Ratings4
Average rating3.3
When Eugenie Davies is killed by a driver on a quiet London street, her death is clearly no accident. Someone struck her with a car and then deliberately ran over her body before driving off, leaving nothing behind but questions. What brought Eugenie Davies to London on a rainy autumn night? Why was she carrying the name of the man who found her body? Who among the many acquaintances in her complicated and tragic life could have wanted her dead? And could her murder have some connection to a twenty-eight-year-old musical wunderkind, a virtuoso violinist who several months earlier suddenly and inexplicably lost the ability to play a single note?For Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, whose own domestic life is about to change radically, these questions are only the first in an investigation that leads him to walk a fine line between personal loyalty and professional honor. Assigned to the case by his superior, Superintendent Malcolm Webberly, Lynley learns that Webberly's first murder investigation as a DI over twenty years ago involved Eugenie Davies and a sensational criminal trial. Yet what is truly damaging is what Webberly already knows and no doubt wants Lynley to keep concealed.Now the pressure is on Lynley to find Eugenie Davies' killer. For not only is he putting his own career into jeopardy, but he is also attempting to safeguard the careers of his longtime partners Barbara Havers and Winston Nkata. Together, they must untangle the dark secrets and darker passions of a family whose history conceals the truth behind a horrific crime.From the Hardcover edition.
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This was an unexpected installment in one of my favorite mystery series. It is quite different from the first 10 in that we get very little story centered around the protagonists Lynley and Havers. Instead, the reader is wrapped up in the lives Gideon Davies and his family and friends. There are 2 timelines in the novel as well, although this isn't apparent until close to the end (hence the spoiler tag, although I don't know how much it would have changed my reading of the novel).
The novel has all of the wonderful things I love about George: descriptive and emotional writing that makes me feel as if I'm right there with the characters, a suspense that starts off strong and still continues to grow until the denouement, and a story that is believable. Still, I did miss catching up on Lynley and Havers themselves, and I also think this book was too long. Maybe that's because much of it is about the Davies family.
Featured Series
21 primary booksInspector Lynley is a 21-book series with 21 primary works first released in 1985 with contributions by Elizabeth George, Marcella Houweling, and 2 others.