Customer Reviews

Missing Joseph

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I couldn't put Elizabeth George's "Missing Joseph" down. This is the first of this author's novels I have read, and I don't think it will be the last. In the tradition of P.D James, George is a master of fully developing all her characters, whether they be suspects or detectives. Yet George spends less time on description and more on action than James does, and so her book moves a bit faster than James's do. The characters are complex, moving, and three-dimensional. I found myself on the verge of tears several times at the plights of Polly Yarkin and Maggie Spence, and even the rather scheming and unsympathetic village constable manages to arouse my pity more than once. Deborah and Simon St. James have come to Lancashire, a small British village, for a holiday. However, the vicar Deborah had hoped to visit while there has died under suspicious circumstances. Simon summons Inspector Thomas Lynley, a British aristocrat turned CID agent, to unofficially investigate. The plots and subplots are complex and intricately woven, but in such a deft and craftsmanlike way that I never lost track of the goings-on, nor did I become bored with any of the plot lines. The obligatory red herrings are dragged across the reader's path, and the solution to the mystery comes as a shocking surprise. Unexpected though it is, the dénouement is my one complaint with this otherwise excellent book. After the fascinating character studies and excellent plotting, the solution to the mystery seems contrived and artificial; it is a "rabbit out of a hat" solution which relies on revelations which are simply narrated. The reader had no real chance to deduce them from clues hidden throughout the book. Nevertheless, it was interesting enough to keep me turning the pages to find out what happened next. An excellent yarn to curl up with on a rainy weekend!

Missing Joseph is a powerful story about what it means to be a human being, a parent, a lover, a friend, a daughter and someone who misuses others. While there is a mystery in the book, the story itself transcends the mystery. The detection involved is skillfully designed to help illuminate Ms. George's main subjects.

The characters involved build on past novels by looking more deeply into the relationships between Simon and Deborah St. James, Thomas Lynley and Lady Helen Clyde, and Barbara Havers and her mother. To extend those themes in new directions, Ms. George adds several new characters who are tied together by tragedy. These characters include a widowed local constable, an Anglican vicar, the vicar's witchcraft-practicing housekeeper, a reclusive provider of potions from herbs and her daughter. Seldom will you discover a book that develops so many characters in so many dimensions in one book. I found myself staying up past 1 a.m. to finish the story, and would have gone later had it been necessary.

As the book opens, the vicar raises a fundamental question that resonates throughout the book: Where's Joseph? Originally asked in connection to the many images of Jesus and Mary, that question takes on haunting new meanings before the book ends.

Even if you have never read another book in this distinguished series, I'm sure you would find this book to be a rewarding choice.

"Missing Joseph" starts with a promising scenario--a wedding but no priest! He is later found murdered. With sub-plots galore, we learn that the fortune seeking groom does not love his pregnant but very rich bride and is trying to make it with the young rectory housekeeper who, incidentally, also practices a type of witchcraft as well as keeping the murdered priest's rectory clean. We learn that the local constable is a widower and just too weird with his female relationships, ie. dead wife, rectory housekeeper, current amour, etc. Then we get bogged down with teenagers in the village and their problems and eccentricities. There is a very atypical George description of the constable's brutal and salacious rape of the rectory housekeeper and we also get to meet her over-sexed mother who is REALLY weird. Colorful characters abound however, the length of time taken to get the point across in the descriptions of the characters is also atypical of George's work. We DO get to see our old standbys whom we all know and love, the troubled (and childish) love affair between Tommy and Helen ( could they really be as shallow as all this?) we are let in on the marital problems of Simon and Deborah and even get to experience Haver's dilemma in changing her life style now that Mum is in the nursing home. All of this would be great but Ms. George keeps on and on in her descriptions of these characters and what they are doing at the moment to the point that too much of the author's time (and the reader's) is given to explaining all of this to the point of being repetive and, even boring, to the max., As a result, the story becomes tiresome. Eventually, the murder of the priest who didn't show for the wedding is FINALLY solved. This is the only Elizabeth George book I cannot recommend to others. I am very sorry, too because she is one of my favorite authors.

I found that the characters in this mystery about murder, kidnapping and confused identity never seemed realistic. The two aristocratic detectives and their wives just seem ridiculous -- the men (whose personalities are indistinguishable from each other) are absurdly old-fashioned and sexist and the women, Helen and Deb, are childish and self-indulgent. Juliet Spence is so psychologically cruel to her daughter Maggie that it's hard to read, not to mention hard to believe. The village constable, reminded of something he'd rather forget, freaks out and rapes a woman, even though he's supposedly never raised a hand in anger since protecting his mother from his father years before. Whatever. Suffice to say, none of the characters here behave in a believable fashion. Even minor characters' reactions just seem off, somehow. The plot, at root an interesting one, is convoluted and buried in detail which makes it very hard to follow. I repeatedly found myself thinking "*what*...*who* are we talking about again?" The setting is also strange: it's supposed to be taking place in the 1980's or 90's, it seems, but many of the attitudes seem decades older. Lynley, the detective lordling, actually has a manservant, and his girlfriend Helen has a maid! (Maybe British nobility really do still have bodyservants in the modern day, but it seems bizarre, and certainly helps to keep me from sympathizing with the characters.)Attitudes toward women here, overall, seem trapped in around the 1930's. The novel is a lot of work, and I don't really think it's worth it.

"Missing Joseph," like Elizabeth George's previous Lynley mysteries, has both strengths and weaknesses. On the one hand, her novels are engrossing, the plots are densely written, well thought out and very contemporary. On the other hand, her cast of characters which appear in each book, (Lynley & Havers - the professionals from Scotland Yard - assisted by "amateurs" St. James & Lady Helen) are neither particularly appealing nor very believable. "Missing Joseph" is less melodramatic than some of the earlier novels, but there is still an overwrought feel to it, part of which is due to the introspective nature of nearly all of the characters and their over-complicated relationships. There is also a depressing atmosphere in each of George's novels, as if a writer has to be depressing in order to be serious. Ruth Rendell, who I think Elizabeth George has studied very closely, is a much better writer, but even gloomier. Finally, there is also an almost gratuitously trashy element in each of Ms. George's novels - her sexual scenes are written in a very tacky way and she inserts occasional obscenities in the most surprising and inappropriate places. Some scenes read like they were lifted from a bad romance novel. Her word choices also sometimes border on the absurd ("turgent" is a good example from early on in "Missing Joseph"). Why force the reader to the dictionary, especially when you need an unabridged edition (which most people don't own) for a definition? There are too many other irritating mannerisms in Elizabeth George's writing to point out here (e.g. too often her British settings and language do not sound genuine, as if she is overdoing it). Despite these complaints, if you like excess handwringing, which I admit I occasionally do, then a Elizabeth George novel is a good place to find it.

Of the three Elizabeth George books that I have read so far this is the best. This skillfully handled tale of the bonds that tie mother to child is very insightful, and fully involves your emotions right until the end when all is revealed. You will think that you know 'who did it' all the way along, but this is only because George has skilfully sprinkled the plot with red herrings! Who really did it will come as a surprise.

As a Brit myself I can confirm that George's characters inhabit an England which has more in common with the world of the 1930's and Lord Peter Wimsey than with the realities of modern Britain. The aristocracy tend not to work and if they do it would be more likely to be as an art dealer than a DI at New Scotland Yard (George has commented on this question by saying that there is an Earl somewhere in the force. I can assure her that he is an anachronism). It is also unlikely that the upper class Lynley would have quite such a close relationship with the working class Barbara Havers (ie paying for the decoration of her house). Take it from me Britain is still a very class ridden society, and the classes simply do not mix.

However, this said, I enjoy indulging in this cosy view of English life, where someone is always ready to brew a pot of tea (does anyone still use pots rather than simply putting a bag in a cup?), or offers you a tipple from their well stocked drinks cabinet. This is the one failing of George's books: you can feel that they are meticulously researched, but it is a fact that you cannot understand the workings of a country simply by studying its institutions, customs and structure - in the end a writer has to live in a country for a few years to really understand the workings of that country's mentality.

I'm 80% through this book and it is just now getting around to developing a reason for Sage's murder. This plot is dragging on and on with no developments.

Meanwhile, Little Deb continues to wreck her marriage and Helen is trying her best to wreck her own chances for one. I wish Lynley would do what his father would have done to that lowlife rapist constable. At least something would be happening. If only his blood were a little less blue.

This is not the best in the series. I'm reading them in order and this one is by far the worst so far. Havers is the only one with any life in her, and her circumstances are enough to squeeze the life out of anyone. Her rough edges are the only thing that holds any promise for the remainder of this book.

Missing Joseph marks the half way point of my determination to read all of the Lynley/Havers George mysteries. Her series is most definitely in the tradition of the English mystery novel (although not as gritty say as Ruth Rendell) with a soap opera melodrama twist. She writes more in the vein of Christie and Sayers-a bit updated of course. They are very easy and pleasurable reads and George writes a palatable mystery. I let her unfold her story and really don't try to outwit the detectives. This novel,however, was pretty obvious from the beginning once you got into the Lanchester village and learned of the main characters. All the detectives did was discover the circumstances.

Now my take on the characters so far. George writes in parallel storylines. It is more and more obvious as I get further and further in the series. I have read ( and I am a bit surprised concerning the dislike of Deborah) that George sees the character of Deborah more like herself. I like Deborah and her husband, Simon. In my opinion their marriage is an examination of contemporary marriage. And I find their entire love story very romantic in that it truly reflects a love based on unselfishness and deep commitment based on the needs of the spouse-trying to achieve a balance of the self with the couple.

The balance between the couples, for me reflects the Shakespearean quote concerning life being a tragedy for those who feel and a comedy for those who think. Deborah, the creative artist/photographer, is our feeler. Simon, being a man is a wonderful combination of both-after all men are suppose to be natural problem solvers and that is why the couple conflicts but their mutual love is a strong foundation and what allows to continually search in how to make lemonade out of the lemons they have been handed in their life and marriage.

Their marriage ( and I know Lynley and Helen eventually marry with dire consequences) contrasts greatly with the Lynley and Helen relationship. Both are basically "good" people without a clue as to what they need or what they want or what the whole concept of love is about. Talk about commitment phobics. For some unknown reason mystery writers,in particular,find this continual push/pull type of relationship desirable. George uses it to make the St. James marriage image the deeper one. Deborah chose -and in my mind, wisely-Simon. Lynley's concept of love and relationships and marriage rather unpalatable. Oddly he is a a misguided romantic and a realist-especially in regards to his social position. If he had not broken his engagement with Deborah maybe he would have been a better man and learned something. Instead I think he got the "right" marriage to the "right woman" as his social status would have demanded. Helen, although not without her charms and good heart-is not a romantic and is very much a realist. Throughout the novels when Lynley and Helen say they love each other (besides the hot monkey sex which seems to be a large part of the definition) I wonder what they are talking about. Their discussions are very superficial(except when discussing solving crimes)and seem always at cross purposes. So far In Missing Joseph this dance is very much so. Frankly I think George once she married them off found herself with no where to go and why after the marriage only two books of the four delved into the relationship. Lynley shallow opposed to St James depth.

Maybe I will feel differently after I read a few more,especially With No One As Witness. Nevertheless George spins a wonderful yarn. I look forward to the second half.

In the mystery genre, Elizabeth George's prose and her ability to surprise are almost unparalleled. With "Missing Joseph," however, one begins to feel that she's falling a little too in love with the sound of her own voice. Is it really necessary to describe every moment of every day of every character? The real nuts and bolts of solving the "whodunit" doesn't really begin until nearly page 400 (of the paperback edition). And I, for one, find the romantic travails of the four bed-hopping protagonists more intrusive than enlightening. More filler...George has been compared quite often to P.D. James. Both fair and apt. But what she could learn a little more of from James is BREVITY.

From its poetic beginning to its haunting completion, this is a stunning work. George, in her early works, has a way of building scenes that almost makes the characters secondary. The opening scene in the art museum really is as good as anything she's ever written; both Deborah St. James and Robin Sage are linked, more than anything, by that opening setting.

The story unfolds masterfully from there. The characters are intriguing without being one-dimensional, and the mystery is pretty complex -- so much so that I nearly gave up in the middle because I thought I had figured it out and could jump to the end. Continuing to read, however, I learned how wrong I was in my early conclusions and how well George tied everything together so the ending is both shocking and foretold.