With No One As Witness (Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers Novels) (Hardcover)

by Elizabeth George (Author) "DETECTIVE CONSTABLE BARBARA HAVERS CONSIDERED HERSELF one lucky bird: The drive was empty..." (more)
Key Phrases: Kimmo Thorne, Davey Benton, Barbara Havers (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Acting Supt. Thomas Lynley and Det. Constable Barbara Havers face their most challenging and perilous case yet—the linked murders of four youths, three of black or mixed parentage—in bestseller George's absorbing 13th British police procedural (after 2003's A Place of Hiding). Crime fans will find plenty of forensic minutiae and details of police bureaucracy and politics, but it's characterization at which George really excels. The up-and-down career of Havers is at low ebb following her demotion from sergeant to constable, and her rocky personal life doesn't make that easier to bear. Lynley's professional life has become more difficult due to the continued absence of Supt. Malcolm Webberly and the need to deal directly with Asst. Commissioner David Hillier. The tension builds as the brutal serial killings continue and the pressure to solve them mounts. George expertly uses every device in the book from red herrings to blind alleys, from subtle twists to swift shocks. This is an outstanding and explosive addition to a popular series.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Issues of racism within the police are brought to the fore when the ritualistic murder of a teenage boy is linked to the deaths of three other youths. It's clear there's a serial killer at work, and New Scotland Yard is called in to solve the case and quell accusations of police prejudice. Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley has his hands full----not only with finding the murderer but also with ensuring that volatile Barbara Havers doesn't further damage her career. Then there's the matter of keeping an eye on a tabloid reporter and a profiler whom intractable Assistant Commissioner Hillier has foisted on the team. Veteran thriller writer George, an American, is as at home with the social dynamics of the seedier parts of London as she is with the multidimensional personalities of Lynley and his colleagues (Winston Nkata, in particular, really comes into his own here). This is a riveting installment in a superb series--far more than just plain good. It's also a turning point for the series as George makes some bold, surprising decisions that permanently change the lives of the characters her fans have come to know. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 640 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; First Edition, First Printing edition (March 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060545607
• ISBN-13: 978-0060798451
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (205 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #178,827 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 13 in The Thomas Lynley/Barbara Havers Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

143 of 164 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Elizabeth George is back in top form, March 18, 2005

By	tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

When the naked body of a dead young boy is found mutilated and artfully arranged on top of a tomb, it opens up a whole can of worms for the Metropolitan Police Force of London, for it turns out that this is just the latest in a string of similar murders. The thing is that the previous victims had been either black or of mixed race and had been written off as gang related killings. This latest victim, however, is white and is inviting a whole lot of interest. Hoping to contain the accusations of racism and callousness, AC Hillier appoints acting Detective Superintendent Thomas Lynley to the case, assigning him newly promoted Detective Winston Nkata (window dressing in Hiller's mind for the public as Nkata is off Jamaican background) and allowing Lynley to keep fiery Detective Constable Barbara Havers on the team. Everyone quickly realises that they have a serial killer on their hands; and as they race to discover how many prior victims there were and identify them, and to try to establish a pattern of sorts that would give them a clue as to the killer's modus operandi, Lynley also has to contend with Hiller's need to direct the investigation and his desire that Lynley and his team cooperate with the newspapers. As the killings continue to mount, and as the police officers race to get a result, things take an unexpected and explosive turn, one that perhaps neither Lynley nor Havers will ever recover from..

With "With No One as Witness" Elizabeth George is once again in top form. I was terribly disappointed with "A Place of Hiding," and began to wonder if the Lynely-Havers mysteries would ever go back to becoming the compelling, dark reads that they once were. But this new Lynely-Havers installment reminded me of the old days, where I would devour each new installment in one go, relishing how both Lynely and Havers, using different points of reference would complement each other in order to solve the mystery at hand. Well crafted, and obviously meticulously researched (for example how the author effortlessly fleshes out the many grueling aspects of how a police investigation is conducted was truly awe-inspiring), this was definitely a labour of love. There was only one small detraction to "With No One as Witness" and that it was that the first half the novel was rather slow and heavy going. Fortunately Elizabeth George intersperses the slow moving initial police investigation with the chapters in which we are privy to the serial killers thoughts and movements. Chillingly and suspensefully describing how he stalks his young victims, and how he captures them (will the killer grab his victim without any problems, or will the victim escape at the last possible moment?), Ms George ably and competently conveys that "edge-of-your-seat" feeling. Also well done was the manner in which she conveys just how stressed out acting Detective Superintendent Thomas Lynley is becoming as he faces pressure from his superior (AC Hiller) to get a result quickly and to do things his way. As I noted before the pace does pick up about halfway through, and that coupled with the small plot twist should keep any mystery reader happily engrossed to the very end. And while some readers may be dismayed at the shocking turn the book takes, this only added to the pathos and promise of even darker installments to follow. All in all, "With No One as Witness" was an absorbing and compelling read that should not be missed.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too sad, March 27, 2005

By	S. K Repasy (Fairborn, Oh United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was beyond thrilled when Elizabeth George's newest hit the racks. I consumed the others in the series. Her latest is fast-paced and very interesting. But after a surprising and unwelcome plot-twist 3/4 of the way through, I really had a hard time finishing it. Overall, it was depressing. Who wants to see your heroes bleeding thru the last page?

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Elizabeth George fails big time , March 27, 2005

By	M. A. Williamson (Missoula, MT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Reading this novel reminds me of how I felt watching Michael Jordan play baseball. I respected the emotions that were driving him, and he did an OK job at it, but I just wanted him to get it out of his system already and go back to basketball, which he played like no one else on earth. Like an angel.


In With No One as Witness, Elizabeth George inflicts on us her restlessness with the world she so brilliantly created over the past 17 years. Instead of her gorgeously-plotted and intimate tales of normal people driven to murder, she strikes out into the territory of serial killers. It's a mistake.


In the past, she's developed villains who linger in our memory for the richness of their characters and the awful logic that drives them to commit murder. But for the grace of God, any of us might be Robin Payne (In the Presence of the Enemy) or Sarah Gordon (For the Sake of Elena).


In this book, she provides a serial killer, whose character verges on a parody of serial killers; a host of secondary characters who's motives are perplexing; and an inattention to versimilitude that is highly annoying and most unlike George. Oh, and she also stuffs the book with weighty themes including racism, child pornography, and the evils of tabliod journalism.


But my real beef with this novel isn't that she branches off into an area that she handles less well: any author of a long-running series is bound to run out of ideas sometimes. And there's a long and honorable tradition of authors of one genre flexing their creative muscles in another area â€" think of beloved crime writer P.D. James and her foray into science fiction (The Children of Men). But P.D. James was smart: when she wanted to branch out, she let her main series take a rest and created a whole different cast of characters for her attempt at science fiction.


My real beef is that, unlike James, George is trying her hand at serial killing within the context of her long-running series, and the real victim seems to be the series itself. In the last chapters she kills off an essential character (but not by the serial killer) in a way that is so implausible that I'm left feeling that she wrote this book on a Bad Plot Day.


If you want to read about serial killers, find an author who's better at portraying this kind of evil. If you want to keep reading about the continuing growth of Tommy, Helen, Simon, Deborah, and Barbara, cross your fingers that this was just an unfortunate experiment for this formerly fine author.


Come back, Elizabeth. We love you.