This Body of Death: An Inspector Lynley Novel, by Elizabeth George, B-plus, narrated by John Lee, produced by Harper Audio, downloaded from audible.com.

Lynley is trying to decide whether or not to come back to The Met. He definitely does not want to come back as Acting Superintendent. Then Isabelle Ardery is put in as the new Acting Superintendent. She’s ambitious, ruthless, and immediately sees that in order to get the team to work together, she has to get Lynley to come back, at least for a while. He does. Now he must work directly with Isabelle, and of course there is sexual tension. (Unfortunate that!) Barbara Havers is hurt as Lynley and Ardery become more intimate friends. (I don’t know if we’re supposed to believe she’s in love with Lynley, but if so, that gimmick is getting old). But I digress. There are two major crimes being investigated in this book, only one of them happens 15 to 20 years earlier. The earlier crime involves three boys in a shopping center who, to amuse themselves one boring day, kidnap a toddler, drag him around for several hours and kill him. (That part is based loosely on a true story.) The other crime, happening today, is that a young woman is found murdered and left in the loo at a park building. She has been stabbed with some sort of weapon, which then has been pulled out and she bled to death. In trying to figure out this murder, we involve people in London as well as other parts of the country. Barbara Havers goes her usual contrary way, (bless her heart.) An added feature here is that the new acting superintendent has commanded Barbara to dress more professionally, and Barbara spends some time, with the help of her nine-year-old compatriot, Habeah, and her father, downstairs neighbors. A very good book despite its irritating elements.