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: #166273 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 )

About the Author
Elizabeth George is the author of highly acclaimed novels of psychological suspense. Her first novel, A Great Deliverance, was honoured with the Anthony and Agatha Best First Novel awards in America and received the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière in France; Well-Schooled in Murder was awarded the prestigious German prize for international mystery fiction, the MIMI '1990'. Her novels have now been adapted for television by the BBC as the Inspector Lynley Mysteries. An Edgar and Macavity Nominee as well as an international bestselling author, Elizabeth George lives in Whidbey Island in the state of Washington.

Customer Reviews

Not so much a crime novel as a story about families
I'm surprised at the number of negative reviews for this book. Like many other reviewers I loved the early George books, but hated the last few. Here she's vindicated herself, and has managed to write what is essentially a story about families: what holds them together and what breaks them apart, hanging it on the structure of a crime novel.

If you're looking for a fast-paced thriller with plenty of murders, clues and blood then this will disappoint. In thriller terms it's slow, but that allows us to get under the skins of the various families (and non-families) touched, however lightly, by the death of an 18-year old.

Like the early books there's an emphasis on the centrality of sexual desire, in all its manifestations, to people's experience of life; and a wide spectrum of relationships are delineated.

Most importantly Lynley is back, and far more rounded in some ways than what he had deteriorated into.

So overall I think this is a departure for George, something far more subtle and complex than what she has written before. Yes, the Cornishness is irritating but once you get into the story the names stop mattering (although the number of mentions of Cornish pasties just so we don't forget where we are were worse!) She also demonstrates a very odd sense of the British class system, but leaving those caveats aside this was a dense and thoughtful novel that I really enjoyed.

Tightly written with minimal murdering
I had a good look through the reviews once I'd read this and was a little surprised to see how low a rating it received in some quarters. I think the comments on Elizabeth George "showing off" are very unfair. It is unnecessary for a writer to have direct experience of a certain type of community and the research she has obviously done on the surfing fraternity, and indeed on typical West Country villages has been put to excellent use. As I belong to both I am surprised at the authenticity within the book given that, presumably, EG "belongs" to neither.

Because "belonging" is a large part of what this book is all about, both inside and outside direct family life. There are probably not enough murders to satisfy fans who like a higher body count and whilst the ending suited me beautifully (it is realistic apart from anything else) it wouldn't suit everyone. Lynley, recovering from his own personal tragedy, is not the front running feature which fans of Elizabeth George are maybe looking for but if you can separate this a little from the story then it is a beautifully claustrophobic book with more emphasis on relationships than on murder. Not having read the one in which the tragedy befalls him it has made me want to do so. It is full of undercurrents, angst, anger and passion all seething beneath the service and, whilst her use of overtly Cornish names can be a little irritating, surely it is worth seeing past this? There are some very good characters and their development, whilst slow, is revealing and frequently touching. Madness and love run throughout the pages.

I enjoyed it very much. I enjoyed all her early Lynley books but this is the first of the later ones which I have picked up and I wasn't disappointed. It is more stand alone than some of the others but none the less valid for that.

Bitterly disapointed
I have been so looking forward to the latest instalment in the Lyndley chronicles but I am sorry to say this book has been a complete let down. The main thing that I really hated were the names of the characters a minor point I know but this really irritated me. The book didn't ring true somehow ......when I think of her first books ,which were brilliant and unputdownable, it is hard to believe they were written by the same author, to be honest I think she has given us three dud books on the trot and I wonder if she has just run out if steam.I hope not .