OFFICIAL BLURBTo this day, the low, thin wail of an infant can be heard in Keldale's lush green valleys. Three hundred years ago, as legend goes, the frightened Yorkshire villagers smothered a crying babe in Keldale Abbey, where they'd hidden to escape the ravages of Cromwell's raiders.Now into Keldale's pastoral web of old houses and older secrets comes Scotland Yard Inspector Thomas Lynley, the eighth earl of Asherton. Along with the redoubtable Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, Lynley has been sent to solve a savage murder that has stunned the peaceful countryside. For fat, unlovely Roberta Teys has been found in her best dress, an axe in her lap, seated in the old stone barn beside her father's headless corpse. Her first and last words were "I did it. And I'm not sorry."Yet as Lynley and Havers wind their way through Keldale's dark labyrinth of secret scandals and appalling crimes, they uncover a shattering series of revelations that will reverberate through this tranquil English valley—and in their own lives as well. Susan Elizabeth George is an American author writing murder mysteries set in Great Britain. She's doing a good job, since she mastered the English dialogue so well, that I would never have suspected her being American.A friend gave me the first book as a gift, and after finishing it, I ventured off into the author's other works, just to discover that it was the beginning of 19 books in this Inspector Lynley series. Digging deeper into the history of the series, I also discovered that it was turned into a popular television series, covering several seasons. Let's face it, the Brits love their murder mysteries and they know how to bring these stories alive. I'm really a sucker for it. Cannot leave them alone.The easy flow of the plot and story line keeps the reader committed to the prose. It reminds me of the cozy Agatha Christie novels. The author managed to built accurate characters. For instance, Scotland Yard Inspector Thomas Lynley is truly noble in his conduct, apart from having the appropriate bloodline as well. Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers acts authentically as a product of the lower income groups with less veneer and polish. Her people-skills are also a problem in her interaction with the public.Since I am not a fan or groupie of the British class system, I couldn't care less who were blessed by birth to be better than the rest of us, thus did not get excited about the possible lords and ladies tripling down the word-lanes of this narrative. I also did not hail Barbara Havers as the ultimate representative of the working class, due to her unresolved issues driving me a little bit bonkers. That doesn't mean that her character was not authentic, on the contrary. The overall emphasizing of the class system should have been expected, we're in Britain after all, but it did scratch my back with a steel brush from time to time. And then there was the depiction of the poor fat (and) unlovely Roberta Teys as a mortally despicable soul. For heaven's sake! - the girl is FAT! FAT! you hear?! Anybody treating her anything other than disabled and disgusting, will be socially abandoned by society. And that includes you, reader! FAT PEOPLE ARE UNACCEPTABLE, PERIOD! And don 't you dare differ! All the grown ups in the village were guilty of her condition and her conduct. Nobody cared to listen when she tried to find some help. The only solution she had to protect herself, was to eat....and eat.... and eat. When she was finally successful and the focus moved from her to someone else she loved, she made a plan on her own. The grown ups turned their heads away from the revolting, obese little girl, hoping the problem will go away. They turned their backs on a lonely scared little girl. She had no one to trust. It makes me wonder: are you allowed by society, or by yourself, to have chubby, happy-faced obese friends? No? Well, it's a sad world we're living in, isn't it?So yes, my hackles were a bit up with these insecure anti-obesity lot, a bunch of scoundrels if you ask me, and that includes the Catholic priest. But that's my problem. Everybody in the world has problems, that one is mine, for sure.And then I wonder: if you decapitate someone in self defense, can it be regarded as murder? I don't think so. Even if it was premeditated, I probably would have been an accomplice in this instance! Worse, if I was in on the deal, some people, and I am not naming names here, would have hanged from the rafters by their stems, like pumpkins.Now, that was not the main focus of my reading experience. It's just a 'so by the way' - observation. The overall experience was a good one. I enjoyed it. And I will certainly read the second book. After that I will have to see...But really, any murder mystery groupie, like yours truly, will simply grab onto this series and release the breaks! Just go for it. It's one of the best!
Era stato proprio un gran maleducato. Le aveva starnutito fragorosamente in faccia, inondandola di schizzi, dopo aver resistito allo stimolo per almeno tre quarti d'ora.Solo la George può iniziare così un romanzo e non temere di perdere audience.. Mitica!!Per chi ama il genere thriller (ma anche per chi vorrebbe approciarvisi, per chi ha curiosità, per chi vuol cambiare aria..) questo libro è davvero imperdibile. La George scrive divinamente e vi catturerà! Per me era una rilettura, ma l'ho iniziato e finito in 4 ore scarse.. Non riuscivo a smettere!La coppia di investigatori che la George ha deciso di creare è meravigliosa. Senza di loro, la storia sarebbe 'solo' bella', non bellissima!! Non potrebbero essere più diversi, il confronto notte/giorno rispetto a loro è nulla! Linley è un conte, aristocratico, dalle buone (anzi ottime) maniere, ricco e bellissimo; Havers è una donna bruttarella (forse addirittura 'brutta'), cinica, amareggiata, con un caratteraccio e con una famiglia difficile da tollerare. Lei DETESTA Linley (ahh, che tenerezza! Mica lo ricordavo! Che gioia assistere all'evoluzione del loro rapporto.. *_*) e dentro di sé sa che quelle del conte sono tutte apparenze. Il suo capo le ha detto di lavorare con lui perché avrebbe potuto imparare qualcosa, ma lei non capisce cosa, almeno fino a quando non incontrano Roberta:"Credo sia una notizia un po' difficile per te da accettare, Roberta, ma siamo stati da tua madre, oggi. Sai che abita a York? Hai un altro fratello e una sorella, là. C8i ha detto quanto tuo padre amasse te e Gillian".Il movimento cessò. Il volto non cambiò espressione e non c'era modo di intuire se avesse capito, ma cominciarono a scenderle le lacrime. Erano rivoli silenziosi di muto dolore che affondavano tra le pieghe di grasos e salivano sulle protuberanze dell'acne. Con le lacrime venne il muco. Cominciò a scendere dal naso in un filo viscido che le bagnò le labbra e raggiunse il mento. Linley si accovacciò davanti a lei. Tirò fuori dalla tasca un fazzoletto immacolato e le pulì la faccia. Le prese la mano grassoccia e senza vita nella sua e la strinse forte.Linley possiede un'umanità che scalda il cuore. Ecco cosa. Fa tenerezza.. Questa scena penso rimarrà una delle mie preferite tra quelle lette su tanti libri.. Sono contenta di aver riletto il libro solo per questi due paragrafi.. Non commetterò nuovamente l'errore di dimenticarli! :)La George è in grado di scavare nell'animo umano e capire le persone in modo straordinario.. E' un dono, il suo! E il fatto che abbia deciso di condividere con noi questo suo dono, non può che rendermi felice.Tra tutti i personaggi, memorabili sono Simon, amico di infanzia di Linley e Helen, sua (umm) amante. Simon è una persona così calma e serena che viene voglia di averlo attorno per un Karma migliore.. Non so se, al posto suo, con la sua storia alle spalle ela minaccia di Linley nel presente, sarei riuscita ad essere una grande persona quale lo è lui. Questa imperturbabilità ci accompagnerà anche nei romanzi successivi, punto fermo quando tutto il resto cambia.. *_*Helen è una donna ricca, bellissima e totalmente incapace di occuparsi di una casa. Sarebbe così facile odiarla, ritenerla una povera ricca sciocca e snob.. Ma lei non è nulla di tutto ciò: so di parlare col senno di poi per la sua presenza negli altri libri, ma lei è intelligente, buona, dolce, amabile. Veramente speciale!Padre Hart l'ho odiato profondamente. Lui e la sua religione.. Quante disgrazie avrebbe potuto evitare!Al di là dei personaggi, la narrazione è grandiosa, così come gli intrecci; certo, si vede che siamo di fronte ad una George un po' acerba.. Ma se la cava egregiamente ;)Io già non vedo l'ora di rileggere il secondo! *_*
What do You think about A Great Deliverance (1989)?
When I started my mystery genre binge, I decided to do a little research to find out what British mystery series (I did want to start a series) rated highest amongst critics and readers. Inevitably, Elizabeth George's Inspector Lyndley series ranked amongst the highest. So I started with this novel, the first in the series, and was most assuredly not disappointed. Both Inspector Lyndley and his partner, Barbara Havers, are wonderfully complex characters, each with their own baggage and their own brilliance. The story was just gritty enough (but as over-the-top as the Scandinavian thriller writers tend to be!) to keep me interested, but George certainly focuses on her characters, which is a must if you are writing a series. All in all, I can understand what the hype is about....I enjoyed the novel thoroughly and immediately bought the next in the series.
—Michele
Mysteries no longer seem mysterious. At least the ones that have fallen into my hands in the past few years. tWhat the hell do you mean? will be the retort of the critical friend. A non-mysterious mystery? And then, a glance will follow with this implication, criticism now tinted with concern: Marie-Jo must have hit her head on a real hard surface. Main be it’s time for brain surgery. tBefore I am being taken to the hospital, however, let me explain. I believe that what has been placed on the forefront this past decade or so is the technical novel. This type of crime fiction centered on police procedure, forensics, etc., chooses action over introspection. The prose is precise; the pace, never slow but always controlled. What’s wrong with that? Absolutely nothing, except that, devoid of explorative psychology, these books are basically interchangeable. And, honestly, a bit cold. Brr...tFor, more often than not, they also dismiss flesh and bones. Well, duh. The critical friend is back, I see. Isn’t that what a murderer does? Eliminate life — flesh and bones? Murderers are allowed, I want to say. I don’t know if authors should be given that permission. If an author is too vague about her characters’ physiognomies, she is also a murderer in some way: she kills an essential part of creativity —its backbone, in my opinion. For this descriptive part alone can take fiction to greater intricacies than the just mentioned cold, technical novel. Ah, yes, but we do live in a cold, technical society, and this affects writing. But writing can affect societies as well. Bring back the flesh, bring back the bones, bring back the colors. Think of the famous Hercules Poirot’s mustache, which underlines his vanity, and an arrogance that Agatha Christie ridicules, despite the fact that he is one of most brilliant fictional detectives of all times. Remember also Poirot’s oh-so-gentle voice, which makes him sneaky and just a bit snaky. Dangerous to his prey which, we are happy to know, will be a killer.t That’s where Elizabeth George, who writes in the tradition of the grande dame of crime, comes in. In A Great Deliverance, the character makes the mystery. Psychology, as much as the murder investigation itself, constructs the plot. Which basically goes like this: A man is beheaded with an axe, and his daughter admits to the crime. She is then placed into a psychiatric hospital where she refuses to say another word. The investigators have to rely on the testimonies of character witnesses who seem to contradict each other.t I wouldn’t go as far as saying that the crime is secondary to the plot. Not quite. But around its fragile center other mysteries unravel. More tranquil mysteries. Just as —or more— fascinating. That’s what a good mystery author does: make her mystery more mysterious until that final, emotional explosion. In the not-so-quiet British village where the murder occurred, there are bastioned doors that finally come unlocked: unrequited loves, sex addictions, unsustainable cruelties, unforgivable cowardice.tAs if this complex plot were not enough to captivate the reader, George adds yet other layers with the detectives, torn with individual, as well as social issues. The angry female detective comes from the people; her male superior is mild-mannered and aristocratic. If they clash at the beginning, they end up finding some truce, in part because they are inhabited by personal demons that know no class difference. Suffering is the great equalizer.tA Great Deliverance is not the latest sensation. In fact, it was first published in 1988. But I think I am about to become an Elizabeth George addict. Because of flesh and bones. Color. All that. In a world that is cold, that all too often discourages passion, this narrative warmth is, well, refreshing.t
—Marie-Jo Fortis
One of my Goodreads friends suggested that the Inspector Lynley series was one of the best in detective fiction, and that the books should be read in order. I had only seen the PBS series on television, so I tried this, the first one. At first I was put off by George's oblique writing style, half-introducing many characters, with only slight hints of why or whether they might be important. And at first I thought that Lynley was far too perfect and Havers far too crippled by self-loathing to be believed. But by the end of the book I had become a believer. Now my only objection is an "absolutely appalling" American, a caricature so over-the-top in crassness that I don't think even Basil Fawlty could have dreamed him up. But the other characters, the complexity of the mystery, the final resolution (which had me completely fooled) were all far superior to the run-of-the-mill mystery. It all turned out to be a bit grim for me, so I'll probably take a break from the series for a while; but I will definitely be back. The resolution, after much suffering, conveys the hopefulness reflected in the title (a reference to Joseph's forgiveness of his brothers in Genesis).
—Jon
