Happy Reading

Toni's bookshelf: read

The Godfather of Kathmandu (Sonchai Jitpleecheep, #4)
Ape House
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Operation Napoleon
Walking Dead
The Sentimentalists
The Heretic Queen
The Midnight House
Cross Fire
Peony in Love
Absurdistan
Nefertiti
Finding Nouf: A Novel
City of Veils: A Novel
First Daughter
A Place of Hiding
Amagansett
Peter Pan


Toni Osborne's favorite books »
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Friday, July 29, 2016

"Believing the Lie", by Elizabeth George

Book #17, in the Inspector Lynley mystery

This is a good size book over 600 pages of a tightly plotted mystery that brings MS George’s unpredictable characters in the middle of a case involving pedophilia, alcoholism, homosexuality, transgender reassignment, surrogacy and above all….everything comes down to money in the end…In this chronicle, Linley will be looking into a wealthy Cumbrian family private deeds and secrets.

What a long and complicated book this is. We find multiple sub-plots that radiate from the main story, the drowning of Ian Cresswell, before converging near the end of the book. It took some time for everything to mesh before I could let my mind enjoy this mystery that revolved around so many social issues. Near the end of the book we have one big twist that expose a wealth of family secrets and lies. “Believing the Lie” has Lynley and Havers at center stage although Deborah St-James plays a good part with all her vulnerabilities. She surely wasn’t at her best this time. Ms. George is particularly skilled in setting her story, Cumbria seems so inviting (so much so I may add it on my bucket list:). Of course we also have panoply of juicy characters to keep track of: among them are squabbling children, an inept reporter, a sexy Argentinean woman and many many more.

There is a lot to grasp here maybe too much for some: this book is an endless litany of melodrama, melancholy and the bad and dysfunctional family dynamic. Some may like this mystery and some may find the experience may be a drag….

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