The Lesson of Her Death

by Jeffery Deaver

Bill Corde looks down at the face of the murdered girl and sees the horror of sudden death. He cannot know, as he stands there at the trampled, muddy scene beside the college girl’s corpse, that his own life is about to slip into terror. He cannot know that everything he holds precious is about to shatter before his eyes. He cannot know that his career–and his family–are about to enter a new dimension of danger. For Bill Corde, the killer is everything he fears most. For Sarah, Bill’s wild, learning-impaired daughter, trapped in a world of frustration and ridicule, he may be just the person she’s been waiting for. Someone who understands her worries and loneliness. Someone who signs his notes “The Sunshine Man.” Someone she can run away with–even a perfect stranger.From the Paperback edition.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Crime, Suspense, Detective, Mystery Thriller

528 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

#1 international bestselling author of over thirty novels and three collections of short stories. His books are sold in 150 countries and translated into 25 languages. His first novel featuring Lincoln Rhyme, The Bone Collector, was made into a major motion picture starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. He's received or been shortlisted for a number of awards around the world.

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fortunately, Jeffery Deaver became a better writer after this '93 novel was published. 4 of 10 stars

[Toralf Saffer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ganz schwach!

Im Provinznest New Lebanon wird eine junge Studentin ermordet. Detective Bill Corde leitet die Ermittlungen und gerät recht schnell zwischen verschiedene Interessensgruppen. Die örtliche Universität – Hauptarbeitgeber und Aushängeschild der Region - steckt in finanziellen Schwierigkeiten und kann keine schlechte Publicity gebrauchen, der Vater des Opfers heuert einen Privatermittler an, der notfalls mit viel Geld den Ruf der Ermordeten schützen soll und dann sind da noch Kollegen aus dem Sheriffdepartment, welche einen Kultmord hinter der Tat vermuten. Schließlich wird auch Cordes Familie bedroht und es gibt ein zweites Opfer. So weit so gut, da kann man was draus machen – muss man aber nicht.
Was Deaver hier abliefert ist pure Langeweile, eine verworrene Handlung ohne klare Linien oder logischen Schlüssen. Die Protagonisten sind nicht richtig ausgearbeitet, vielen bleiben unvollendet und ein bedeutender Teil der Abläufe erschließen sich dem Leser nicht. Keine Ahnung was hier schiefgelaufen ist – Deaver kann das eigentlich viel besser – dieses Buch kann ich nicht empfehlen.

[Magnus Stanke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jeffrey Deaver classic from the early 90s, and he's in top form
Admittledly I'd tried reading this a while back and stopped. I think Deaver himself said once that everybody can learn to write; by sticking to a certain genre formula any plot could be turned into a swell thriller. Well, with that (possible misquote) in mind I only saw a thriller by the numbers. Now, that I picked up the book again I loved it.
Obviously there's a lot more than formula here, and besides, it takes a lot of technique to make any formula work. In 'The Lessons of Her Death' Deaver goes much further. As a result he's created alchemy that makes it all work, and there's enough humanity in his characters to root for exactly the people he wants us to root for. The twists and red herrings are expertly places and paced, and all together he scored a bull's-eye here.

[Dodol Surodol · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay book, if lacking some of Deaver's qualities in the other books. Too many twists and turns, as if the author had a bet with a friend or something.

It starts a little slow and picks up the pace about two third in. A local deputy sheriff larger than the small town he lives in, Bill Corde picks up a co-ed murder case and soon finds himself entangled in politics and personal issues. With a daughter plowing through learning difficulties, a son battling inner demons, and a wife struggling to stay faithful, Corde uncovers a web of affairs in a university that desperately wants to remain afloat. More deaths follow and it's almost inevitable that the killer ultimately sets his sights on the main character's own family.

The book has its Deaver moments, especially towards the end when you can't turn the pages fast enough. The challenges of raising a child with learning disabilities feel real and you can sense the frustration in both parents and child alike.

However...


Bill Corde's professional and personal lives entwine so much it makes you think of a soap opera where everyone has to play an important part somehow. In the end, it doesn't matter because the perpetrator turns out to be no one we have seen before in the book.

Which, as Deaver himself said in his Twisted introduction, in a novel -- a 500-pager nonetheless -- is almost cheating.

[A Darwish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was gonna give this a 4.5 due to the slow start the book had and the wayyyy too many characters at the beginning but what made it a 5 star book for me was the plot twist within the plot twist, from halfway through the book I’m led on to believe its Ben and that it was your classical plot twist but no, far from it.
They gave me the idea and I carried it for a bit then I was led on to believe it’s your normal detective plot twist, innovation at its finest.
I’m a bit unsatisfied with the end but I have to say Diane is by far the worst mother/wife in history while poor Corde was stuck in the “no wrong choices” situation, panning out in the end for the greater good of his family, even if it means destroying his relationship with them.

[Windy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very disappointed. I thought it was just me but reading other reviews I see that this is not considered his best work. Some reviewers have said the last 200 pages are good, sorry but I'm not prepared to slog through the first 300 to find out!

[Meeka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

[Pawan Tripathi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really disappointed by 'The Girl on the Train' and saw "The Lesson of her death" on the rack.

"Another murder mystery" I thought but picked it up nevertheless, as it was by Jeffery Deaver and I was not wrong with the expectations that I had.

From page one, Mr Deaver forces you to break your thinking pattern with breaks in narration.
Here is Bill Corde, may be the smartest cop of New Lebanon.
Certainly the most persistent one.
There are enough juicy subplots, enough characters and enough complications to entice any diligent reader.
The characters are very real and life like and some might test your patience.
In the midst of this chaos, is Bill Corde and his family.
With the murder of a young university student starts the turmoil in his life as he finds his loved ones threatened by the same killer. Also central to the plot his his daughter Sarah who sufferes from dyslexia and lives in a world of her own where the killer is a wizard named 'sunshine man' who will rescue her from her struggles of dealing with a normal world.
Midway through the novel, I was breathing in the air of New Lebanon and feeling sorry for him.

This is not your ordinary run of the mill murder mystery.
This is a story of what happened once in New Lebanon and captures beautifully the politics in academic institutes and police departments, the pursuit of a serial killer, the suffering of dealing with a learning impaired child in a family, the fantasies of teenagers and adults and whatnot.

This is a must read, recommended highly. You'll not be able to anticipate what is going to happen next and there will be a lot of "I don't see that coming".
At the end, there is at least one lesson of her death which I learned.
In your quest for a bigger goal,never lose track of things which are near and dear to you.

[Richard Claypool · Rating 1 out of 5]

I won't write a full review, because this book doesn't seserve such treatment.

The main grips about this book was: it's lenth, the stereotpical brilliant killer, and uneven writing. Let's not forget that this was one of his earlie works, came right around Silence of the Lambs was being a movie craze, and that the trope had not saturated as a total trope like it has today. Well, no, it hasn't .. those books are still being churned out by the metric ton,.

smacks myself, this is a book review, and not a rant on formulaic fiction.

What, nothing good to say about the book? Interesting subplot with the little girl, and her learning disability. Honestly, she interested me more than the actual case itself. Moderately fleshed out characters and supporting cast that wasn't totally a discredit. Tipical twists that are indicative in his later work.

If you've not read this author, don't make this your first. If you have read him, I'd steer clear unless you're a diehard fan of any suspense that comes along.

[Hart Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had some good twists and turns, but I didn't like the characters (or at least VERY few)--it's hard to read an MC who alternates between clueless and a jerk. He redeems himself a little, but not enough. The killer, too, also doesn't make much sense--the motive isn't adequate and Deaver's understanding of women (at least as of 1993) seems to fluctuate between fantasy and mysogeny.

I have heard good enough stuff about later books that I think this may just be an early foible, but if you want to read Deaver, this is not the one to pick.

[Dan Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

For Bill Corde, the killer is everything he fears most. For Sarah, Bill’s wild, learning-impaired daughter, trapped in a world of frustration and ridicule, he may be just the person she’s been waiting for. Someone who understands her worries and loneliness. Someone who signs his notes “The Sunshine Man.” Someone she can run away with–even a perfect stranger.

Bill is a police detective who is searching for the killer of two young women. Somehow, he becomes a part of the problem in trying to find him.

[Alexis · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Lesson of Her Death is one of very few novels in this genre that I've been unable to finish. The plot was going nowhere fast, which is why I rated it the way I did. The characters are all very flat and have no personality.

[Yanie]

it's DEAVER-FEVER i should say! a few times ei've been oscillating through the first few pages before i got entirely hooked to this megalomania-cal read. What a suspense genius! The fascinating thought is the incorporation of classic literature with psychological thriller leaving each reader with the gripping suspense feeling each time the writer jumps from a setting to the other ;thus reminds me of 'Criminal Minds' quotation 'to catch a criminal you'd have to think like one' Oh Gad how does he do that? i mean, you'd have to be keen and jeeezz! the different citations from the many classicists we've known, or if not known - heard of? i guess leaves every reading enthusiasts awestruck - one thing that i love about this was it left me moronic in a way that it provokes me & m7y idiosyncrasy to jump into research & self-studies lol. Now, many are the times i've had to painstakingly scribble on them highfalutin terms used - I love brian okun♥ ;i find his character intensely lovable & i effin loved the twist Deaver emplaced, the mystery behind jennie's unexplainable death, the unending hunt for the murderer - oh, and i believe i became downright head-over-heel on this when i knew jennie's bisexuality the thought of her choosing Emily over all the other men she's been involved -- and them aren't just some-men*** these are highly-intellectual men of extreme strangeness both in bed & are Fckn SMART-arses!!! anyhow, excuse my hysteria but i just kinda felt a little ecstatic after this read, deaver is a genius! can't wait to get hooked on his next book!

[Sandy Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Copyright 1993. We first meet Lt. Bill Corde, Detective in the New Lebanon Sheriff's Department, when he drops his 9-year-old daughter Sarah off at school before heading to a crime scene, the first murder of the year in this small town. Seconds later his daughter leaves school and follows him. She has learning disabilities and hates school. His son, a freshman in high school, is active in sports and clubs and appears okay. His wife is stressing out because, now that there's a murder case, she knows she'll have to handle all the parent duties on her own. Sound like a dull story? Not in the least. Woven into this family's circumstances is a sheriff who insists on tying this murder of this college student to one the year before and, in the process, scaring the town to death about a serial killer. Auden college, a privately funded college, after some financial shenanigans, is in a precarious position for the upcoming audit. Several of the professors had been sleeping with the deceased (among other) are hustling to cover their tracks. Two teenage boys, totally engrossed in a fantasy movie, assuming alter identities, know more about the dead girl than they shared. A former cop, hired by the Jennie's father, to keep an eye on the case and, in the process, interfering with it. A mystery man who leaves photos and threats against Corde and his children. There are lots of suspects (including our protagonist who has a past that has not, as yet, come to light) along with many surprises: shocking, tragic, pleasant, nail-biting. Simply amazing.

[Ainee Beland · Rating 2 out of 5]

I took to reading this work by Deaver who is also the author many works, one in particular that was made into a film is The Bone Collector; and I don’t know if his other books were made into films. I can’t make up my mind if I liked this book or not; but I must say that I did not. It was suspenseful and yet not a page turner or grabber. The book is written in three parts; profile, physical evidence and close pursuit and had the profile been right, than the book would have ended long ago.
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The idea of someone going through your children personals; entering your home under false pretense and leaving things/gifts for your children etc. but this sort of thing could happen to others with not children. When attempting to read a story at times it is parlayed around and I am unsure why this happens; to make you stop what you are doing, while those they want doing reaps...unsure what is being done when it's known what I am reading or not.
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I am sorry for not making sense and for taking what is fiction personal; I guess this proves that I am illiterate.

[Serge]

I enjoyed this novel very much, my first by this author, and I am glad it is a stand-alone. I had no problems with the numerous characters, I like the portrayal of life in a small Midwest town, enlivened by a university. The fast switches from one action to the other are extremely well handled, exactly what a page-turner should be. But I was disapointed in the identity of the killer. Ben would have been a perfect villain, a nutcase who developed a soft spot for the mother and the daughter. Instead we have Leon, a character who does not appear until the end of the novel, about whom we know nothing up to that point. I guess Ben would have been too easy to spot by the readers; the author needed one more twist at the end. Also, Leon would be very unlikely to gain access to the detective's house, including the bedrooms. The brother, Jamie, would be a candidate for the notes and photographs, since he had psychological issues of his own

[Alicia Utter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 8/10
Pages: 580

I thought I had figured out the bad guy about 300 pages in, but there was a switch. I enjoyed a lot of the twists and turns, but a bit in the weeds sometimes. This book would be perfect for an airplane trip. I think some of the women were not as fleshed out but I loved the main detective, Bill Corde. Of course he gets suspended, and of course his partner is trying to get on the force. The contrived parts were a bit overused. However, i loved that this was before the web took over everyone's lives, so they are out at the scenes. And that sleuthing was integral in the narrative. The switch ups were good. Some of the story is very stuck in that time--the murders would not have occurred, etc. The small town feel was very well done throughout. Overall, it was a good mystery--even if the killing was a bit dramatic. Corde and his daughter were definitely the ones that the reader is rooting for. I would read another one by Deaver--

Giving away

[Emanuela Myrtezaj · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intriguing and fascinating mystery, this is the first book I have read by this author and I liked it extremely much. As a fan of thriller and mystery I was not disappointed by the way the author presented the characters and all the twists and turns throughout the book. It all starts with the death of a student from the local college. Bill, the detective who has dealt with many cases in his career, for the first time feels himself in danger, and his biggest fear is the threat being made to his family by a killer. For the girl’s killer is now on the trail of Bill and his unsuspecting family: his wife, teenage son, and imaginative but vulnerable daughter, Sarah. Sarah, who knows the identity of the killer…He does everything possible to prevent the killer from approaching his family. In a place where it is covered by strange people, who can you trust?

[Cybercrone · Rating 1 out of 5]

I never thought I'd say this about Deaver, but this was one of the most boring books I've ever read. It just staggered on forever with completely boring characters who behaved improbably at times and a plot that just couldn't keep my interest.
Some amazingly awful English clunkers, and the page count could have profitably been cut in half.
Just glad Deaver stuck with it and found his stride so we can enjoy what he does now.

[Edna Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 ⭐. While I love Jeffery Deaver, this one just didn't meet my expectations. This is a really early Jeffrey Deaver novel (stand alone). I listened to this on audiobook and definitely didn't care for the narration. As far as the story, some parts were slow. And how they handle the storyline of the main character's daughter frustrated me quite a bit. Fortunately, Deaver made huge improvements with his writing style by the time the Lincoln Rhyme and Kathryn Dance novels were started.

[Glenn Armstrong · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Lesson of Her Death was a difficult read. Very slow to get going, too many characters and too much going on. The characters were stereotypical and the plot formulaic. Being a 30 year old book i will be somewhat lenient in this regard. The whole motive for the crimes seems far fetched, ridiculous and beyond belief. Much of the dialogue is corny and the portrayal of women appalling. Not recommended reading.

[Donni Slater · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seems to be one of the first books Jeffery Deaver wrote. You can tell his writing is unsophisticated . But that's not even the worse. I listened to this one and the reader and the production was awful! There was no break from one scene to the next. I kept having to rewind because it didn't make sense. And someone really should have told her to READ FOR CONTEXT! It was very frustrating. I know that has nothing to do with the author but I hope some future producer will take heed.

[Rebecca Shields · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deaver is a first rate suspense writer, but a few things struck me a little off in this novel as opposed to say, more recent Lincoln Rhyme stories. There was a little too much explicit sexual description for my taste, and some of the way in which women were referred to felt uncomfortable, sexist and degrading. Those caveats aside, this is a decent mystery.

[Graeme Whitton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Jeffrey Deaver and though I ended up quite enjoying this book it's not one of his best. I believe it's one of his earliest books and it shows. It's too long and takes far too long to get going. The first half of the book felt, at times, like wading through quicksand. He can and has done much better.

[Tyler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just couldn’t finish it. It’s like he took every character in the suspense genre and put them in this book. The misfit teenager, overweight and abused by his father, the child with a learning disability, the angst ridden cop who may or may not have cheated on his wife, the rich father, the promiscuous college students. I really tried to finish but couldn’t.

[Jacky · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Uneven in parts, spotted quite a number of typos but there are human elements in here and characters that held my interest and investment. For a slightly bumpy read, I did like the ending. True to life, just like life, there aint no real resolution.
It didn't feel so much like a thriller / mystery then a story about this cop and his family.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty decent crime thriller. We follow a detective investigating the brutal murder of a university student, with several staff members and townspeople falling under suspicion.

I warmed up to the book as time went on. I found the sheer number of characters introduced at the start a little confusing, but the multiple twists and turns at the end made up for it.

The subplot about the detective's daughter's learning disability was a bit out of place but it was actually one of the most interesting parts of the book.

[May · Rating 3 out of 5]

The slowest I have ever read his book. It didn’t feel like his book at all. It was slow, storyline not quite convincing and hard to root for any of the characters. A nice attempt of describing dyslexia as part of the story.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rip roaring murder thriller with many twists and turns. This story takes place in a small college town and it seems that most of the characters are not very bright. I liked some of the author's other works more, but this book is still highly entertaining.

[Norma E Langer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was definitely not One of Deavers best books. It was very difficult to follow the characters and none of them had any depth. Was very disappointed in it. The last few chapters were the only interesting parts of the whole book.