With the exception of one recent non-Inspector Lynley novel, I've read all of Elizabeth George's mysteries. She's one of the few mystery writers I can say I follow fairly religiously, and now that I've read her fifteenth Lynley mystery, This Body of Death, I'm back to waiting for her to write more, though she does have a number of short story collections I should really explore. If you follow the series you'll know it's been a bumpy ride the last few times out. After the murder of one of the main characters in the ongoing story, George has taken things in different directions to not always happy results. I know a number of her readers have given up on Lynley, and while I agree there are maddening moments in her books, I like enough of the characters to keep returning to the stories. Certainly her style has changed over time from her earlier novels, but many elements remain the same. I was happy to see that although the story has again moved in a different direction, she has at least returned to her core cast of characters with a few new additions.
It seems as though a signature Elizabeth George story includes a full cast of well developed characters and an often complicated storyline made up of disparate threads that seem to have little in common with each other but will in the end be nicely woven together. This was the case with This Body of Death. The main story revolves around the murder of a young woman in a London cemetery. The investigation falls into the lap of acting Detective Superintendent Isabelle Ardery who is hoping to permanently fill the position that was vacated some time ago. Detective Inspector Lynley had been temporarily filling the position until his own tragedy intervened and he has only lately returned to help on this case and only on a trial basis as it's unclear whether he'll continue his work at the Met. Ardery is not an easy character to like. Divorced with two children who live with their father, she is controlling, occasionally strident, a bit of a tippler, and a total micro-manager, and this case is meant to be a test of her abilities. Not surprisingly the team working under her balks at her methods, but in characteristic Lynley fashion, he tries to very democratically smooth things over between Ardery and the other detectives.
The victim is identified as Jemima Hastings, who had been living in a boarding house and working in a cigar shop. Jemima was the sort of woman who was always in need of, or at least only happy when she had a boyfriend. A native of Hampshire, Jemima seemed to leave her life there behind with no explanation of what exactly drove her to London in the first place. She had been living with a man she had hoped to marry, as well she left behind an only brother and best friend. Something or someone drove a wedge between her life there and her new life in London. Once the connection between London and Hampshire is made, DS Barbara Havers and DS Winston Nkata (yay, they're both back) are ordered to the New Forest to suss things out. New Forest is an idyllic spot where ponies roam free and the general quaintness of the area draws bus loads of visitors. Behind the beauty of the area secrets lurk, however. Secrets that are worth killing for.
George offers ample clues (and red herrings) to the murder of Jemima Hastings as ongoing investigations in both London and the New Forest uncover a multitude of suspects. Thrown into the mix is a seemingly unrelated typescript which is interspersed in the story. The typescript is a detailed analysis of an investigation into the abduction and murder of a small child. The crime is particularly heinous as it was perpetrated by three boys not much older than the victim. For most of the story it's unclear what the two murders have in common, though as more and more of the story is revealed it's not difficult to understand the connection. In consummate George style she brings it all together in one nice (albeit none too tidy) package.
Although not paired in the traditional manner, it was good to see both Havers and Lynley working together to solve the crime. Isabelle Ardery does throw a spanner into the works and changes the dynamics considerably. Her personality does often grate, but after watching so many episodes of Prime Suspect with Helen Mirren as a ladder climbing detective it's probably not so hard to appreciate the difficulties a woman would have in such a male dominated world trying to succeed. I think she tends to overcompensate and ends up being hated for it, but she might prove an interesting character in the future. That doesn't mean I like her, but I expect she'll be back in the next book. She tries hard to remake Barbara Havers, but I think she succeeds. Barbara and A-line skirts and heels just doesn't cut it. Simon and Deborah St. James also make appearances in the story as do Hadiyyah and her father Azhar, and there are new developments on that front, though I don't like to give those away.
By no means a perfect novel, I am happy to see George is once again on familiar terrain. I think her best work is still her earlier novels, but I have hopes that she might pull it all together again and produce some vintage Lynley stories. I should mention there are a number of disagreeable scenes in this book, which I hate to think might have been a little too gratuitous and unnecessary. I do expect nastiness in a crime novel, but where is the line drawn? Apparently the murder of the small child bears a very strong resemblance to an actual murder case in the UK from the early 90s, about which I had no idea as I was reading. I generally like details and the painting of scenes but sometimes a little goes a long way. I liked reading about Hampshire and thatching and all the other small things that she incorporates into the story, but with an already very complex plot the book gets very long and with well over 600 pages, that's an especially long detective story. A little extra editing might not have been remiss. In the end I suppose this was a bit of a mixed bag, but despite having a few quibbles with the execution of the story, Elizabeth George almost always manages to grab me and keep me reading. It was good to see Lynley and Havers working together again. I know authors like to shake things up a bit and make it all feel fresh and new, but hope things are back on track again. I do think I am ready for something a little less intense, so Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence are the perfect alternative.