Careless in Red: A Novel
by Elizabeth George
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Book Reviews of Careless in Red: A Novel
Book Review: Her least captivating book
Summary: 2 Stars
George is my favorite author, bar none. I've heard her speak at 2-3 signing events, and found her fascinating and bright. Her books are complex, they step away from the trend in American fiction to simplify and shorten novels, and she often deals effectively with societal issues like immigration, racism, sexism, etc.
Careless In Red is easily her least captivating book. I simply didn't care much as I read this routine fiction. There was never a sense of "can't put it down" and I never was excited to return to reading it. That's a sea change from all other George novels for me.
The book lacks any of the societal issues interwoven in many of her books, perhaps because it takes place in a location (Cornwall) where that would be difficult to address. This is just a mystery, and not a strong or intriguing one at that. The weakness of the BBC series has been that they lacked all the societal aspects of her novels and just winnowed the story down to a mystery - this book makes the same error - using a weak tale at that.
Lynley's video interview here on Amazon says the book is about Lynley's grief. I found the coverage of this unoriginal and shallow. Certaintly not the depth of character writing we saw in "What Happened before he shot her" or previous novels.
George has alluded at past signings that it's difficult producing these books as time goes by, and she implied that "With No One" and "Before He Shot" were written originally as one book. Thus, I have to wonder if "Careless" is the first really new writing in quite some time for her and if there is some burnout involved here.
I really hope my favorite author can return in fine form and wish her all the best in doing so. If it takes a return to a London locale, different or more deceased characters, so be it.
Paul S
Book Review: Misery...
Summary: 3 Stars
For the record, the three is based solely on the fact that like it or not the woman is a bloody brilliant writer...Now having said that.. I will take up the choice of my title...;-) I now see why a fan can learn to hate the writer... although hate is not truly how I feel, I am still not over the killing of Helen (and I speak for many of us) but also that ridiculous attempt at social statement, trying to in some way let us the readers understand, quote "what came before he shot her" unquote...a total rip off for consumers as these books are not cheap, and falsely called a Lynley/Havers novel.. to which I still take umbrage.. 'Whatever'..as in another review I wrote, I say to her: "Ms George you developed your popularity based on serial detective novels.. Dickens you are not".... But let me get back to 'Careless in Red' The only saving grace for me about this novel was the truly realistic suffering on the part of Thomas Lynley... I needed that catharsis myself.. although some readers felt it out of place, I felt it the only wise thing she has done since before the deed itself.. Why, because he was suffering unbearably just like many of us, at the loss of our beloved Helen and her unborn child.. and in doing so it made Ms George accountable for having inflicted this upon him in the first place...As a writer she must have some bond with Lynley, and so now she must look at what she caused by her decision...
The book as a whole botherd me for many reasons..Mainly most of the characters were so annoying... and self pitying.. I could go on.. As for the end of the book with a murderer getting away..another, Whatever... But I am at the mercy of the writer, because, as most fans will agree, like it or not, any book with our Barbara in it is a must read... ;-)
Book Review: I think the Lynley series may be over
Summary: 3 Stars
I have read a number of Elizabeth George's Inspector Lynley novels, and by and large have enjoyed them, though there have been some woeful misfires like "What Came Before He Shot Her", her last novel. Well, I'm afraid to say that "Careless in Red" isn't a return to form, so George will have to pull something extraordinarily excellent out of the bag with her next novel, or I fear the Inspector Lynley success story may be over. The problem with "Careless In Red" is that it takes ages to get going. I had to read over 200 pages before I got any sense of a decent plot developing. That is NOT a good sign. Whilst well written, the novel is very tedious, with far too many minor characters and extraneous incidents. Also, the introduction of Havers (easily the series best character)takes place too late in the book, and once again Lynley's bizarre predilection for saving vulnerable women from themselves comes into play. Also, I cannot finish this review without commenting on the names of the characters. I thought China and Cherokee River from one of her earlier novels had the worst names ever. Well, she outdoes herself in "Careless in Red". Try these for size: Cadan Angarrack, Benserek Kerne, Kerra Kerne, Dellen Kerne, Selevan Penrule, Ione Soutar, Daidre Trahair, Aldara Stamos - talk about off-putting character names from Hell. George Lucas would have rejected all of those names as being even too outlandish for "Star Wars" characters. What gives? Why the stupid names? Whilst it pains me to review this novel so badly, I'm afraid that it really is quite poor and not worthy of more than three stars, and really, I'm being one star too generous with that. Second misfire in a row from Ms George.
Book Review: `He found the body on the forty-third day of his walk.'
Summary: 4 Stars
Thomas Lynley, still coming to terms with the murder of his wife Helen, has retreated to Cornwall where he is hiking the bleak, rugged coastline alone with his thoughts, memories and demons.
On the forty-third day of his walk, he finds the body of a young man who appears to have fallen to his death. As the first person on the scene, Thomas Lynley himself is under suspicion.
Thus begins one of the most interesting mysteries I have read for some time. Can Thomas Lynley overcome his inner demons (and does he want to?) to assist the undermanned local police to solve what appears to be a carefully planned murder? Almost everyone in the local town appears to know something that might be relevant and almost no-one wants to volunteer any information. There are plenty of secrets and an abundance of red herrings to engage and distract the reader. Even if you do work out who did it, and why, before the end of the book as I did there are other aspects of the story which kept me interested to the end.
Barbara Havers is sent to assist the investigation. So we have a version of the old partnership between Lynley and Havers in operation together with a new partnership between Havers and Detective Inspector Bea Hannaford. There are plenty of interesting characters here and some complex (and not so complex) motivations come into play.
So, why four stars instead of five? Some aspects of the story worked brilliantly for me, others less so. But overall, this is an engaging novel which has me hoping that we've not seen the last of Lynley and Havers (and some of the other characters introduced, as well).
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Book Review: They're Back!
Summary: 4 Stars
Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers are back. Many Elizabeth George readers were disappointed when her previous novel, "What Came Before He Shot Her," in effect was not an Inspector Lynley Mystery. The wait has been a long three years, and slightly disappointing. The only characters to return are Lynley and Havers. Of course, Helen is present in Lynley's thoughts throughout the novel.
In George's normal style, a cast of characters is introduced, and George takes us into their innermost thoughts and feelings. At times I found it difficult to empathize with many of the characters, although I have also found this true of many of George's characters in previous novels. As usual, the characters are initially difficult to remember who is who, but that eventually works itself out.
I found the book a fast read compared to previous Inspector Lynley novels. Lynley, as expected, is coping with the death of his wife, but is slowly returning to the "real world." Not to disappoint, Havers has some great lines that are not just caustic but sometimes rather humorous.
Sex is prominent throughout the book and is possibly the silent cause for the murder and several of the character's known and unknown interrelationships.
George seems to tie up several personal relationships in a more positive light that in some of her previous novels. The ending may not be satisfying to all, but this is true for the endings to many of George's novels.
Overall, an enjoyable read, but not the best novel in the series. As a counter to this statement, it should be emphasized, that because of Helen's death, this novel is like starting the series all over again.