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When well known feminist, author and lecturer Clare Abbott gets poisoned, Lynley and Havers have to investigate both in London and Dorset. There seems to be connections to the suicide of William Goldacre. Dark and disturbing secrets within his family come to light.

Following William Goldacre suicide, there is a series of consequences. Dysfunctions in his family come into a glaring focus impossible to ignore. They all seem to suffer. The mother Caroline Goldacre works as PA to the murder victim. Controlling behavior and paranoid thinking is severely interfering with her work. She acts more like a gate keeper than assistant. Clare acts very forgiving about this. People wonder why she doesn’t simply fire Caroline but she keeps her on, even gives her more responsibilities.

Through a combination of coloring outside the lines and taking advantage of connections, Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers lands herself in the murder investigation. But she is not too chuffed with having Detective Sergeant Winston Nkata watching her every move and reporting to Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley the very moment she gets creative.

Reads like a combination of several timelines related to the plot, which my methodical self really appreciates a lot. There is a really thorough introduction leading up to the actual crime taking place. The sheer size of this work allows for detailed descriptions which I enjoy a lot.

The hilarious interaction between police secretary Dorothea Harriman and Barbara Havers I find beyond entertaining. Dorothea wants to contribute to Barbara meeting men, which in turn is supposed to help make her relax more and be a better police sergeant.

It’s funny and entertaining in the middle of this serious plot the way she is portrayed as loose cannon who has a history of interpreting her orders, bending the rules and sidestepping police regulations. She achieves good results, but in the end there have been so many problems that she ends up on superior’s transfer list.

Di Lynley: seems to be all business for most of this story, having been instructed by his superior to keep DS Havers on the straight and narrow at all times. He is occupied with the London end of the investigation as well as closely and carefully managing DS Havers to make sure she goes by the book. But I enjoyed the parts where there are descriptions of his feelings and thoughts about his personal life, having been a widower for 18 months.

The writing itself I find a wonderful use of the English language. Very few comes to mind that manage to express themselves in super enjoyable writing like this. The development of the plot is balanced out with funny dialog and interactions between characters.
I really enjoy when DS Haves jokes about Inspector Lynley having such a posh car. She thinks it’s so expensive; he keeps a teenager to polish the dust from the bonnet.
I also really enjoy that the plot is set in London and British countryside, with environmental descriptions to match.

The clues were so carefully laid out that I felt completely in the dark as to who the culprit might be. Expertly done I think. This work contained a large number of elements. So many, in fact, it muddied the waters for me. I was unable to distinguish the important clues from the less important ones. When the culprit was found and I thought the case was solved, yet another surprising twist was sprung on me. That made for an unusual end to the story.

There is an interesting story line about DS Havers continuing to book #20, which I think readers will enjoy. I have read it, and I certainly did. It feels like reading a teaser for the next book. It’s on my radar partly because I’m curious how DS Havers will get on in future.

This book is highly recommended for fans of Elizabeth George’s other work and readers of historical fiction.
All opinions in this review are my own.
My rating: 5 stars / 5

"Full of shocks, intensity and suspense from first page to last" skriver forlaget. Nei, det er den på ingen måte! Kjedelig og likte ikke slutten.

Endelig kom romjula og tid for Elizabeth George. Synes kanskje opptakten til mysteriet ble litt lang, men hun skriver bra. Kanskje Havers begynner å bli litt interessert i klær? Hvor gammel er hun? Lynley gjettes til å være i 30-årene her.

Elisabeth George tilbake i form som i de tidligere bøkene, synes jeg! Men er ikke ferdig ennå!