Product Description

When the body of Nicola Maiden, the daughter of a retired Scotland Yard undercover officer, is found near an unidentified body in the middle of a pre-historic stone circle in Derbyshire, Inspector Lynley is asked to lead the investigation into the deaths.

Lynley must get to the bottom of the crime without the assistance of his long-time partner Sergeant Barbara Havers following her demotion as a result of an internal investigation.

But Barbara Havers has plans of her own, and they involve the very case that Lynley is working on . . .

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #87021 in Books
• Published on: 2000-06-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 720 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Award winning novelist Elizabeth George (A Great Deliverance, Well-Schooled in Murder) returns with In Pursuit of a Proper Sinner, her 10th instalment in the Lynley-Havers series. Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley has his work cut out for him: two mutilated corpses are found in a prehistoric stone circle in Derbyshire. One is the daughter of Lynley's former mentor Andy Maiden.

What's more, the Inspector's partner Barbara Havers has been suspended and is facing criminal charges of assault and attempted murder. Was Havers really saving a drowning child or was she disobeying orders? Why then did she fire a rifle at the Detective Chief Inspector and how could Lynley ethically justify it? As he grapples with the ramifications of his partner's radical insubordination, the case in Derbyshire grows in daunting complexity.

Once again, Elizabeth George delivers an intricately woven plot which efficiently navigates the reader through the book's 566 pages. Along the way, readers will be introduced to a delightful cast of supporting characters, from the dowdy Phoebe who finds the first gory cadaver to the stately Andy Maiden: "His face was drawn with exhaustion, and his growth of peppery whiskers fanned out from his moustache and shadowed his cheeks". And, of course, fans will get an eyeful of George's trademark; her vivid descriptions of death: "At her feet, a young man lay curled like a foetus, dressed head-to-toe in nothing but black, with that same colour puckering burnt flesh from eye to jaw on one side of his face". --Rebekah Warren

USA Today
‘It's tough to resist George's storytelling, once hooked'

Review
‘The multi-faceted surprise ending to the taut, suspenseful plot is the juiciest plum in this can’t-put-down novel.’ (Publishers Weekly )

'She is a great storyteller. The totality is a big fat, satisfying book.' (Frances Fyfield, Sunday Express )

'A compelling mystery,intricately plotted, with multiple twists and a satisfyingly devious finale. George is brilliant at juggling so many motives and so many suspects, keeping the reader enthralled, and coming up with such a clever solution.' (Marcel Berlins, The Times )

'George's nine best-selling novels of psychological suspense are burnished with the internationalism that is a result of dividing her time between California and London' (The Times )

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Customer Reviews

A great twisty mystery
This was the first book by Elizabeth George that I had read so I wasn't sure what to expect. At first I thought her writing style was a little stilted, and it sometimes sounded like she was using big words just for the sake of them, but as the story got underway I was hooked. The detailed plot, full of twists and turns, kept me guessing till the end. Apart from the subject matter, it put me in mind of the Agatha Christie books I loved when I was a teenager. After reading this, I will be looking out for the earlier Elizabeth George books.

Good plot, but PLEASE learn English as the English speak it!
I have read some, but not all, of Elizabeth George's previous books. In all cases I have found the plots intriguing and gripping, but find that an American can not truely describe the English way of life, and this over-rides my enjoyment to some extent. We do not all drive Morris Minors, wear tweed or call rugby 'rugger'! Having said this, I would still recommend this book to a friend.

Gripping Initiation.......
into Elizabeth George. I had been encouraged to read her books previously, but after TVs demolition of Inspector Linley and Co (How come in the books he has blonde hair?)I was apprehensive. What a mistake! I could not put this down, yes it is long, but every sentence keeps you gripped. I had no idea who the killer was until the moment you are supposed to find out and, other than Robert Goddard, so many authers fail to keep the killers id anonymous. I wanted to scream at Barbara Havers to toe the line, but I'm glad she had the courage of her convictions! I can't wait for the next one. Highly recommended.