Customer Reviews

Deception on His Mind

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I consider Elizabeth George to be the best living writer of mysteries, by a wide margin. In this book, Barbara Havers goes more or less "solo" by getting involved in a case outside of London where she is supposed to be on vacation. In addition to being a superb mystery, this book examines the racial friction generated by the influx of Pakistani immigrants into a seaside resort town in England. I can't speak for the accuracy of her analysis, but her portrayals of the cultural misunderstandings between the police and the immigrant community ring true to my ears. I don't recommend this book as your introduction to Elizabeth George's mysteries. The previous books introduce both of the main characters, Havers and her boss, Inspector Lynley. This book makes several references to the things she learned from Lynley, and to their partnership. The reader will understand those references much better if (s)he has read at least one of the previous books. However, I want to vehemently disagree with a couple of previous reviewers who downgraded this book on the grounds that Havers is a less interesting character than the absent Lynley. I think Havers is a MUCH more interesting character than the pampered and superficial Lynley. I didn't miss him at all in this book. As always, George's writing, characterizations, and plotting put her in a class of her own among mystery writers. This is not a little paperback for an afternoon; it's a real novel. If you love mysteries or if you simply love well-written, thought-provoking fiction, you should read every one of Elizabeth George's books.

I generally like Elizabeth George novels, but this one needed more research, apparently. Her story has at its heart Pakistani Muslims living in the UK, yet George displays shocking ignorance of the culture she spends so many wordy pages writing about. first of all, Pakistani Muslims by and large speak Urdu, not Arabic. Secondly, the dowry in Islam is required to be given from the man to the wife, not the other way around. It is primarily a Hindu, not Muslim, practice for the dowry to go from woman to man, although many Muslim families do prepare their version of a "hope chest" for their daughters to start her out in married life. She misrepresented the roles of women, arranged marriage, and even homosexuality. And she introduced some essential but strange concept of cutting off family that is 100% contrary to Islamic teachings. I wonder if she got her ideas from some amalgamation of Indian Hindu culture and popular media representation of Asians? In any case, it is so wrong on many points that it became impossible to overlook, confusing, and detracting from the story. I think Ms. George didn't try to be insulting by any means, but her lack of proper research is alarming, and it is more alarming that it was published with such inaccuracies, even as a work of fiction.

First off, I didn't know Elizabeth George was an American writing about the English. Previous exposure to authors writing about other nations makes me a little bit nervous. I sure hope she knows what she is talking about. From her background material it looks like she talks to the right people to get information. In this case, the information needed to be about racial problems in Britain. As Americans, we often think that we are the only ones with the big problems between the races and with civil rights...but unfortunately this is a problem throughout the world. Prejudice is obviously something that all nations have to deal with. The only thing that changes is who is being discriminated against and why.

George writes very complex stories. Her characters are never simple, the plot is never straightforward. I don't think I have ever picked up one of her books and known before her ending who the actual 'culprit' was, and I am always wrong about what the true situation is.

This time her female protagonist, who for a change is more like us normal people (rather than the athletic women we see in American mysteries/PIs) is dealing with the aftermath of a brutal attack and her being 'put out to pasture.' She becomes involved in a neighbor's problem because of her concern for a child, and this problem involves what appears to be a racially-motivated killing of a Pakistanian man in another town. Barbara just happens to know the investigator in charge in this case, and respects her from a previous encounter. Wishing to be of help to all concerned, she involves herself into a situation without fully disclosing her previous knowledge of her neighbor or her own concernes and biases.

Like many of us in the real world, Barbara relunctantly comes to understand that her former mentor (another woman) may be a good cop, but she also has feet of clay. The investigation revolves around race, not just because it looks like a race-based crime, but because the primary investigator has racial prejudices herself and brings those prejudices to her work. This happens all too often in the real world, in all fields of work.

George is an excellent writer. My only complaint is again, the language used tends to be more colorful then I would like it. I know I am deaf, but surely people do not speak like that constantly. I am being naive, I guess...but maybe we need to put ratings on books to indicate language, violence, and sex for those who prefer not to be exposed to this stuff all the time? Just a suggestion!
Karen Sadler,
University of Pittsburgh

I really enjoyed this book because I have always wanted to see more of the Havers character and this book is entirely devoted to her. Her neighbor, Azhar, and his daughter go to a seaside town in Essex to help out some family members. Barbara, being on medical vacation from the beating she received at the end of the last book, goes there to help out, thinking that Azhar will be out of his depth dealing with a criminal investigation.

I was surprised at some of the things that she missed during her investigation particularly something with regards to her acting superior officer. The best part of the book for me was the personal interaction betwen Havers and Azhar. I am glad to see her get a personal life other than dealing with her parents' problems.

The ending has a major twist and, having already bought the next book in the series, I did something I have never done before and peeked at the beginning to see what the ramifications of that twist would be....so, I guess I will be "forced" to read on...

Not only does George excel in setting an intriguing plot, she's a master of directing the reader's thoughts into all kinds of wrong directions whereas in the end I felt as if the truth had been obvious all along. In the midst of one of -as it seems- England's hottest summers it is the spicy variety of illutrious characters and their perspectives through which George reveals the story to the readers that makes the book a thrilling treat. Though her dramatis personnae are artful and at the same time almost touchable copies out of everyone's everyday reality this novel's weak point lies in the author's attempt to invoke her insights (living in the States) into Pakistan culture and its problems in the UK. Her inturcultural conclusions mostly remain on the surface and to my mind she tries to tell the reader too much instead of actually revealing and showing cultural dimensions! Under the bottom line, the sense of humor of "Mystery Liz" -yet unmet- makes Barbara Havers' solo adventure ever more colorful (watch out for the hospital scene with Agatha Shaw and Akram Malik) and it is her magical mixture which keeps me up 'til well after bed-time that leaves a Patricia Cornwell and a Minette Walters somewhat behind and makes them faint just a tiny bit.

Someone has murdered Mr. Haytham Querashi, a recent Pakistani immigrant, in Balford-le-Nez, a small, economically depressed town on the coast of Essex, England. Mr. Querashi was to soon wed the beautiful Sahlah, daughter of Akram Malik. In the Pakistani tradition, the parents of the bride and groom had arranged the marriage. As part of the deal, Mr. Querashi had become Production Manager in Mr. Malik's mustard factory where he displaced the last non-Pakistani, full-time employee.

Just a few weeks ago Mr. Malik became the first Pakistani on the Town Council when his formidable adversary, the aging Agatha Shaw, was forced to resign due to a stroke. Despite her condition and Malik's appointment, Mrs. Shaw, with the help of her grandson Theo, is determined to obtain the Council's approval for her project. She is resolute in the renovation and development of the pleasure pier to attract tourists, resuscitate the town's economy and thus assure her legacy as savior of the community.

Querashi's death is threatening to ignite smoldering racial tensions, however. The Asian's in general and Malik's son in particular suspect the murder was racially motivated and expect the police will ignore white suspects and blame a Pakistani. Enter Sgt. Barbara Havers, who is conveniently vacationing in the town, to mediate with the Pakistani as police liaison. As the case proceeds, Barbara discovers that nearly all the players have something to hide, including her self. Indeed, the title of this English mystery novel should be "Deception on Their Minds."

Elizabeth George is a master of this genre. Her characters are believable, the events are realistic, the scenes evolve with interesting complexity and the plot is superb, although sometimes I found her style more descriptive and dragging than in her prior novel, "In the Presence of the Enemy." And unlike her previous novel, I had the killer figured in this one before the cops did.

"Deception" is unusual and outstanding, however, for George's treatment of the culture clash. Her characters cover the full spectrum of personalities one would expect to find in her hypothetical community. Thanks to God and Allah too, she does it without the least bit of moralizing.

I read the hardback edition of this book last summer after checking it out from my local library. I had become a fan of Elizabeth George after hearing Derek Jacobi narrate''In The Presence Of The Enemy'', and, once again, I was pleased to find that Ms.George has skillfully blended the element of mystery with a lesson in culture, the case this time concerning a Pakistani immigrant and his young daughter. It helps the reader gain a better understanding of this particular group of people, as well as allowing them to spend a little more time getting to know Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers as a person separate from her partner, Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, while still enjoying the thrill of helping Havers solve the case! A well-rounded piece of work, indeed!

Elizabeth George never fails to intrique. She supplies all the clues but encourages the reader to arrive at the wrong conclusions. As usual I was sure that the chief suspect of the police was the wrong one, and I was equally sure that I had targeted the guilty party. -- However, the sure-fire guilty party changed with every chapter! I can't wait to start another George book and try my sleuthing skills again.

The possible murder of businessman and soon-to-be married Haytham Querashi causes an uproar in the Pakistani community in England, who do not trust the police to fairly conduct their investigation. While her partner Lynley is (thankfully) on his honeymoon, Detective Barbara Havers joins up with her old school friend Emily Barlow to investigate the death. Tensions flare between a local Pakistani activist, who happens to be the cousin of her neighbor, who is mediating, and the English-born detectives. A pregnancy, underlying racism and classism, an extortion ring and a kidnapping help make this book a fast-paced and absorbing read. However, some important plot threads are left dangling, most importantly the pregnant widow. Did she have an abortion? If not, will her family still accept her? Why go to all the trouble of developing a character, if you're going to deprive the reader of her fate.

Readers should not judge Elizabeth George by this book. It is far and away the least satisfying of all her work. Every, and I do mean EVERY, character introduced is a suspect, and when we learn the real murderer, we are astonished. How on earth could she/he have learned the habits of the victim enough to do the man in? Absolutely unbelievable! And equally unsatisfying is her decision to leave hanging the predicaments the other characters are in. What did Sahlah decide? What did Theo decide? What did Emily decide about reporting Barbara? What did Barbara decide about reporting Emily? Did Mohannad get caught? With more than 600 pages invested in developing the story, couldn't the author have given us at least one paragraph helping to resolve Sahlah's predicament, for example? Nonetheless, I strongly recommend Elizabeth George's other books. Don't judge a book by its cover, or Elizabeth George by Deception On His Mind. (And PS: where does that title come from, and what does it have to do with the plot?)