Something to Hide - A Lynley Novel by Elizabeth George
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Web ID: 17334183Didn't like it!
I had to force myself to finish this book - I kept putting it down & forcing myself to finish. It made me angry that I had pre-order this book! I have read every of her books & loved them all, I felt that, in my opinion, it was George's worst attempt at writing & I didn't enjoy the book at all. While the subject was a difficult one & handled well, the book dragged.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Masterful and Richly Satisfying
Tasked with investigating the murder of a fellow detective, Lynley, Havers, and Nkata fan out across London to excavate the truth, thwarted by the troublesome, all-too-human compulsion to conceal. In Elizabeth George’s Something to Hide, simple acts of hiding--from oneself or others--either out of love or fear, arrogance or shame combust in relational conflict, interpersonal treachery, and murder. Published in 2022, her twenty-first novel to feature Thomas Lynley, Barbara Havers, and Winston Nkata of the Metropolitan Police Service demonstrates she remains, more than three decades on, at the zenith of her uncanny ability to construct psychologically, and characterologically, sophisticated and prose-rich mysteries. Recurring character Deborah St. James’ talent with photographic subjects launches her inside Orchid House, a victim advocacy organization administered by a woman so formidable she has only one name--Zawadi--and face-to-face with culturally-sanctioned horror committed against girls. Mark Phinney and Teodora Bontempi head a team of police professionals dedicated to ending that horror in London’s immigrant communities. Tani Bankole stumbles upon his immigrant parents’ secrets and their plans for his young sister Simisola. Adaku Obiaka makes contact with the reclusive woman who operates the women’s health clinic whose services include a more sanitary option for parents who wish to cement their young daughter’s opportunities to marry well by medically guaranteeing their virginity and chastity. Then Detective Bontempi is murdered . . . . George chooses a two-part structure in which she assembles in part one a diverse cast of characters--all new but for the St. James’ household--dipping into and out of their separate and desperate lives, which, though inhabiting neighborhoods and boroughs within central London, might as well be on different planets such are their differences. Though missing the presence of her trio, by the time George brings down the curtain on this act, readers are wholly invested--emotionally attached and embroiled in the conflicts and dangers that have surfaced in these characters’ lives. In the final pages of the novel, Lynley’s recognition about himself with regard to his conflicts with Daidre and a similar observation Havers makes about the estranged husband of the murdered officer serve to illustrate the author’s theme: the destructive habit, seemingly hardwired into us, to attempt to transform those closest to us into what we want them to be so that they respond the way we want them to respond and feel the way we want them to feel. Lynley’s final declaration to Daidre begs the question: has he really integrated this insight? He seems to think he has, but insight is not behavior change, and a future novel may use this as rich grist for his mill. Few authors excel at the components--character, plot, setting, pacing, dialogue, and prose--of the craft of writing as comprehensively as does George. With Something to Hide, she reaffirms her ability to produce psychologically satisfying novels as few others can, while continuing to surprise readers with the identity and motivations of those desperate enough to commit murder.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com