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Title: A Place of Hiding by ELIZABETH GEORGE ISBN: 0-553-58237-2 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 03 August, 2004 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.77 (73 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Blah!
Comment: No Havers and Lynley and, as everyone has noted, Deborah and Simon St. James are uninteresting characters: she whines, he patronizes. The plot is pedestrian and, for George, uncharacteristically banal -- a terminally ill old ladies and her ammoral old rake of the brother, both victimized and permanently scarred by the Holocaust; Deborah and St. James scarred by insecurity and a bad automobile accident that left him crippled; Cherokee and China, victimized by their neglectful mother (a rabid environmentalist who abandoned them for the trees; a poor abused teenager -- I mean, even the little dog gets kicked around in this book.
I am a fan of Elizabeth George and had eagerly awaited her new novel. While I can't call myself a victim -- I read it, after all -- I certainly feel neglected. Bring back Havers and Lynley! Bring back Helen!
Unless you're a die-hard George fan (pun intended), you might do well to skip this one.
Rating: 4
Summary: Nice but unremarkable page turner
Comment: I'm a huge Elizabeth George fan and I've read all her mysteries. I was very excited to have a new book by her to read. I did enjoy this new story - she didn't disappoint with her interesting suspects, unusual locale (Guernsey), and attention-catching backstory of the siblings who lost everything in the Holocaust. I looked forward to getting back to the book each day and was actually sorry it was over. I thought her sort of circular storytelling was a good variation for her, something a little different in a mystery.
The thing was, I was sorry that her usual lead characters of Barbara Havers (whom I ADORE and who doesn't appear) and Inspector Lynley (who appears extremely briefly as Acting Superintendent) were not in the lead in this one. I try so hard to be interested in Deborah and Simon but I find them lukewarm characters. In this book it kept seeming like something fairly major was going to come of the discussion of Simon's disability and the age difference between the two, but nothing really did. Simon had a revelation about the way he treats Deborah (since he remembers her as a child and young adult whom he had to look out for) but..? That wasn't a very satisfying revelation. I enjoyed this book and there's much worse out there when it comes to what you can pick up to read, but I hope the next book will star Barbara again and be deeper and more tightly woven. Of all her mysteries I don't think the author has topped "Playing for the Ashes" yet and that's from years ago now.
Rating: 2
Summary: Just what was the point here?
Comment: I have read all of Elizabeth George's novels after watching the BBC series based on them. This one was a real dud as far as I was concerned. The plotting was thick and full of dead ends and the story populated by characters who never caught my imagination. And although the author does a pretty good interpretation of ordinary daily life in odd corners of Britain (in this case Guernsey) she still just misses making her characters believably British for me.
Although Barbara Havers is the UK equivalent of "trailer park trash", she is without doubt the most successful of George's regulars and I think she is a truly memorable character. However, when it comes to rich, titled, aristocratic British men, I don't think she comes close to making them believable, sympathetic or attractive.
I have always thought that Deborah and Simon had the potential to be George's most interesting characters because their personal backgrounds was fertile ground ripe for exploitation. However, this time, I just got annoyed. Sorry, but the way Simon is made to handle his disability, the way he blows it all out of proportion, Deborah's unwillingness to be open and honest with a man who adores her and the generally slovenly development of their characters in this story was just terribly, terribly disappointing. Also, I should think any reader who had not read the previous novels would have been wondering just what the hell was going on here with Deborah and Simon - too many allusions to the past makes this novel difficult to "stand alone".
Sorry, I nearly gave up after the first 100 pages. The last 30 pages were a frantic attempt to dig out a believable conclusion (and it was credulous to say the least) and the most interesting character was a council house bully of an elder brother who clearly was nuts!
Oh dear; what a disappointment - can't really recommend this and hope the author can do better next time.
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Title: The Murder Room by P.D. JAMES ISBN: 1400041414 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 18 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Now May You Weep: A Novel by Deborah Crombie ISBN: 0060525231 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 07 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: Foul Matter by Martha Grimes ISBN: 067003259X Publisher: Viking Books Pub. Date: 18 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: I, Richard by ELIZABETH GEORGE ISBN: 055338242X Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 29 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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Title: The Babes in the Wood: A Chief Inspector Wexford Mystery by RUTH RENDELL ISBN: 140004930X Publisher: Crown Pub. Date: 21 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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