC Radio FiveLive )

On A TRAITOR TO MEMORY: 'Absorbing . . . the pleasure of the book is the slow, surprising and often shocking unravelling of the various links between the main characters' (Marcel Berlins, The Times )

Synopsis
It is barely three months since the murder of his wife and Thomas Lynley takes to the South-West Coast Path in Cornwall, determined to walk its length in an attempt to distract himself from his loss. On the forty-third day of this walk, he sees a cliff climber fall to his death a death apparently witnessed by a surfer in a nearby cove. Shortly afterwards, Lynley encounters a young woman from Bristol whose personal history is a blank before her thirteenth year. These events propel him into a case that brings Barbara Havers from London and thrusts both detectives into a world where revenge is only one of the motives they must sift through to identify a killer.

Customer Reviews

Are we finished yet?
Agree with most of reviewers, this book is way too long, too boring and too un-involving and as for those character names - ridiculous. I remember fondly Ms George's books of old - but now it's obvious she's just churning them out for the cash. If her editors read these reviews take note please - we do know she's capable of way better.

Dissapointing and not worth the read
The long awaited sequel in Thomas Lynley's arduous life has been sadly all too disappointing. I was dismayed that the normal twists and turns and interaction Elizabeth George usually gives us were just not evident. I was greatly upset by her portrayal of the local Cornish constabulary as 'yokel thickos' which is insulting in its implication and I know from experience they are not. Her choice of rediculous names for the characters was too unbelievable and the reality of life in Cornwall is nothing like she has portrayed. There are so many crime writers who's information on the jacket states that they may be of British origin but usually end up living over the 'pond'. I find most of them in time lose the 'Britishness' in their writing and small anomalies creep in to their work which usually leaves me not wanting to finish the book. Elizabeth George has now fallen into this category and I shall not await her next book with the same anticipation as Careless in Red. (Another slightly annoying point were grammatical errors and spelling mistakes contained within the book...........surely the proof reader should have gone to Specsavers !!)

Oh dear
I have stuck with Elizabeth George through thick and thicker (book thickness, that is) and I even quite enjoyed What Came Before he Shot Her. But unfortunately I started this one straight after Peter James' new one, and the contrast was painful. I lasted till p60 and then decided life was too short to plough through the remaining 470 pages when I didn't like any of the characters I'd met (including Lynley), wasn't interested in the murder victim, was irritated at the cloying Cornishness of everything including the outlandish names of every second character and had already spotted a couple of jarring unBritish uses of language. Sorry, this one is not for me.