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Deception on His Mind (Inspector Lynley #9)
Balford-le-Nez is a dying seaside town on the coast of Essex. But when a member of the town’s small but growing Asian community is found murdered near its beach, the sleepy town ignites. Intrigued by the involvement of her London neighbor—Taymullah Azhar—in what appears to be a growing racial conflagration, Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers arranges to have herself assigne...more
Paperback, 624 pages
Published
March 24th 2009
by Bantam
(first published January 1st 1997)
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Jan 19, 2009
Ed
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
British Murder Mysteries
Shelves:
crime-fiction,
reviewed
I slogged through this 713 page monster because I have enjoyed George's Inspector Detective Thomas Lynley stories so much, both in print and on the televised BBC series. (I also have a hard time abandoning books I begin.) This one features his side-kick and apprentice, Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, no Lynley to be found.
In this story, Elizabeth George takes on the cultural difficulties of Pakistani immigrants as background for the entire book. To paraphrase The Grateful Dead, "What a Long...more
In this story, Elizabeth George takes on the cultural difficulties of Pakistani immigrants as background for the entire book. To paraphrase The Grateful Dead, "What a Long...more
3 likes · like · see review
view 2 comments
Nov 30, 2008
Eric_W
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mysteries-and-thrillers
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Antes que otra cosa suceda tengo que confesar mis pecados, y es que en una entrega anterior cometí un error pequeño pero error al fin y es que hace como 6 meses que leí una obra de Elizabeth George, El Padre Ausente, y les había dicho que era inglesa, pero ¿saben qué?, no es así, lo que pasa es que esta mujer americana cuando tenía 16 años fue en un viaje a conocer la tierra de Shakespeare y sus alrededores y se quedó enamorada del país y desde entonces quedó obsesionada, de tal manera que cuand...more
When my European friend recommended a British mystery for me to read, I did not hesitate for a minute. Her first recommendation was a result of her laughing aloud hysterically while reading Jane Green's Straight Talking (book club ideas coming soon) when we were on retreat together. I am not a laugh aloud reader (more of a goofy smirk reader), but I was willing to try after her constant giggles during the night. Thus, Deception on His Mind was soon stacked on top of my nightstand.
Being cartograp...more
Being cartograp...more
Ninth in the Inspector Lynley mystery series set in contemporary London.
The Story
Tommy and Helen have gotten married and are off on their honeymoon while Barbara has been ordered to take time off to heal after her injuries in In the Presence of the Enemy. Lord, taking time off. All that time with nothing to do but think so it's no surprise that Barbara jumps at the opportunity to follow Azhar and Hadiyyah when they must leave London to help with a family emergency.
The Characters
I think Emily do...more
The Story
Tommy and Helen have gotten married and are off on their honeymoon while Barbara has been ordered to take time off to heal after her injuries in In the Presence of the Enemy. Lord, taking time off. All that time with nothing to do but think so it's no surprise that Barbara jumps at the opportunity to follow Azhar and Hadiyyah when they must leave London to help with a family emergency.
The Characters
I think Emily do...more
Well, Lynley finally gets his relationship with Helen squared away, and George gives us an adventure minus Lynley, following Havers into a culture clash murder that pits her against a community of Muslims, as she follows a neighbor of hers to the seashore and helps out an old 'police academy' friend solve the crime.
The relationship that's developing between this neighbor of hers and her daughter is evolving slowly and as in the previous Lynley mystery (In the Presence of the Enemy) in which Hav...more
The relationship that's developing between this neighbor of hers and her daughter is evolving slowly and as in the previous Lynley mystery (In the Presence of the Enemy) in which Hav...more
Iniciei a leitura deste livro um pouco desgostosa quando me apercebi este era o seguimento de outro: "Na Presença do Inimigo", mas mesmo assim decidi continuar e ainda bem que o fiz ;)
A autora presenteia-nos com um verdadeiro policial em que quando tudo parece "claro como água" vem um pequenino pormenor que nos faz regressar à estaca zero.
São surpresas atrás de surpresas num ambiente de crime que vai desde o roubo ao homicidio.
A comunidade Islâmica vitima de racismo em Inglaterra tenta a todo o...more
A autora presenteia-nos com um verdadeiro policial em que quando tudo parece "claro como água" vem um pequenino pormenor que nos faz regressar à estaca zero.
São surpresas atrás de surpresas num ambiente de crime que vai desde o roubo ao homicidio.
A comunidade Islâmica vitima de racismo em Inglaterra tenta a todo o...more
I've finally started reading the Inspect Lynley books, and I LOVE THEM! I will continue reading this fabulous series (or listening to them on audio)
An immigrant is found dead in a sleepy fishing village, and the crime must be solved swiftly and correctly in order to douse the flames of bigotry that's fueled by both the Pakistani and the English citizenry. Barbara Havers goes on "holiday" so that she can be there to help her Pakistani neighbor who is acting as an emissary. Havers though doesn't m...more
An immigrant is found dead in a sleepy fishing village, and the crime must be solved swiftly and correctly in order to douse the flames of bigotry that's fueled by both the Pakistani and the English citizenry. Barbara Havers goes on "holiday" so that she can be there to help her Pakistani neighbor who is acting as an emissary. Havers though doesn't m...more
Sep 17, 2011
Lisa (Harmonybites)
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Fans of the Lynley Series
This is my favorite in the Lynley series after the first one, A Great Deliverance. I didn't find it quite as powerful, that first book in the series moved me to tears. In this one Inspector Thomas Lynley is off on his honeymoon so his partner Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers--who was battered emotionally and physically in her last case--is on her own. And instead of taking the rest Lynley urged on her, Havers heads to Essex where a murder case is setting off racial tensions between English and...more
With every read of Elizabeth George's series I fell more in love with Lynley, Barbara, Helen, and the other amazing band of characters she created in this set of tales. Her plots are never trite, always engaging, and for an American, uncanny in their "Britishness".
This might have been my favorite of the series. It gives the reader insight to the traditions and lifestyle of Asians in Britain; the culture behind closed doors as well as the public perception. Barbara Havers is taking the lead here...more
This might have been my favorite of the series. It gives the reader insight to the traditions and lifestyle of Asians in Britain; the culture behind closed doors as well as the public perception. Barbara Havers is taking the lead here...more
SlashReaders: I picked up this book on tape as a whim cause it looked halfway decent and it was pretty good. It is part of a series by Elizabeth George but you can read it on its own, I haven't read any of her other ones and don't really plan on it. It was a decent book but it wasn't exactly dragging me in or leaving me knowing I had to read the other books.
It's fun to read and deals with the racial issues in Britain among other things. Along with the gay issue in Muslim society to a point. Thou...more
It's fun to read and deals with the racial issues in Britain among other things. Along with the gay issue in Muslim society to a point. Thou...more
Oct 19, 2012
Deb
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2012-books-read,
kindled-ebook
Barbara Havers shines in this installment. Lynley makes his presence known only in Barbara's actions as she channels his comments in her head. Mr. Azar, Barbara's London neighbor, is called away to a small seaside town for a family emergency. Barbara follows when she discovers that the family emergency involves a potentially explosive situation revolving around racial prejudice. She fears that Azar is in over her head. She discovers that the DCI is her former classmate and friend who seconds her...more
2 likes · like · see review
Segue di parecchio, cronologicamente parlando, E liberaci dal padre, il primo romanzo dell'accoppiata di investigatori Havers/Lynley. Sono nel frattempo intervenuti diversi cambiamenti nelle vite dei due detective. L'impianto della storia continua ad essere, come nel precedente romanzo che ho letto, piuttosto "classico", ovvero c'è un assassino da ricercarsi in una ristretta cerchia di persone e che il lettore particolarmente attento può anche individuare da solo, dato che non gli vengono nascos...more
Another very enjoyable read. I like these books more and more, and I'm going to be sad when I've finished them all. The characterizations are outstanding and the mysteries are well-crafted, as long as you don't mind the author's slight cheat of putting you in the mind of the killer without revealing that he or she is the guilty party.
This is the first of these novels to focus entirely on Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers - Lynley is absent entirely. On leave from New Scotland Yard, Havers takes...more
This is the first of these novels to focus entirely on Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers - Lynley is absent entirely. On leave from New Scotland Yard, Havers takes...more
I've enjoyed all 10 of the Elizabeth George books I've read so far. "Deception on his Mind" was somewhat different in that Inspector Lynley is not the main detective in this case but it's his vacationing sergeant, DCS Barbara Havers who finders herself immersed in a murder that brings racial strife and illegal immigrants to a coastal town.
We find her aiding a female DCI that she has met before and while their investigative paths take them along different roads of this killing the exciting conclu...more
We find her aiding a female DCI that she has met before and while their investigative paths take them along different roads of this killing the exciting conclu...more
Oct 09, 2012
Teotakuu
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
bookcrossing,
personal-collection
I really enjoyed that Barbara Havers had the lead in this story while Inspector Lynley was on his honeymoon. There was also much more to learn about Azhar and Hadiyyah as well as the strong Pakistani cultural theme to mark this story as different from many of the others in this series.
I have some reservations about the 'voice' of some of the people featured but as this is a time, place and cultural group that I have never been a part of, I just have to accept that it may well be true of a sector...more
I have some reservations about the 'voice' of some of the people featured but as this is a time, place and cultural group that I have never been a part of, I just have to accept that it may well be true of a sector...more
Although I have always been a big fan of Elizabeth George's work, I have always found myself missing Agatha Christie at the end of one of George's books; not only were Christie's books less bleak (rather droll, really), they always ended on an up note. George's books tend to get darker and darker from start to finish, and the ends are never happy. This book, however, while it did have its bleak moments, ended on an up-note, which is saying a lot.
George's writing style -- like Christie's -- alway...more
George's writing style -- like Christie's -- alway...more
This book, the 9th in the series, is a bit different from the other Inspector Lynley books in that Inspector Lynley isn't in it. He has gotten married and is away. Barbara Havers is supposed to be on holiday recovering from injuries suffered in the last book, but she gets herself involved with a murder in the Pakistani community in a fading seaside area. All sorts of motives are explored and examined, but the one that points to the murderer is one that is completely unexpected. There are a lot o...more
My first Elizabeth George novel. A pleasure to read someone with a decent vocabulary. It's a rare pleasure to look up words! Found myself halfway through this 700 pager delighting that I had another half to go. Was most impressed with the twists and turns of the plot. Unlike most paperback mysteries which merely amuse as you close on the early anticipated conclusion, this novel's outcome was never obvious. And even more intriguing, the story does not wrap up neatly with a bow. There are dark unr...more
Still one of my favourite authors, Elizabeth George does not disappoint in this novel. One of the few Inspector Linley novels without Inspector Linley actively involved in solving the murder, I was impressed with how the writer built on Barbara Havers' strong personality to drive the storyline to a clever ending at a good pace. Tackling cultural differences is never easy and yet Elizabeth George did an amazing job here, demonstrating stereotypes, discrimination as well as what seemed to be an in...more
My mind is in conflict about this book. On one hand, I stayed up until 0336 to finish it, but all the characters and twists and turns in it were annoying, as was George's need to constantly tells us the characters who were German said "haff" "vish" "vant" etc in an aside after their dialogue until I was ready to throw the book across the room. Either put the accent in their actual dialogue or forget it all together. Or once maybe, but all the time???? I haven't read many of George's mysteries, a...more
One reason I like Inspector Lynley novels is Barbara Havers' character. She's flawed, awkward, a social misfit, dresses poorly and wears her hair most unflatteringly. But she's brilliant and stubborn and persistent and honest. She struggles with her temper, her bad habits (eating and smoking), and her difficulties working in a man's field. She struggles and sometimes sinks a bit but rises again and does her job with dogged determination to do it right. I'd hate her if she were beautiful. This is...more
Some Spoilers
At over 700 pages the story became too overwrought. The ending with the boat chase seemed too contrived.
The characters are interesting for the most part and the Muslim plot added interest. But some of the interplay became tiresome. What was the point of the dying Agathe scenes? The eight year old Hadiyyah didn’t connect with me. What was she doing all day long while her father was with the main culprit Mohannad? And why were there so many culprits?
As one reviewer mentioned, Sherlock...more
At over 700 pages the story became too overwrought. The ending with the boat chase seemed too contrived.
The characters are interesting for the most part and the Muslim plot added interest. But some of the interplay became tiresome. What was the point of the dying Agathe scenes? The eight year old Hadiyyah didn’t connect with me. What was she doing all day long while her father was with the main culprit Mohannad? And why were there so many culprits?
As one reviewer mentioned, Sherlock...more
Book 9 in the Inspector Lynley series
Elizabeth George plunges us once again into a gripping and twisted "Whodunit" plot based in Balford-le-Nez, a dying fictional sea town on the coast of Essex. True to her style, this book in the series is beautifully written, the plot well-crafted and the characterization excellent. This is a complicated mystery which may be a tad too long and a bit slow-moving at times but one that will not fail to draw you into the story immediate. You will be caught up in...more
Elizabeth George plunges us once again into a gripping and twisted "Whodunit" plot based in Balford-le-Nez, a dying fictional sea town on the coast of Essex. True to her style, this book in the series is beautifully written, the plot well-crafted and the characterization excellent. This is a complicated mystery which may be a tad too long and a bit slow-moving at times but one that will not fail to draw you into the story immediate. You will be caught up in...more
This is Elizabeth George’s ninth novel in the Inspector Lynley and Barbara Havers series. This book centers to Sergeant Havers who opts to insert herself in a murder mystery involving her neighbor, Taymullah Azhar. Havers adores his daughter and believes Azhar will be in above his head and so she follows him to the small town where his family lives. This novel includes a view into the social prejudice of English to Pakistani and visversa. Enjoyed getting to know Barbara Havers. Really good myste...more
Part of the Inspector Lynley series but a rarity in that Lynley is barely in the book at all, instead the focus of the book is DS Barbara Havers. Barbara is on an enforced holiday after being severely beaten in the last installment, "In the Presence of the Enemy." She becomes involved in a potentially explosive situation as she follows her Pakistani neighbors to a town near the coast where a young Pakistani man has been brutally murdered and the potential of racial riots may break out at any mom...more
When Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers' Pakistani neighbor Taymullah Azhar and his eight year old daughter depart unexpectedly for a seaside village, responding to an upsurge of racial tension involving his family, Havers (who has a few issues with impulse control) takes advantage of a mandated holiday from her job and follows them, thinking to aid Azhar in navigating official channels. On arrival, however, she discovers that Azhar's background is more complicated than she realized. Once she lea...more
In deze pittige serie wordt de hoofdrol gespeeld door een aantal roulerende Scotland Yard-rechercheurs. In di boek wordt Sgt. Barbara Havers bij een moordzaak betrokken terwijl ze op vakantie is in een naargeestige kustplaats aan de zuidkust van Engeland.
Moord op Pakistaans immigrant
Het slachtoffer: Haytham Querashi, een Pakistaanse immigrant die een paar dagen later zou worden uitgehuwelijkt aan de prachtige Sahlah Malik, dochter van de eigenaar van een plaatselijke fabriek.
Verwerking van de mo...more
Moord op Pakistaans immigrant
Het slachtoffer: Haytham Querashi, een Pakistaanse immigrant die een paar dagen later zou worden uitgehuwelijkt aan de prachtige Sahlah Malik, dochter van de eigenaar van een plaatselijke fabriek.
Verwerking van de mo...more
My favorite book in the series so far. In this volume George tackles race in addition to her usual class and gender investigations (no biggie, just intersectional all over the place). Barbara Havers (who is the shit) is supposed to be recovering from wounds incurred during her last investigation when she follows her Pakistani neighbors to the Essex coast for a "holiday." Once there, she finds Azhar is aiding the Pakistani community in a murder investigation of one of their own, as well as a dete...more
I just finished this for the second time. I couldn't remember all the details of the end, so I decided it was time to enjoy it again. I love the books in this series that involve Taymullah Azar and his delightful daughter. They are both very good characters.
The plot of this book, like most of her work, is pretty complex. A Pakistani man was murdered on the beach and the Pakistani community is up in arms because they feel that a white person has done the crime and that the local police will try t...more
The plot of this book, like most of her work, is pretty complex. A Pakistani man was murdered on the beach and the Pakistani community is up in arms because they feel that a white person has done the crime and that the local police will try t...more
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Susan Elizabeth George is an American author of mystery novels set in Great Britain. Eleven of her novels, featuring her character Inspector Lynley, have been adapted for television by the BBC as The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.
She was born in Warren, Ohio, but moved to the S...more
More about Elizabeth George...
Susan Elizabeth George is an American author of mystery novels set in Great Britain. Eleven of her novels, featuring her character Inspector Lynley, have been adapted for television by the BBC as The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.
She was born in Warren, Ohio, but moved to the S...more
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