Capture A Banquet Of Consequences (Inspector Lynley, #19) Composed By Elizabeth George Physical Book
you want to continue your relationship with Barbara Havers, do yourself a favor and skip to page, read it and walk away quickly take your Converse and run!, then wait another two years.
Lynley has apparently been abducted and replaced by a paper doll cutout that resembles very little of the man we came to know.
It says it's Lynley, it drives a car like Lynley but it ain't Lynley! Actually all the men the few there are in this man hating diatribe seem to have been created from the same pathetic piece of translucent scrap paper that won't stand up by itself.
Barbara deserves better than to be the bookend that holds up an agenda driven work that reads like a freshmen Women's Studies class paper.
Gosh, I deserve better. Ive long been a fan of the Lynley mysteries Literary crime fiction at its best, with A Banquet of Consequences Ms George has hit top form once more.
Ill be honest and say since the series game changing event that occured in “With Noone As Witness” I felt that the author lost her way a little whilst the ensuing novels were still good it lost a little something for me but in A Banquet of Consequences that little hiccup seems to have been shaken off and she is back to doing what she does best.
Delivering a tour de force of a crime story with our favourite characters heading back into normal territory and being those we love to read about.
Havers is toeing the line Lynley finds he doesnt really like this after all, There are some great humerous moments to be had around that and their interactions with Dorothea a character who Id like to see get a good deal more page time and at last I felt that both Lynley and Havers were regaining lost ground.
Plus the trademark construction is back at its finest where the crime in question is explored from many angles, giving us a picture of all those caught up in it, from the before during and after.
What this author does incredibly well are people, From all walks of life, those who end up on the radar of Lynley and Havers are always fascinating whatever their background.
In this case we have an author, a publicist, a mother who has lost a child to suicide and those that surround them the sheer intricacies of all the interpersonal relationships make for some great reading and it is utterly compelling throughout.
As an entirety this series is simply stunning in its complexity, gorgeous prose, character building and addictive reading quality, Despite the odd downturn, where I believe its possible Ms George was grieving as much as her characters were, I would still highly recommend every novel that features Inspector Lynley and co.
You can read any one as a standalone but I would recommend reading in order as far as possible if only to see the developing friendship between Lynley and Havers a dynamic duo if ever there was one.
I loved it, I didn't find this as gripping as The Punishment She Deserves, but George is so skilled at focusing on the humanity of those involved in and affected by crimes.
Onwards or backwards I guess to book! A Banquet of Consequences by Elizabeth George is aViking publication,
This is yet another long running series, this being the nineteenth Inspector Lynley mystery, that I have been neglecting for a good long while.
Although I have a few older titles in the series sitting on my shelf that have yet to be read, I couldnt help but picking up this latest installment from my Overdrive library account.
I have kept up with the series well enough to know that a huge change took place a little while back and since then the series seems to have lagged a bit.
However, I thought this one was really good, despite the fact Lynley is on the outskirts of the story with his sole contribution being to try and get Barbara back in the good graces of their boss.
When a popular feminist author dies unexpectedly, a heart attack is blamed, but a good friend of the author insisted upon further test, which resulted in the realization that the woman had been poisoned.
Right on the heels of this discovery, the author's friend nearly dies the same way, Coincidence I think not.
Barbara is still living with the threat of a transfer hanging over her head, so shes really trying to tone down her usual antics, which has put a damper on her crime solving abilities.
Still, she manages to stumble across this particularly puzzling situation, quite by accident, and finds herself working the case,although its not really in her jurisdiction, and the evidence is very thin and circumstantial.
Lynley plays a fatherly role with Barbara, keeps the brass off her back, and stands guard, However, thats about the extent of his role in this one, The only other time we hear from him is when he is dealing with his complicated love life,
While, I have not always enjoyed the authors choices when it comes to the main characters, it does keep the series from falling into a formulaic, unimaginative pattern.
With this story, the emphasis is on creating an interesting character study for all the people involved, and author as no qualms about addressing and creating true, diabolically evil characters or addressing topics that make even the most jaded crime reader feel a little squeamish.
The atmosphere is heavy and dark as taboo topics and actions threaten to see the light of day,
But. After all is said and done, it looks like Barbara is starting to get her groove back, but Lynley is still dealing with a huge life change that has him off his game I think.
Only time will tell how he sorts things out, Hopefully, the wait between books wont be so long, but, even if there is a wait, I have all those older titles to tide me over.
Im glad I picked this one up, as its whetted my appetite for more British mysteries and has reenforced my faith in this series.
stars
Mein Fazit: Ich bin immer wieder fasziniert, wie die Autorin mich mit der Handlung und vor allem mit den facettenreichen Figuren fesseln kann.
Der Fokus liegt natürlich auf dem Mordfall, aber vor allem wichtig sind die Charaktere was sie denken, fühlen, ihre Vergangenheit die sie geprägt hat, ihre Reaktionen, das verstrickte Denkmuster aus dem sie nicht ausbrechen können.
. . das war in diesem Band für mich wirklich top!
Damit verbunden viele zwischenmenschliche Themen, wie die Rolle der Frau, das anerzogene Denken, nach dem wir unser Verhalten richten, ganz gleich, ob bewusst oder unbewusst und wie schwierig es ist, neue Wege zu gehen.
Der Rückblick am Anfang hat die Neugier sehr geschürt und der Aufbau war super, um die Spannung immer mehr zu erhöhen.
Havers ist in Höchstform und auch Nkata, der mit ihr zusammenarbeitet, hat viele positive Punkte gesammelt, Nur die Chefin Isabelle Ardery kann ich immer noch nicht ausstehen :
Insgesamt ein für mich absolut gelungener Krimi, der mich viel hat rätseln lassen und die Spannung immer wieder in die Höhe treibt.
Readers may be surprised that, in installmentof the series, Lynley and Havers are still in theirs, Why, we began with "The Great Deliverance" in, and if you figure Lynley couldn't have been younger thanthen, inhe would be.
Havers couldn't be any younger than, unless they allow teens to work as detectives,
As usual with George, though there are sexual perversions aplenty, it's the "lovemaking" between ordinary adulterous middleagers that is most disgusting.
There is "feminism" and "feminists," about whom she writes as if she just parachuted in from Mars, I thought she was going to send Havers into lesbianism in the final pages, but fortunately this was an impulse resisted, Tourette's, masturbation, and toothpaste tubes were given in to,
of times "summat" appears:
Sample, from black detective Winston Nkata: "Nuffin, An' I got to say: Way I see it, not likely anyone'd hang on summat so dangerous, " This is my first Elizabeth George book, and I am eager to read any more of them that combine traditional novel with a detective story.
In A Banquet of Consequences, the first third or so of the book is pure novel, Had I not known Georges reputation, I never would have anticipated a police procedure with returning characters, The author did a superb job of combining the two different genresin fact, this felt like a story that eclipsed genre altogether.
For those of you already familiar with the Lynley series, you will recognize the brash but bright Barbara Havers, a detective with a history of impudence, who has been professionally scolded and threatened with a post to some back berg if she doesnt toe the line.
Havers has a charming to readers way of bucking authority, Her partner, Tommy Lynley, was born with blueblood breeding, and is ever the diplomat, He is in love again, after mourning the death of his wife for eighteen months, But, the woman he loves, Daidre, is reticent, and certainly enigmatic, I suspect there is more to her than meets the eye, and more for future books to explore,
In this novel youll meet an unforgettably dysfunctional family in Dorset, England, with an alarmingly enigmatic matriarch, Theres Will, a whiz at landscape gardening, with a deformed ear and what seems to be a bad case of Tourettes Syndromeat least, the verbal aspect of it but the diagnosis isnt statedthey just say his Wordshe is in love with Lily Foster, a tattoo artist, who is happy with him in London, away from his interfering mother.
Wills brother, Charlie, is the psychotherapist which brings to mind, Doctor, heal thyself, His estranged wife India, an acupuncturist, has begun dating again, The problem with both men Their meddling mother, Caroline, a strident, arrogant, possessive master manipulator, who manages to interfere with her sons lives so much that their relationships become difficult.
Her longsuffering husband, Alastair, who owns several successful bakeries, raised the two boys like they were his own, Her ex, a plastic surgeon, is remarried and happy to be away from her wiles,
Then there is Clare Abbott, a confident celebrity feminist with a popular book that is all the rage in England and even beyond.
Caroline met her via The Womens League, and has managed to impose herself on Clare and make herself indispensable to her as some vaguely defined assistant.
She seems to be in a battle of wills or jealousy with Clares publisher, Rory, Rory has a tragic past she is still coping with, and her small dog, Arlo, is her assistance dog, allowed to be with her at all times.
Rory and Clare have developed a close friendship over the years, and Rory finds Carolines behavior to be intrusive,
The book seamlessly alternates between London and Dorset Shaftesbury, with a bit of Cambridge thrown in, and a few other places in the countryside.
The story, of course, must open itself to a rather serious crime, as Inspector Lynley and Sergeant Havers are on the case.
It has levity, too, as the secretary, Dorothea Harriman, attempts to do a makeover on Havers, even taking her shopping for a new wardrobe.
Barbara is fairly stubborn, and feels caught in wanting to keep her job, but having to capitulate to a point where she isnt herself any more.
Lynley is the mediator between Havers and the Superintendent, Isabelle Ardrey he and Adrey have a bit of a brief, torrid past.
Thats the long and short of this review, as I dont want to reveal what happens to bring the law aboard.
I was blown away by the end of the book, I will say that!
My only problem with coming to a series late is that I now know certain key things about the
characters that happened in the past.
I know that Tommys wife was murdered, and that Barbara Havers has been on the chopping block likely explained in previous books.
So, when I go back to read the earlier books, and read about Lynley squiring Helen, Ill think of her as dead before they are even married.
And Ill know that Havers is headed for trouble at work, But, such is the case when you arrive late, George is otherwise circumspect about earlier cases, She certainly cant hide certain facts, but I am hoping to go back and read her earlier books with blinders going in.
In summary, if you like a good, juicy, horrifying domestic drama, as much as or more than a detective story, go for this one.
You won't be disappointed. If you are already a George fan, I don't need to convince you,
.