The series follows detective Thomas Lynley and his partner Barbara Havers as they tackle complex and psychologically challenging crimes. Their different approaches to investigation and personal lives create a tension that is central to their relationship. The books explore themes of class, identity, and morality in Victorian Britain. Each case presents them with not only a professional challenge but also a personal test.
Fat, unlovely Roberta Teys is found beside her father's headless corpse, wearing her best dress and with an axe in her lap. Her first words are: 'I did it. And I am not sorry' and she refuses to say more. Inspector Thomas Lynley and DS Barbara Havers are sent by Scotland Yard to solve this particularly gruesome murder. And as they navigate their way around a dark labyrinth of secret scandals and appalling crimes, they uncover a series of shocking revelations that shatter the façade of the peaceful Yorkshire village.
From acclaimed author George comes this literate, vastly detailed, and intricately characterized piece. Scotland Yard's Thomas Lynley, unexpectedly assigned to a gory stabbing murder, uncovers deeply hidden family secrets and various psychological convolutions among suspects.
When Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, Eighth Earl of Asherton, and his fiancee, Deborah Cotter, arrive at Howenstow, Lynley's family home, they find the atmosphere rife with tension.
Elena shocked anyone meeting her for the first time. In her skimpy dresses and bright jewellery, she exuded intelligence and sexuality, challenging all preconceptions. Until one morning, while out jogging, she is bludgeoned to death. Detectives Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers investigate.
When the vicar who has given her so much support is found dead, Deborah St. James begins a journey of personal discovery in order to find out who is responsible
"The story begins with my father, actually, and the fact that I'm the one who's answerable for his death. It was not my first crime, as you will see, but it is the one my mother couldn't forgive." In her astonishing "New York Times" bestseller, acclaimed author Elizabeth George reveals the even darker truth behind this startling confession. "Playing for the Ashes" is a rich tale of passion, murder and love in which Inspector Thomas Lynley and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers once again find themselves embroiled in a case where nothing--and no one--is really what it seems. Intense, suspenseful and brilliantly written, "Playing for the Ashes" will make readers "search out the sleuthing pair's first six adventures...a treasure," as "Cosmopolitan" predicted in their review. "From the Paperback edition."
In London, a woman parliamentarian's daughter is kidnaped and a newspaper editor with whom the parliamentarian had an affair receives a call, threatening the girl's life unless he admits paternity. Inspector Lynley suspects the girl is behind it.
When a member of the small but growing Asian community of Balford-le-Nez is found dead, the sleepy seaside town ignites, and Sergeant Barbara Havers, working without her long-time partner, must find the killer before the price of deception becomes more than anyone can afford. Reissue. (A PBS Mystery! presentation, airing August 2004, starring Nathaniel Parker & Sharon Small) (Mystery)
The central plot deals with two bodies found in a circle of prehistoric stones. Who were they? How did they get there? Did the victims even know each other? Detectives Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers find themselves caught up in a mystery that grows more perplexing the longer they contemplate it. As usual with George, the mystery itself is well devised and a lot of fun to speculate on as you read. You don't think of the Agatha Christie style of novel as being overhauled, but in fact, a number of very good writers have been pushing the cozy into some brave new areas. Nancy Pickard, Joan Hess, and Carolyn Hart, to name just a few, have demonstrated that the cozy can be serious as well as seriously (or pointedly, if you prefer) funny. Over the past decade, Elizabeth George has also been pushing the Christie-style mystery into richer and more rewarding areas. Her new novel, In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner, is so rich in character, incident, and theme that one finally has to take it seriously, not just as a mystery but as a novel as well. I'm not going to say that it "transcends the mystery genre," because that's offensive to mystery writers. And rightly so. But I will say that, in much the same way that Sharyn McCrumb has expanded the range of the serious crime novel, George has also pushed her particular form to the limits.
Virtuoso violinist Gideon Davies has lost his memory of music and his ability to play the instrument he mastered at the age of five. One fateful night at Wigmore Hall, he lifted his violin to play in a Beethoven trio . . . and everything in his mind related to music was gone. Gideon suffers from a form of amnesia, the cure for which is an examination of what he can remember. And what he can remember is little enough until his mind is triggered by the weeping of a woman and a single name: Sonia. One rainy evening, a woman called Eugenie travels to London for a mysterious appointment. But before she is able to reach her destination, a car swoops out of nowhere and kills her in the street. In pursuing her killer, Thomas Lynley, Barbara Havers and Winston Nkata come to know a group of people inextricably connected by a long-ago crime and punishment no one has spoken of for twenty years.
An isolated beach on the island of Guernsey in the English Channel is the scene of the murder of Guy Brouard, one of Guernsey's wealthiest inhabitants and its main benefactor. Forced as a child to flee the Nazis in Paris, Brouard was engaged in his latest project when he died: a museum in honor of those who resisted the German occupation of the island during World War II. It is from this period of time that his murderer may well have come. But there are others on Guernsey with reason to want Guy Brouard dead: his wives, his business associates, his current mistress, the underprivileged teenagers he mentored--any of whom might have harbored a secret motive for murder. As family and friends gather for the reading of the will, Deborah and Simon St. James find that seemingly everyone on the history-haunted island has something to hide. And behind all the lies and alibis, a killer is lurking. In order to bring this person to justice, the St. James must delve into Guernsey's dark history--both past and present--and into the troubled psyche of someone who may have exacted retribution for the most unspeakable crime of all. In A Place of Hiding, bestselling novelist Elizabeth George marks new territory in the darker landscapes of human relationships. She tells a gripping, suspenseful story of betrayal and devotion, war and remembrance, love and loss...and the higher truths to which we must all ultimately answer.
When the Metropolitan Police fail to realise a serial killer is at work, London ignites over the fact that the killer's victims are young black and mixed race boys. Institutionalised racism is claimed by the community's activists and tabloids alike. Acting Superintendent Thomas Lynley is given the case, and his Scotland Yard task force is soon handling more killings and a looming tragedy. Elizabeth George brings to the familiar subject of the serial killer a freshness and clarity of vision that provide illuminating insight into the psychological complexity of the tortured criminal mind. She does so within a richly textured, thrillingly suspenseful narrative that defies any reader to predict its outcome. Nor does she neglect our favourite characters, whose private lives provide an engrossing counterpoint to their professional duties.
The shocking conclusion of Elizabeth George's previous bestseller, WITH NO ONE AS WITNESS, saw the wife of New Scotland Yard's Thomas Lynley gunned down in the street outside her home. Under arrest for the crime is a twelve-year-old boy, Joel Campbell. What possible motive could he have? What chain of events could have led such a child from the housing estates of North Kensington to the elegant streets of Belgravia with such deadly intent? The answer to these questions is a complex mixture of fate and circumstance. Abandoned (albeit involuntarily) by his parents, Joel and two siblings are dumped on the doorstep of his aunt's house. Kendra, childless and with two marriages behind her, is doing her best to turn her life around; responsibility for three troubled children is not what she had in mind. Drugs, neglect, violence and poverty are commonplace in North Kensington. Joel does his best to look out for his family, but that involves a Faustian pact. And the Devil will have his pay.
In her most eagerly anticipated novel yet, Elizabeth George brings back Scotland Yard's Thomas Lynley to investigate a ruthless crime. After the senseless murder of his wife, Detective Superintendent Thomas Lynley retreated to Cornwall, where he has spent six solitary weeks hiking the bleak and rugged coastline. But no matter how far he walks, no matter how exhausting his days, the painful memories of Helen's death do not diminish. On the forty-third day of his walk, at the base of a cliff, Lynley discovers the body of a young man who appears to have fallen to his death. The closest town, better known for its tourists and its surfing than its intrigue, seems an unlikely place for murder. However, it soon becomes apparent that a clever killer is indeed at work, and this time Lynley is not a detective but a witness and possibly a suspect. The head of the vastly understaffed local police department needs Lynley's help, though, especially when it comes to the mysterious, secretive woman whose cottage lies not far from where the body was discovered. But can Lynley let go of the past long enough to solve a most devious and carefully planned crime?
DI Thomas Lynley is still on compassionate leave after the murder of his wife. The discovery of a body in a Stoke Newington cemetery offers Isabelle Ardery, his temporary replacement at the Met, the chance to make her mark with a high profile murder investigation. Persuading Lynley back to work seems the best way to guarantee a result: Lynley's team is fiercely loyal to him and Isabelle needs them - and especially Barbara Havers - on side. The Met is twitchy: a series of PR disasters has undermined its confidence. Isabelle knows that she'll be operating under the unforgiving scrutiny of the media, so is quick - perhaps too quick - to pin the murder on a convenient suspect. The murder trail leads Lynley and Havers to the New Forest, and the eventual resolution of the case. Its roots are in a long-ago act of violence that has poisoned subsequent generations and its outcome is both tragic and shocking.
Detective Inspector Lynley is approached by business magnate Bernard Fairclough for a confidential review - not a formal investigation - of the circumstances of his nephew's demise. The coroner's verdict is accidental death. Recovering from the murder of his wife, Lynley has personal reasons for welcoming a spell away from London. He heads to the wild beauty of the Lake District, with Deborah and Simon St James to provide cover for his inquiries. Barbara Havers, back at base, makes her own unique contribution to the case, distracted only by Isabelle's ambitions to improve her Detective Sergeant's appearance. When he comes to know the various members of the extended Fairclough dynasty, Lynley finds many possible motives for murder, and uncovers layers of deceit and betrayal that expose the lies at the heart of the Cumbrian community.
When Hadiyyah Upman disappears from London in the company of her mother, Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers is as devastated as the girl's father. They are her close friends as well as neighbours, but since the child is with her mother, nothing can be done. Five months later, Hadiyyah is kidnapped from an open air market in Lucca, Italy, and this triggers an investigation in the full glare of the media spotlight. Barbara's clever manipulation of the worst of London's tabloids forces New Scotland Yard to become involved. But rather than Barbara herself, her superior officer DI Thomas Lynley is assigned to handle a situation made delicate by racial issues, language difficulties, and the determination of an Italian magistrate to arrest and convict someone - anyone - for the crime.
The unspoken secrets and buried lies of one family rise to the surface in Eizabeth George's newest novel of crime, passion and tragic history. As Inspector Thomas Lynley investigates the London angle of an ever more darkly disturbing case, his partner, Barbara Havers, is looking behind the peaceful façade of country life to discover a twisted world of desire and deceit. The suicide of William Goldacre is devastating to those left behind who will have to deal with its unintended consequences - could there be a link between the young man's leap from a Dorset cliff and a horrific poisoning in Cambridge? After various issues with her department, Barbara Havers is desperate to redeem herself. So when a past encounter gives her a connection to the unsolved Cambridge murder, Barbara begs Thomas Lynley to let her pursue the crime, knowing one mistake could mean the end of her career. Full of shocks, intensity, and suspense from the first page to the last, A Banquet of Consequences reveals both Lynley and Havers under mounting pressure to solve a case that is equally compelling and complicated.
When a Member of Parliament shows up at New Scotland Yard requesting an investigation into the suicide of the son of one of his constituents in the beautiful town of Ludlow, the Assistant Commissioner sees two opportunities in this request. The first is to have an MP owing him afavor, and the second is to get rid of Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, whose career at the Met has been hanging by a thread for quite some time. So he assigns Havers to the case and, for good measure, partners her with the one person who shares his wish to see the back of her, Detective Chief Superintendent Isabelle Ardery. But Ardery has her own difficulties. She is not happy to be sent away from London, and as a result is in a rush to return. This causes her to overlook things, important things, and prevents her from uncovering an earlier crime that set everything in motion.
An Instant New York Times Bestseller! Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers and Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley are back in the next Lynley novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth George. When a police detective is taken off life support after falling into a coma, only an autopsy reveals the murderous act that precipitated her death. She'd been working on a special task force within North London's Nigerian community, and Acting Detective Superintendent Thomas Lynley is assigned to the case, which has far-reaching cultural associations that have nothing to do with life as he knows it. In his pursuit of a killer determined to remain hidden, he's assisted by Detective Sergeants Barbara Havers and Winston Nkata. They must sort through the lies and the secret lives of people whose superficial cooperation masks the damage they do to one another.
A collection of short stories from the internationally bestselling author and creator of Inspector Lynley. Three of these stories were originally published under the title The Evidence Exposed. This volume contains two brand new stories, a revised version of The Evidence Exposed, and new introductions by the author to all five stories.
