Every time I read one of Elizabeth George's Inspector Lynley books I ask myself why I persevere with this series as I find the character of Tommy Lynley, the sub fusc Sir Peter Wimsey so irritating. Of course, I have read them all now and, no matter how I might feel, I have this compulsion to carry on and find out what happens and I can't stop.
The last one in the series, Careless in Red, had Lynley walking along the Cornish coast trying to get over the murder of his wife Helen. The book before that was titled What Happened before he Shot her which must be one of the clumsiest titles ever, and told the story of the 12 year old who actually pulled the trigger and was so totally unreadable that even I gave up on this one. Shouldn't say it I know, but the aforementioned Helen was one of the most irritating, whiny self absorbed characters I have come across
and the thought that we would no longer have to put up with her angst and drama quite cheered me up. Sorry....
Anyway, it is now a year since the death of Helen and Lynley is back at work, but only acting as support to Isabelle Ardery who may be taking over his position. If I tell you that Isabelle is separated from her husband, is losing custody of her children and has a drink problem, you may feel the same overwhelming sense of boredom creep over you as I did. Goes without saying that Lynley and she are attracted to each other and I just could not believe that he would get himself involved with another head case, but no accounting for tastes. However, give it a chance thought I and was pleased to meet up once more with Barbara Havers and Nkata, two of the more well rounded characters in the George canon who, as usual, do most of the detective work. A young woman has been brutally murdered in a cemetery and it appears she had recently abandoned her lover of two years in Hampshire and had come running to London to start a new life. Why did she leave him when they seemed settled and happy - what did she find out?
It is going to be very difficult, in fact well nigh impossible, to talk about the crux of the reasons for the murder without giving anything away so I am not going to do so. It is tightly plotted and well thought through, even if it gets a bit confusing at the denouement (as was Careless in Red - still not sure who murdered who in that one), but there was one aspect of the Body of Death that I found really unsettling. Throughout the book we read purported excerpts from police and social service reports about an earlier crime. These obviously are there to catch our attention and to let us know that this is somehow linked into the current investigation. Well that's fine, but the story of this crime is clearly based, almost overwhelmingly so, on a heinous real life crime that took place some ten years ago and has been in the news again recently. So detailed are these links employed throughout the narrative that it is clear Elizabeth George has done extensive research and I find it vaguely repellent that the author should use these facts and all the anguish and pain involved as a plot device and it has left a nasty taste in my mouth. In my opinion, she should be ashamed of herself.
This might just be the final straw that makes me give up on these books....
