Playing for the Ashes (Inspector Lynley Mysteries) [Paperback]

Elizabeth George (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1995 | Series: Inspector Lynley Mysteries

When the body of England's leading batsman, Kenneth Fleming, is discovered in the burnt-out shell of a country cottage, it looks like a clear-cut case of arson. Further investigation reveals an almost embarrassing multitude of suspects for murder: from Fleming's lover to his son, nearly everyone in contact with Fleming seems to have a motive - and an opportunity. Inspector Lynley and his partner, Barbara Havers, are called in from Scotland Yard to help the local police force. They find a torment of twisted familial relationships and broken dreams - and as he brings the murderer to justice, Lynley must bear the weight of his own conscience.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With a British cricket term as its title, the seventh crime novel (after Missing Joseph ) featuring English Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers probes the proximity of love and hate. After cricket star Kenneth Fleming is found asphyxiated in a burned cottage on the estate of Miriam Whitelaw, his patron, Lynley and Havers, with local Detective Inspector Isabelle Ardery, look into the victim's tangled domestic affairs. Fleming, in the middle of divorce proceedings, was supposed to have been in Greece; the woman renting the cottage is missing. Lynley and Havers find the patron's wayward daughter, Olivia, formerly a drug user and prostitute, who, now afflicted with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease--and Stephen Hawking's), is living on a barge with an animal-rights activist. Woven into the investigation are Olivia's accounts of her mother's relationship with the cricket star and of her own quest for her mother's love. Circumventing Ardery and using the media in a way discouraged by his superiors, Lynley puts his job in jeopardy. Although George's fluent prose is in full gear, the story fails to sustain momentum, sinking under the combined weight of superfluous detail and an overreaching psychological tone.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

George is a gifted writer who spins rich, colorful, mesmerizing, multifaceted stories that combine an absorbing mystery with provocative insights into her characters' innermost thoughts and emotions. Her latest story once again features Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and his sidekick, Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers. Chalk and cheese when it comes to background, philosophy, style, and personality, Lynley and Havers easily forget their differences when a tough homicide needs solving--take, for example, the asphyxiation death of renowned, all-England cricket player Kenneth Fleming. The duo's inquiries turn up some disturbing facts about the cricket star. Not only was his personal life a shambles, but he had a very odd relationship with a former teacher. The case is more byzantine than any Lynley and Havers have encountered in their years as a crack homicide team, and even when they've identified Fleming's killer, the file isn't really closed. As usual, there's more to think about in George's story than simply whodunit. Readers will be astounded by the ease with which she weaves complex relationships and provocative moral, emotional, and ethical questions into the compelling plot. Another tour de force from one of today's best storytellers. Emily Melton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 688 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell (February 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553408453
• ISBN-13: 978-0553408454
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,000,023 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Elizabeth George is the New York Times bestselling author of fourteen novels of psychological suspense, one book of nonfiction, and two short-story collections. Her work has been honored with the Anthony and Agatha awards, the Grand Prix de LittÉrature PoliciÈre, and the MIMI, Germany's prestigious prize for suspense fiction. She lives in Washington State.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Commendable, but..., February 25, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Playing for the Ashes (Mass Market Paperback)

Numerous reviews have detailed the virtues of this work. I especially agree with the praise for George's integration of multiple plot lines and her employment of a "diary" element in the voice of Olivia.

I do have some reservations about Olivia, however. Though we may be persuaded to grant her a fair amount of native intelligence, it is hard to think she would have been a devoted student. So her level of articulateness frequently seems implausible.

The "romance" of Lynley and Lady Helen ranges from cloying to tedious. Helen describes herself as "utterly useless," and proceeds to do nothing to dispel this impression. (Elsewhere in the series she is depicted more favorably.) The best Lynley can muster is the assurance that she "distracts" him from the demands of his occupation. Some compliment from an ardent lover! On the other hand, Havers is surely George's most inspired character creation and does much to leaven the proceedings.

Despite its flaws, Playing For the Ashes is absorbing and mostly quite well written.

23 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Terrific Plot But The Characters Could Have Been Better, January 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Playing for the Ashes (Mass Market Paperback)

No one plots as well as Elizabeth George and her books are worth every penny for that alone. With the execption of Barbara Havers, though, I just don't like her characters and find them more than a little unbelievable. (I can usually overlook this, however, because the basic story is so darn good.) With this book, however, Ms. George veers into the wierd and the absurd. Olivia was so very disgusting that I could barely finish the book despite the engaging plot. George did do a fabulous job of intertwining the two stories but Olivia was just too much of a freak to feel any empathy for her or for her plight. Frankly, I wished she'd just drop dead. Olivia, that is. I'm probably one of the least prudish persons in the world, but there are things I prefer not to read about in an otherwise first-rate mystery. The softening of Olivia would have done a lot to improve this book and render it a true classic. I wish Ms. George would leave the sexually explicit themes to others, but I'll keep reading--her plots are simply the best.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as Good as the Prior Two, May 11, 2001

By 

Jeffrey Davenport - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Playing for the Ashes (Mass Market Paperback)

George has made the error of focusing our attentions upon a non-recurring character, who is neither sympathetic nor interesting. One half of the story is consumed with a subplot that is only obliquely related to the mystery. If George wants to develop central non-recurring characters, she would do better to take as an example her character Elena in "For the Sake of Elena". I hope that her subsequent books do not repeat this error.