Careless in Red: A Novel by Elizabeth George
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Book Reviews of Careless in Red: A Novel
Book Review: careless in red
Summary: 5 Stars
Elizabeth George in my favorite writer, and I purchased "Careless in Red" the day it came out. I was so disappointed in the reviews that it took awhile for me to start it. Big mistake. I thought it was terrific. Perhaps not quite in the league with "Playing for the Ashes" or "Deception of his Mind", but close enough. First, I did not find the characters names hard to remember, or the plot hard to follow. If you are writing about people who live in Cornwall, Tom, Dick and Harriet are not realistic choices. While I did eventually guess the murderer, it took awhile, and certainly made sense. I never found the "who" to be really important in an Elizabeth George novel, but rather the "why".
Second, I found her group of primary and secondary characters to be very appealing and sympathetic. More so then in most of her book. Reviewers who complained, surely could not be regular readers. Elizabeth George's topics have always been realistic, and some of her themes are not pretty.
Third, what do you do with a character who has lost his beloved wife and son in such a horrible manner. To me, having Lynley walk for 43 days until he stumbles upon a body, is as good as any other means for opening the book. I certainly would not have expected him to hit the bars or the booze. I liked Helen and will miss her. During the last 2 years, I have periodically re-read all 13 books, and realize while Helen may have appeared to be fluff on the outside, she was a class act with a strong inner core. I felt the same way about Daidre, who was also a class act, in different ways. She appeared to be exactly what Lynley needed to come back to the world of the living. There was nothing improper about their relationship, as some reviews have suggested. I wondered if she would reappear in future books, much down the road, as their differences would be interesting to see play out on paper. Yes, Havers comes back to aid her dear friend, and as always she is perfect. I did not like Bea, as much as some readers. At times, she appeared too much like (not in looks)to Havers, and there can only be one. With the exception of "A Place of Hiding" all of Elizabeth George's books are 4 to 5 star rating. My only criticism is that it was Helen, not Deborah, who was done away with. I can not figure out what two such dreamy men could see in such a boring, dim-wit women. 13 books, no growth, no personality, leads to boring story-line.
Book Review: Complex and disturbing
Summary: 5 Stars
Elizabeth George has written her usual complex, engrossing novel in her beautifully constructed sentences and paragraphs. After reading some of the reviews, I'm left wondering if we've read the same book. Ms. George is one of a few authors whose books can reduce me to tears.
Cornwall is so well-drawn you feel you're there. Her characters become so real, their lives so vivid, I'd know each one if he or she just walked in the door. One reviewer said Kellen and Santo were not really believable, but I've known people just like them, and they have left me just as saddened as Kellen and Santo -- one who lies always and one who lacks the judgement to tell the truth at the right time. This is a story about people who won't let go -- of their hatreds, their desire for revenge, their destructive ways of life, their wives who are terrible rollmodels to children, or husbands who regret mistakes that no one want's to forgive.
Although Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers are in this book, and Lynley particularly can swamp you with feelings of sorrow, this book is really about a group of people who live harsh, difficult lives along the Cornwall coast, and in particular a memorable female detective that demands your attention and respect. As in all small communities, there are secrets, and discovering them is never easy.
It is helpful to read this book after you've read two or three previous books to understand the two Scotland Yard detectives. The book, however, stands on its own merits. I've never read a George book that didn't leave me in awe of an author who can write complex plots, characters completely drawn, in settings both unusual and intriguing: no surface story-telling here; no cardboard people -- and all told in beautiful, perfect sentence structure (I know, I know, I've said this twice).
I recommend this book to anyone who relishes one that requires you to think and feel, to try to understand how people can end up in siturations impossible to get out of and who live in more harsh circumstances than the ones you face -- and I say this as a survivor of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Book Review: A return to form for Elizabeth George
Summary: 5 Stars
I was disappointed with the last two Elizabeth George books and worried, along with many others apparently, that the Inspector Lynley series had run its course. This was particularly sad for me because her first novel, A Great Deliverance (1988) was one of my first introductions to the world of British police procedurals, and George just kept getting better and better with each subsequent book over these many years. Her rich attention to detail in setting a scene and her knife's-edge exploration of characters and relationships were her particular gifts.
In some ways, "Careless in Red" is much more than a return to form. It is a particularly tough meditation on family dynamics that includes the dead as well as the living. And it starts with our grief-mad aristocratic Inspector Thomas Lynley reduced to elemental human as he walks the Cornish section of the South West Coastal Path like a zombie, following the murder of his wife and son. He finds the body of a young climber who has fallen from a steep section above the path and is dragged back into the world of the living by this unfortunate incident. Lynley's police training kicks in and it is no small relief to see that there is still something of the old Thomas in this almost unrecognizable stranger.
The real world is populated with wounded people, both physically and in psyche, and investigating this possible murder is akin to traversing a minefield but slowly, surely, the story unfolds. For people who aren't as enamored of the journey, this peeling-of-the-onion-one-skin-at-a-time approach is probably maddening, but the writing was so good that I didn't mind. Plus, I found that I was truly interested in the characters and their eventual disposition. And I liked...really liked...the fact that Elizabeth George didn't feel the need to wrap up everything into a neat little package. Life is messy and her ambiguous ending to this book seemed exactly right. You'll see what I mean. It is a good journey.
Book Review: strong English police procedural
Summary: 5 Stars
Following the homicide of his beloved pregnant wife Helen (see WITH NO ONE AS WITNESS and the companion piece without Lynley in it: WHAT CAME BEFORE HE SHOT HER), a grieving Thomas Lynley quit Scotland Yard. Time has not proved a healer as the former detective spends his days aimlessly wandering around his hometown of Cornwall.
While on one of his senseless treks to numb the pain especially when he returns home at night, Lynley finds the battered body of teenager Santo Kerne, who it appears fell of a cliff while mountain climbing. When evidence affirms that someone sabotaged the victim's equipment, Detective Inspector Bea Hannaford looks in the direction of the person who found the corpse. However, the cantankerous consummate professional also knows Lynley had no motive so looks to see who might. Lynley provides some limited assistance, as he is unable to do much more even understanding that he is the prime suspect.
The key to this police procedural that follows up on the tragic events of WITH NO ONE AS WITNESS is that in spite of the situation he finds himself in, Lynley still mourns deeply and the case does not stop that nor turn him into super-cop. Instead he plays second fiddle (some might say audience) as Hannaford conducts the investigation. The whodunit is cleverly devised and would stand out on its own as a strong English police procedural, but it is the realism of the two cop-characters who make Elizabeth George's latest thriller a terrific tale.
Harriet Klausner
Book Review: Past Mistakes
Summary: 5 Stars
Following the shocking murder of his wife, Thomas Lynley resigned from Scotland Yard and returned to his native Cornwall, where he began a walking tour from one end to the other--not bathing or shaving and living in only the clothes he wore. In this state, he attempted to insulate himself from the tragedy and escape. But along the way, he finds a body at the foot of a cliff, and, as a result he is forced to awaken to his police background and relationships with people.
Thus begins this detailed story of various family histories, past and present mistakes between and among the family members and the possible reason for the death of the person Tommy finds, which is soon judged to be a murder. The investigation soon uses Tommy in a semi-official capacity, and later his old Met partner, Barbara Havers, is sent to Cornwall by her superiors in an effort either to protect him or entice him to return to the fold.
In this rather long novel, the author's eye for detail is exhibited to a faretheewell. The reader is engulfed in all kinds of minutiae, about geography, history, personal backgrounds and other aspects of the story. But however buried the reader may be, one is not overwhelmed, nor hardly bored. The novel is so well written, the 650 pages turn quickly, as the reader is drawn forward to find out the next revelation. Very highly recommended.