To Be Released October 15th 2013!
Title: Just One Evil Act
Author: Elizabeth George
Publisher: Dutton
Genre: Crime Fiction
Length: 723 pages
Elizabeth George has the uncanny ability to spend pages detailing the aura of even the most minor characters. I admire this ability to dive into hefty and lengthy character developments, no character too small for complete notice (“A persons a person no matter how small” if I may quote Dr. Suess!). It reminds me of when I read Karleen Koen, different genre, same attention to characters, same knack for writing tomes.
I was pretty excited that Dutton chose to send me a second Elizabeth George book. They sent me Believing the Lie before it was released, and now I’ve been gifted a chance to read and review Just One Evil Act prior to its being available in stores. Naturally, I procrastinated and didn’t start reading it until the other day. Good thing Inspector Lynley and Detective Barbara Havers are quick to digest.
The book will be on shelves everywhere tomorrow, October 15th. It’s a good one to read if you’ve never read an Inspector Lynley novel before because George goes outside her comfort zone and finally leaves the UK. So it’s new and different whether you’re new to George, or have been following her stories for years.
Giveaway Winner!
The winner of the Elizabeth George giveaway is Ani G W!
Ani G W said,
Following you on twitter @aniheartsjapan and following via email.
Looks like a great read! Thanks for the chance!
Looks like you’ll get to enjoy that book! I know I promised a Scentsy Scent Circle, would you be interested in an upgrade to a Room Spray? I have those on hand. Also, let me know what kind of scents you enjoy… fall or spring.
My Very First Giveaway!
I received a copy of Elizabeth George’s Believing the Lie in December 2011 from Dutton Books. Its a beautiful hard back, released to the public January 2012. It has been read twice, but is in excellent condition, and although I am a horder at heart and would like to hold onto and cherish every book I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading, I decided I would use this copy to host my first giveaway. (Get my hands dirty with all this fabulous giveaway excitement, so to speak.)
The conditions of this giveaway are that you (in good faith and on scout’s honor) follow me on twitter, follow my blog, and leave a comment on this post that includes your email address. If you don’t leave your email address I will have no way of contacting you if you win!
This book is the latest in the Inspector Lynley series, but you don’t have to have read previous books in the series to get into the story, George tells you all you need to know. It is the first book in the series that I have read, and I plan to read more once I am done with my Agatha Christie Crime Collection marathon. Believing the Lie follows the investigation of a supposed drowning on a family estate of a clan full of secrets and shocking lies. George’s character development skills are surprisingly detailed and thorough for this genre, and its a good book for general fiction lovers to read if they want to dip their toes in the mystery section for a few days. The 608 pages goes fast.
Along with this book, I will ship a small Scentsy surprise in the form of a Scent Circle. If you don’t know what that is, check out my website here, and fall in love: https://akklemm.scentsy.us/Scentsy. Winner will be announced and contacted on April 30th. Let the comments, twittering, and following begin!
Believing the Lie – A Review
Title: Believing the Lie
Author: Elizabeth George
Publisher: Dutton, a member of Penguin group
Genre: mystery
Length: 610 pages
Dutton Books, to my surprise and excitement, kindly provided me with a copy of Believing the Lie, Inspector Lynley’s 17th book appearance, just weeks before its official release date. Despite this book being number seventeen in a series, and having never read any of George’s previous work, I often wondered which characters were reoccurring ones and which were unique to this title. The work and the character development was so seamless, this was unclear until nearly toward the end.
“[…] Darling, secrets and silence caused all of this. Lies caused this,” Inspector Lynley summarizes the novel of which he is supposedly the star. It is refreshing to read a crime writer who gives you such a large cast of characters in such detail, its surprising to find that the lead inspector is more like the wood frame that holds a canvas together than the paint that creates the work of art itself. He is ever in the middle of the action, but rarely the focus, he merely serves as the reason for the story’s existence in the first place.
George writes human tension beautifully. More than a typical mystery, George has written a well crafted drama involving social issues surrounding homosexuals, transsexuals, and the families who love but fail to understand them. During all this family drama, international culture issues, marital affairs, and even a child pornography ring, the biggest truth to be revealed of this murder mystery, is whether there has even been a murder at all.
Typically, when I read mysteries I take the cozy, less than 200 page ones for what I call “bubble bath books,” something I can read in one sitting in the tub. As much as I love those (my cotton candy for the soul), I say with the highest compliment intended, George does not write bubble bath mysteries. And quite different from those sorts of books, this one left me wondering: What Next?
Anakalian Whims 