The Book: Michael Lobb has been found dead, murdered in his Cornwall workshop. The suspects are many and DI Beatrice Hannaford is having trouble sorting things out until one of them confesses. But did that person actually do the crime? In the meantime, Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley (also known as the Earl of Asherton, a title he seldom uses) has headed down to Cornwall to take care of some maintenance issues on his family estate and he brings along his partner, DS Havers, because she is on a week of forced bereavement leave (her mother has just died) and doesn't know what to do with herself. Also in the area is Daidre, who has recently told Lynley she doesn't want to see him anymore. Of course Lynley and Havers get caught up in solving the crime. This is a continuation of the DI Lynley series which now exceeds 20 novels.
The Author: Elizabeth George
Genre: Mystery
Length: 640 pp (hardback)
One good thing: It was fun to see Lynley's family home and see how they were struggling to pay for the upkeep of the Great House. It was especially fun to see Havers have to deal with being a guest in a Great House. It reminded me a lot of the YouTube channel "Mapperton Live" which is hosted by the Earl and Countess of Sandwich, who are very down to earth and up front about how expensive their house is to maintain.
One not-so-great thing: About every third or fourth chapter there was a chapter written by the dead man. There was no explanation (at least until the end) as to why we are getting his point of view and how he was doing it beyond the grave. I found this annoying in the extreme and as the novel wore on I found myself gritting my teeth whenever I came to a "Michael" chapter. I also found him about as reliable as Humbert Humbert which was not a bad thing in Nabokov's novel but is not good in a mystery novel.
Nancy Pearl's "Four Doorways":
Story: This is a mystery novel so it is plot driven by its very nature. As I said above, I thought the "Michael" chapters were annoying and in my case they stopped the flow of the story. But others may not be bothered by them. On the whole I thought it was a well structured mystery and the perpetrator is not immediately guessable.
Characters: One of the main reasons to read a mystery series is because you are already invested in the characters and want to see more of them and find out how they are getting on. This story focused quite a bit on Daidre and her family but Lynley and Havers do have arcs for their characters.
Setting: I love a novel set in Cornwall and as usual this made me want to go back. Having visited Cornwall, I thought that George captured it beautifully.
Writing: I didn't care much for the structure of this book (especially the "Michael" chapters that were interspersed with no explanation). But George is more than a competent writer and she kept my interest by developing her characters well and keeping me guessing as to who the murderer was.
