Ninth in the Inspector Lynley mystery series set in contemporary London.The StoryTommy 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 CharactersI think Emily does Barbara a world of good in that Barbara finds that she is a good copper—even if she doesn't yet realize it herself and that Emily is "not all that". I'm curious as to where Barbara's friendship with Azhar and Hadiyyah will go after this.Emily is one of those insufferable women who can't tolerate anyone impinging on her turf although I can't blame her for her attitude toward her super…what an ass! I think part of what makes her so unappealing to me is how she allows her prejudices to dictate the case. Nor do I do like her personal principles although I do admire her pursuit of life.Akram Malik is the father of Muhannad and Sahlah as well as the owner of a condiments factory and a member of the town council. I may not like his plans for Sahlah, but he is a very decent man and proud of his efforts in integrating into the English community. He's between a rock and a hard place in that he does want to be as English as possible while maintaining his Muslim faith at the factory and in his family, particularly in his family. This is not fair on his daughter, Sahlah, as she is exposed to so much more freedom in England and yet she is expected to accept the traditional role of a daughter with her arranged marriage and restricted movements. Muhannad is a disgusting twerp whom I'd love to strangle while his wife, Yumn, is even more disgusting. How the family tolerates her I do not know. He's one of those agitators who use and abuse a situation manipulating it beyond what it really is. He is such a hypocrite towards his family. Actually, he rather deserves his wife! Yumn. What a piece of work! I'm not surprised her father was so eager to pay someone to take her off his hands!Haytham Querashi is both to be admired and despised for his treatment of Sahlah although his religion does force it on both of them. If anything, their situation is an excellent example of why tolerance is so very important in the world.I'm impressed with Theodore's ability to withstand Agatha's single-minded insatiable ego although it is definitely tempered by his cowardice towards Sahlah. For myself, I would cheerfully strangle Agatha, the old cow.Then there's Rachel and Connie Winfield. Poor Rachel. Burdened by her facial features and a mother who never left her teens, Rachel's confidence and emotional development have not evolved. I do like how Barbara approaches this in the story, a very growing moment for both.I'm impressed with Theodore's ability to withstand Agatha's single-minded insatiable ego although it is definitely tempered by his cowardice towards Sahlah. Lastly, there's Gerry and Cliff. Cliff's actions are a catalyst against Haytham. And I can only hope that Gerry figures out what Cliff is up to as he deserves so much better than this shallow limpet!My TakeIt's a complex story with many others' stories interweaving within Barbara's. Prejudice and racism rear their ugly, ugly heads and murdering greed steps in to boost an overweening ego. I hate that it leaves us hanging wondering what happens with Sahlah and Theodore. I do love the peek we get inside Muslim culture…it's not a look at the religion per se but how the religion shapes their lives and outlooks. The CoverI love the cover if only because it showcases Sahlah's jewelry work. It makes me long for my own studio again.
“Where is the man who has the power and skillto stem the torrent of a woman’s will?For if she will she will, you may depend on’t;and if she won’t she won’t so there’s an end on’t.”from the pillar erected on the Mount in the Dane John Field in CanterburyThe above is how the ninth Elizabeth George book in the Inspector Lynley/Detective Havers police mysteries begins. While it eventually becomes clear why George used this quote, the novel is about so much more.Usually, there is a strong current of soap opera drama in these mysteries, but not this time. I think this is the most serious, and perhaps the best, book in the series so far. In any case, I thought it very strong in exploring the theme of prejudice in four areas: sex, race, disfiguring handicaps and religion. Frankly, I was surprised at the level of expertise and even-handed depths with which George explored these areas of her theme. In the previous book, Lynley’s proposal of marriage to Helen was accepted. He is on his honeymoon and he does not make an appearance in this story. Instead, we readers are treated to a Barbara Havers on her own, supposed on a medical leave recovering from a horrible beating she underwent a few weeks before. Predictably, her boredom leads her to volunteer for an investigation into a murder.Balford-le-Nez, a seaside town, has seen better days. It is becoming more rundown every year as fewer and fewer tourists come to visit. The business owners who depend on the tourists are trying to put aside most of their personal and competitive animosities and form plans to revive the village’s attractions. Particularly a local old-wealth family, led by matriarch Agatha Shaw, has ideas for a proper English resort without any foreign influences. However, a park has been constructed in the shabby town and it carries a Pakistani name which has inflamed her suspicions and hatred of all things Pakistan. She particularly despises the heavily shrouded women which she occasionally encounters. However, despite the tensions between both races who share the streets of the tourist town, and the accusations of police brutality from activist Muhannad Malik, local rich son of Abram Malik, factory producer of sauces, violence between Pakistanis and whites is minimal. However, the discovery of a body of a man from Pakistan, Haytham Querashi, in one of the huts on the beach soon brings out into the open the local bigotry and hatreds between the whites and English Pakistanis who have held onto their traditional religious strictures and culture. An antagonistic Muhannad Malik is pushing the local police to find the killer who he believes is a white man. Because of his pugnacious attitudes, the town’s top police boss, Detective Chief Inspector Emily Barlow, may lose her job. She is having a great deal of trouble with her boss, Donald Ferguson, who thinks women are inferior at police work. Havers becomes involved because her neighbor, Taymullarh Azhar, is asked by Malik to help prove the murderer must be white and to use his legal acumen to stop the police from trying to pin the murder on a Pakistani. Havers becomes curious and decides to rent a hotel room in the town to check out the murder. She learns that Barlow is in charge of the case only after she arrives in town. They knew each other at the beginning of their police careers, but Barlow has achieved promotions much more rapidly than Barbara.The plot thickens when the clues appear to show Querashi was on the beach for a (view spoiler)[homosexual liaison with a male (hide spoiler)]
What do You think about Deception On His Mind (1998)?
I like Elizabeth George, but I LOVE Detective Barbara Havers. I think I've found the mystery series for me. George offers me all the thrills and sensation I crave*, plus three-dimensional characters and smart plots for the gray matter. And aside from the genre stuff, it's got this whole fascinating narrative about recognizing prejudice in your friends and neighbors that mirrors the exposition of the mystery itself. And George even acknowledges intersectionality!A note on the audio version: the plethora of voices and accents really gave Donada Peters a chance to exercise her voice acting chops, and I think she does an excellent job of making the characters distinguishable but not too cartoony. *catfights, catfights with guns, secret homosexuals, secret pregnancies, culture clashes, boat chases, forbidden love, crazy old people...
—Lola Wallace
I really enjoyed this book! What really interested me were the relationships that were unraveled and further developed during the course of yet another murder mystery in the Inspector Lynley series. I was consistently analyzing with what I learned about everyone. Additionally, I was intrigued by the setting. The setting was at a fictitious shoreline town in England called Balford-le-Nez. I later learned that it was supposed to resemble an actual town on the shore in Essex England called Walton-on-the-Naze. Truthfully, I had read the inside jacket of this hardcover book before reading the book, and initially I was uncertain whether I would enjoy this book as much as the pervious eight books of this series by Elizabeth George. The jacket cover stated that Inspector Lynley would be absent from the story, and I wondered just how much I would enjoy reading about the adventures of Sergeant Barbara Havers without seeing Inspector Lynley there to interact with her. I was pleasantly surprised by the development of the story. Barbara's Asian neighbor, Taymullah Azhar, played a major role in the entire book. I had met Taymullar Azhar in a couple of Elizabeth Georges's earlier books but he had played such a minor role that I did not get to know him until reading Deception on His Mind. Now I enjoy his character immensely! I am very much looking forward to reading the next book in this series as I want to find out what happens to Barbara Havers when she returns home to London and just what role Taymullar Azhar will now play in her life.
—Patricia
This Inspector Lynley mystery had a refreshing perspective in that Sgt. Barbara Havers was the protagonist, using all her collected knowledge from her mentor to wade through a complex murder rife with tense racial overtones. Though the book was written in the late 90s, the opinions via dialogue sounded realistic and fresh. Although some of George's descriptives tend to be unnecessarily long-winded (and the final solution a bit cliché), the book holds readers' interest. The main problem seems to be a number of unanswered questions left in the end. Perhaps this is meant to pique interest for #8 in the series, but after 600+ pages, this reader wanted more definitive closure.
—Denise Mullins
