Product Description

New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth George is back with a spellbinding tale of mystery and murder featuring Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley.

On compassionate leave after the murder of his wife, Thomas Lynley is called back to Scotland Yard when the body of a woman is found stabbed and abandoned in an isolated London cemetery. His former team doesn't trust the leadership of their new department chief, Isabelle Ardery, whose management style seems to rub everyone the wrong way. In fact, Lynley may be the sole person who can see beneath his superior officer's hard-as-nails exterior to a hidden—and possibly attractive—vulnerability.

While Lynley works in London, his former colleagues Barbara Havers and Winston Nkata follow the murder trail south to the New Forest. There they discover a beautiful and strange place where animals roam free, the long-lost art of thatching is very much alive, and outsiders are not entirely welcome. What they don't know is that more than one dark secret lurks among the trees, and that their investigation will lead them to an outcome that is both tragic and shocking.

A multilayered jigsaw puzzle of a story skillfully structured to keep readers guessing until the very end, This Body of Death is a magnificent achievement from a writer at the peak of her powers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #226230 in Books
• Published on: 2010-04-20
• Released on: 2010-04-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 1.67" h x 6.32" w x 9.30" l, 1.88 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 692 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Bestseller George's richly rewarding 16th novel to feature Det. Insp. Thomas Lynley (after Careless in Red) offers an intricate plot that will satisfy even jaded fans of psychological suspense. Aggressively career-minded Isabelle Ardery, the new acting superintendent of London's Metropolitan Police, boldly manages to lure Lynley, who's been grieving over his wife's murder, back from Cornwall to look into a murder case. The body of Jemima Hastings, a young woman recently relocated from Hampshire, has turned up in a London cemetery. With suspects in both locales and numerous leads to follow and interviews to conduct, Ardery succeeds in raising the hackles of Det. Sgt. Barbara Havers, Det. Insp. John Stewart, and other members of the investigating team. George tantalizes with glimpses of a horrific earlier murder case; showcases Lynley at his shrewdest, most diplomatic best; and confounds readers with a complex array of evidence, motives, and possible solutions. 6-city author tour. (May)
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From Booklist
Rarely can a conventional mystery sustain itself over nearly 650 pages. Some P. D. James novels have been almost that long and have succeeded in maintaining suspense and holding the reader, but this latest from George—acclaimed crime writer and winner of the Anthony Award, Agatha Award, and France’s Le Grand Prix de Littérature Policière—fails on both counts. There is a too-leisurely feel throughout, a sense that the author is luxuriating in extra space, and that’s not a good fit for suspense. Detective Inspector Lynley returns, still grieving the deaths of his wife and unborn child in Cornwall, but moving forward, assisting New Scotland Yard in an investigation involving a young woman whose body was found in a London cemetery. George intersects this plotline with a real-life case, the Bulger kidnapping, involving the harrowing kidnapping and murder of a toddler by three boys. Reimagining this case, with all the details a novelist can bring to bear, seems in bad taste at best. Except for Inspector Lynley, whose character is always intriguing, the two plots limp along, making little headway. In addition, the new love interest that George provides for Lynley seems contrived. This very bloated effort will interest only George’s longtime fans. --Connie Fletcher

Review
“This Body of Death is wonderful.” (San Francisco Chronicle on This Body of Death )

“Captivating…the writer’s insights into social and emotional issues make her work deeply rewarding.” (Seattle Times on This Body of Death )

“Richly rewarding…offers an intricate plot that will satisfy even jaded fans of psychological suspense.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review) on This Body of Death )

“George’s dense plotting style and complex characterization are on full display as Lynley and Havers, working separately, try to uncover the truth.” (Romantic Times on This Body of Death )

“This is the kind of mystery that Elizabeth George does best….Ms. George has done a brilliant job…and this is probably her best mystery in years.” (Washington Times on This Body of Death )

“[George’s] Inspector Lynley novels are very substantial psychological thrillers, big, deeply intelligent, rich in characterization...and atmospheric as a walk on the moors with a faithful bloodhound.” (Sullivan County Democrat (NY) on This Body of Death )

“George has once again delivered a thick, knotty, densely plotted mystery. As always, it isn’t a book to tear through in an hour, but one to read slowly, over many sittings, and savor.” (Entertainment Weekly on This Body of Death, “18 Books We Can’t Wait to Read This Summer” )

“A spellbinding tale of mystery and murder.” (Oklahoman on This Body of Death )

“Elizabeth George writes exceptional mysteries, with intelligent, complex plots and well-developed characters....Her pace is skillful.” (Daily American (PA) on This Body of Death )

“An intricate mystery.” (Iron Mountain Daily News (MI) on This Body of Death )

“A rich, unsettling work.” (Richmond Times Dispatch on This Body of Death )

“A hauntingly memorable experience.” (New York Journal of Books on This Body of Death )

“Dark, unrelenting, and powerful.” (Kirkus Reviews on This Body of Death )