Customer Reviews

In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(42)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

(quoted: Claude A. Helvetius) Elizabeth George shows her genius in this book. If you are an EG fan, or a mystery fan, be forewarned - you may lose sleep, ignore your personal wellbeing and that of your family once you start this book. It begins with Lynley and Havers completely at odds with each other and takes you on a 594 page rollercoaster ride which includes two murders, two suicides, a spin through S&M-land, and more. I was right on the edge of my seat to almost the last page. An incredible story. I can't wait for her next one.

I became an Elizabeth George fan a couple of years ago when I read 'For the Sake of Elena'. I was so impressed, I immediately went back to the first book in the series and have now read them all. I think she's a fantastic author who keeps her readers interested in the ongoing lives of her main characters whilst introducing a new and fascinating murder mystery. 'In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner' does not disappoint - Ms George skilfully keeps you guessing (and misguessing!) right until the end. Fans will enjoy the next episode in the lives of Lynley and Havers. If you have not read Elizabeth George before, I suggest you try this on for size, then go back to the start of the series and read them all. The story is all the more enriched by knowing the history of these wonderful characters.

If you are an Elizabeth George fan you will find her latest Havers-Lynley mystery to be one of her finest. She has expertly woven not one but two murders together, leaving the reader to wonder who is the real target and who the killer. (I have read every single Havers-Lynely mystery and have yet to guess who the murder is, a mark of a truly great mystery writer.) As usual, George's grasp on English culture and language makes you want to expand your vocabulary and take a holiday to Jolly Old England. If you have never read George it is best to start with her first mystery and read in order. Though each book can and does stand well on it's own. It is easier in the long run to follow the history of the main characters DI Barbara Havers and her superiour Thomas Lynley from start to finish. I garauntee if you love mysteries that keep you guessing to the very end, if you love eloquent writing and superb use of vocabulary, you will thoroughly enjoy George. Be forwarned, once you get hooked on Havers and Lynley mysteries you will find you can hardly wait the two years George usually takes to research and write her next novel.

Any mystery lover worth his/her salt surely has to have Elizabeth George on their "must read" list! After reading George's first book, I was hooked, and now own and have thoroughly enjoyed all of her previous ten books. I eagerly awaited this latest book, and have not been disappointed. As usual her language is beautiful, no need for graphic sex scenes or foul language to try to catch one's attention - it is a pleasure to read such evocative writing. The plotting of this book is clever, and one can envisage each scene as it unfolds. George describes the countryside so perfectly, one feels as if one is there, and her understanding of England and the English, be it in language or by descriptive prose, makes the reader envious of her abilities. She is certainly in the genre of P.D. James and Ruth Rendell. This time we have Barbara Havers working in London away from her boss, Tommy Lynley, who has been called to Derbyshire by an old friend to help in solving two grisly murders. Havers, in spite of Lynley's orders, manages to get involved and has a great rapport with Nkata, the member of the team selected by Lynley to help him in Barbara's place, after her initial restment of him for taking her place. The story is full of twists and turns, ensuring that I had some sleepless nights as I hated to put the book down! I now await Elizabeth George's eleventh book with great anticipation. If you are anxious to read a big, beautifully written mystery, do read In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner - you will not be disappointed. George's writing puts to shame so many of today's "shocker" authors - if only they would realise that many readers are turned off by explicit sex and gore - they accomplish nothing by writing this way - there is too much lowering of standards at present, without having to write filth. I would respectfully suggest that any aspiring author read any Elizabeth George book - he/she could not fail to be impressed.

My my MY our reviewers are getting so TERRIBLY upset at the whole Havers/Lynley thing! I find it very entertaining that George can find yet another way to get those two to lock horns while still working together (though separately). George's prose continues to educate me with new vocabulary words -- now honestly, who has had to reach for the dictionary to learn a new word since high school English class? I find her stories, her style and her characters to be thoroughly enjoyable, and while some of her books aren't as marvelous as others I will continue to read them as each comes out. Keep up the good work, Elizabeth! (From an old H.B. fan)

I have been an Elizabeth George fan for years, mostly because she has had nice tight plots and Havers has been a very real character, touching and exasperating at the same time.

I wish somebody had been around to tell me when to quit, so that I did not go on to read the later books where the series went downhill so badly.

You can see the signs in this book, which is too long, includes some very unrealistic and unlikely situations, and has the characters behaving in the stupidest possible manner in order to move the story along.

Still, it's readable; it does tell a story. It's not as excellent as the early Lynley-Havers books were, but it's passable. The next one she wrote, A Traitor to Memory, really isn't. That one is over 200 pages too long, wallows around taking forever to tell a simple and rather dull story, and it shows all too clearly that Ms George has lost interest in her characters. From there she goes on to write one without Lynley and Havers, A Place of Hiding, in which Simon and Deborah fail to carry the weak plot and you have to listen to Deborah whine about her own shortcomings for hundreds of pages; then she writes one, With No One as Witness, that takes the regular characters and centers the story on them to the point where the angst overwhelms the thin story at tedious length. As I write this, the most recent book, What Came Before He Shot Her, isn't really a mystery at all, but what passes for a psychological study of a young murderer who apparently has troubles of his own that explain his murdering.

Please don't get me wrong; the first books are still very good, and I don't want to deny her any praise for them; she's earned her right to go off in a different direction and try not using a proper editor if she wishes to, and good luck to her. But if you are a reader who likes a good mystery story with all sorts of twists and red herrings and a process of solving the mystery to observe, enjoy, and try to anticipate--well, stop here, say thanks to the lady, and move on to some other series. If you've never read P.D. James, her writing is always restrained and elegant, the mystery element is always honest, and she has never written a book without having a story to carry it along; she never tears up her characters as a substitute for a good plot.

I am a huge Elizabeth George fan, so it pains me to say that this book was a little sub-par. With many other mystery writers, I have experienced great frustration with the whole reader-knows-something-but-the-characters-don't scenario. One of the things I have always loved about George was the fact that she never pulled that on me. However, in reading this book, I found myself impatiently waiting hundreds of pages for SOMEONE besides me to figure out Nicola's occupation. Perhaps I was conditioned by George's obsession with sexual deviance of one form or another, but it all seemed pretty darn obvious to me. I think that is an indication that the author got a little sloppy. Let's hope this book is an aberration and not an indication of a trend.

I am hooked on Susan Elizabeth George and her wonderful writing. And yes, I too like her new hairdo. I have read all her books. I read them all during the past six months after stumbling onto a paperback edition of "Missing Joseph". I did not read them in the order published but after finishing "In Pursuit of the Proper Sinnner" the ten book chronolgy fell into place with the remarkable display of continuity in the ongoing evolution of the main characters of Linley(love "Tommy"as a nick name), Havers, Lady Helen and the entire gang. This woman writes such good prose that often I forget I'm reading a "potboiler" and find myself in the middle of a marvelous work of fiction. I can't wait to read Mrs. George's first non- mystry novel where she is able to dispense with the gratuitous sex and stay with the beautiful character insights. But, then again, this reader for one will continue to buy her first editions in hardback because I can't wait to see what kind of trouble Barbara Havers is going to get into next!

I remember reading "Playing for the Ashes" and "For the Sake of Elena" many years ago and really enjoying them. I hadn't read any of EG in a few years and decided to check her out again a few months ago by reading this book and "In the Presence of the Enemy" which I read just prior to this one. I was disappointed with this one.

What struck me most negatively in both these books after reflecting on how much I enjoyed her previous novels were the creepy and obsessive references to sex. Both these books overdid it. In this one, I didn't need to know so much about the S&M scene - it seemed almost gratuitious. The result is a dark, ominious feeling throughout which made it a downer of a read during our rainy winter. I was surprised to find how much I came to dislike Lynley - he seemed so inflexible. Barbara seemed like everso the doormat, though Nkata was likeable. The book was way too long, and I found myself close to not finishing it - I ended up caring so little for the characters in the end.

I would have liked to have seem Havers' relationship with Azhar developed more.

If you are a EG fan, you'll probably enjoy it - it was well written. But not that satisfying for me. I think I'll head back to Tony Hillerman and the Southwest!

I've always enjoyed reading Elizabeth George mysteries because of the high quality of the writings as well as the analytical descriptions of her characters and settings.

However, I've come to notice that none of her characters, whether they be good or bad, are genuinely likeable. Lynley is a turnoff, he's arrogant and a self-entitled, Helen, while nice, is somewhat pretentious, Havers is more sympathetic but her defeatist attitude is annoying. Simeon and Deborah, I simply don't know enough about them, they're quiet but not terribly interesting. As for the rest of the characters, they're interesting, they may be fascinating, but they're simply not the kind of people you'd want to be friends with.

George's portrayal of the United Kingdom is also interesting. She seems to focus solely on two sectors of society: the aristocratic upper class and the seamy underbelly/working class. Very little is said of the vast bulk of English in between, nice, normal and quiet people who are not too different from nice, normal and quiet Americans. I've spent a fair amount of time in the UK, and while I do recognize the country that George presents, I also recognize that there's a huge slice of Britain that is missing from her novels.

Overall, I give her novels a 4 star ranking solely because of the quality of the writing. The novels are intense and do keep one in suspense, though she does sometimes rely on suspicious coincidences. The actual plots and characters are only worth a 2 or 3 stars, but the quality of the writing strengthens the overall work.