Careless in Red: A Novel
by Elizabeth George
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Book Reviews of Careless in Red: A Novel
Book Review: careless in red
Summary: 5 Stars
Elizabeth George in my favorite writer, and I purchased "Careless in Red" the day it came out. I was so disappointed in the reviews that it took awhile for me to start it. Big mistake. I thought it was terrific. Perhaps not quite in the league with "Playing for the Ashes" or "Deception of his Mind", but close enough. First, I did not find the characters names hard to remember, or the plot hard to follow. If you are writing about people who live in Cornwall, Tom, Dick and Harriet are not realistic choices. While I did eventually guess the murderer, it took awhile, and certainly made sense. I never found the "who" to be really important in an Elizabeth George novel, but rather the "why".
Second, I found her group of primary and secondary characters to be very appealing and sympathetic. More so then in most of her book. Reviewers who complained, surely could not be regular readers. Elizabeth George's topics have always been realistic, and some of her themes are not pretty.
Third, what do you do with a character who has lost his beloved wife and son in such a horrible manner. To me, having Lynley walk for 43 days until he stumbles upon a body, is as good as any other means for opening the book. I certainly would not have expected him to hit the bars or the booze. I liked Helen and will miss her. During the last 2 years, I have periodically re-read all 13 books, and realize while Helen may have appeared to be fluff on the outside, she was a class act with a strong inner core. I felt the same way about Daidre, who was also a class act, in different ways. She appeared to be exactly what Lynley needed to come back to the world of the living. There was nothing improper about their relationship, as some reviews have suggested. I wondered if she would reappear in future books, much down the road, as their differences would be interesting to see play out on paper. Yes, Havers comes back to aid her dear friend, and as always she is perfect. I did not like Bea, as much as some readers. At times, she appeared too much like (not in looks)to Havers, and there can only be one. With the exception of "A Place of Hiding" all of Elizabeth George's books are 4 to 5 star rating. My only criticism is that it was Helen, not Deborah, who was done away with. I can not figure out what two such dreamy men could see in such a boring, dim-wit women. 13 books, no growth, no personality, leads to boring story-line.
Book Review: America's Ruth Rendell
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the best American mystery series. Period. And Lynley and Havers are back. So you'll read it because you've been a fan for twenty years.
The new Lynley/Havers novel, "Careless in Red," is a solid reintroduction to Lynley and Havers. This is the strongest series going, and I'm still a devoted fan. This one may not be in the top tier but, like her British counterpart, Ruth Rendell, when George is merely average she's still better than anyone else around.
No one writes the middle of a mystery better than George, although this one required that I make a character list, since "Careless in Red" has more than thirty characters with names and back stories. And Havers doesn't make an appearance until about page 200 and, when she does, she and Lynley aren't together on the page nearly often enough.
That criticism aside, this is like a cruise repositioning novel, where we see Lynley in transition from the unspeakable tragedy of the previous two-novel arc, and it's a psychologically plausible place for him to be. Yes, I missed Simon (and maybe even Deborah, too), but something about this book felt right, although I admit, like several other reviewers, that I expect a huge arc for Barbara and Thomas in the next novel, and a return to more familiar settings. I read these books more for the ongoing relationships than for the mysteries that fuel them, as I think many readers do. "Careless in Red" doesn't deliver fully on the Thomas/Barbara relationship, but I'll give George the artistic license to develop this transitional novel, in hopes that the next one will be more about the continuing characters.
The mystery itself in this book is about average; I found myself wishing that the motives for the murder by the various suspects would be as complex as in other George novels. There's less than the usual tension, which I think could have been heightened by more of the Lynley/Havers discussions of what "might" have happened, but the novel's structure prevents those from happening as often as they could, and George curiously omits several scenes where such discussions could have taken place.
As with Dame Rendell, I'll read anything Elizabeth George writes. At her best no one is better. And if you don't read this one you'll be missing whatever happens in the next.
Book Review: Seeing Red
Summary: 3 Stars
Having read everything Ms. George has written, fiction and nonfiction, I am a fan. I bought both the Kindle and the hardback editions of Careless in Red in order to read the new novel quickly and also to own a hardback for Ms. George to autograph when she comes to our small town for a writer's conference in late May.
I am not a fan of this new novel. Granted most characters are believable and in the case of DI Hannaford darn right laudable, but the characters I most wanted fleshed out were merely the bare bones Ms. George used to hook long time readers into a largely sociological study of adolescent angst and midlife crisis set amongst British surfers and oversexed matrons. Even the smattering of antiquated vocabulary did little to earn my interest. (Although I do tip my hat to Ms. George's literary recognition of her move to western Washington State.)
If readers want to delve again into the lives of Lynley and Havers or if they want a complex whodunit, they'll be disappointed by Careless in Red. I confess to feeling more cheated by this entry in the Lynley series than by its predecessor. What Came Before He Shot Her can stand alone and may be appreciated as a deserved writing detour for the author of an otherwise satisfying British mystery series. Careless in Red continues down a path away from the original series and readers who have waited patiently for the reappearance of the author's central characters will be left wondering if Ms. George has left Sir Thomas by the wayside for good and all.
Ms. George has written of the differences between her serial mysteries and those of Agatha Christie. Ms. George reveals on her website that she chose to write about the development of her characters rather than engage in a "mental game" with readers. Ms. Christie's characters are "frozen in time" whereas Ms. George's characters will grow and change. Perhaps that is why I have found this particular novel so lacking. Lynley has been frozen on that terrible doorstep for George's readers for years now. Nothing new is revealed in the current novel that couldn't have been easily imagined by any devoted reader. That is the real failure of this novel. Ms. George has departed once too often from her own style to suit the devoted fan.
Book Review: Thomas Lynley continues his journey
Summary: 4 Stars
....metaphorically speaking.
This is a first for George. As with all of her stories featuring Thomas Lynley there is a crime which must be solved, but in this case the crime is really incidental to the main thrust of the story, which is Lynley's journey (both physically and emotionally speaking) from the day his wife and unborn child were gunned down in a senseless street shooting, as detailed in George's previous two novels.
When we first meet Lynley in this story he has retreated into himself. He has started an aimless walk along the paths and trails of the Cornwall coast; he doesn't know where he's going and he really doesn't care - when Helen died a great deal of his soul died with her. But then, along one of those trails, he discovers a body - and his police instincts rise up and take over.
This is mainly the story of how a seemingly typical murder case brings Thomas Lynley back out of his shell, and of the woman who, one hopes, may take Helen's place in his life - although not right away; let's give the man a decent chance to mourn. It does seem plausible, however - George goes into great detail about Daidre Trahair, and although she is initially a suspect in this murder George goes out of her way to show how instrumental the veterinarian is in calling Lynley back to himself.
The officer in charge of the case, DI Bea Hannaford, is quite a character in her own right - a divorced mother of a 14-year-old son who has to balance her job with being a mother, as well as an intense anger at herself and her ex-husband. Hopefully George will bring her back in a future Lynley novel. And yes, Barbara Havers is here too - but she's much more in the background than is usual. Then again, this is Lynley's story.
There is a resolution of sorts to the crime, but it's not a very fulfilling one, either to the characters in the story or to the reader. But I have the feeling that, considering the dominant subject of the story, this was to be expected - a better resolution would have somehow taken away from Lynley's journey.
I'm definitely looking forward to George's next book. There are several deliberately unanswered questions that I hope she'll get around to answering.
Book Review: Complex and disturbing
Summary: 5 Stars
Elizabeth George has written her usual complex, engrossing novel in her beautifully constructed sentences and paragraphs. After reading some of the reviews, I'm left wondering if we've read the same book. Ms. George is one of a few authors whose books can reduce me to tears.
Cornwall is so well-drawn you feel you're there. Her characters become so real, their lives so vivid, I'd know each one if he or she just walked in the door. One reviewer said Kellen and Santo were not really believable, but I've known people just like them, and they have left me just as saddened as Kellen and Santo -- one who lies always and one who lacks the judgement to tell the truth at the right time. This is a story about people who won't let go -- of their hatreds, their desire for revenge, their destructive ways of life, their wives who are terrible rollmodels to children, or husbands who regret mistakes that no one want's to forgive.
Although Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers are in this book, and Lynley particularly can swamp you with feelings of sorrow, this book is really about a group of people who live harsh, difficult lives along the Cornwall coast, and in particular a memorable female detective that demands your attention and respect. As in all small communities, there are secrets, and discovering them is never easy.
It is helpful to read this book after you've read two or three previous books to understand the two Scotland Yard detectives. The book, however, stands on its own merits. I've never read a George book that didn't leave me in awe of an author who can write complex plots, characters completely drawn, in settings both unusual and intriguing: no surface story-telling here; no cardboard people -- and all told in beautiful, perfect sentence structure (I know, I know, I've said this twice).
I recommend this book to anyone who relishes one that requires you to think and feel, to try to understand how people can end up in siturations impossible to get out of and who live in more harsh circumstances than the ones you face -- and I say this as a survivor of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.