Wednesday, June 17, 2015

This Body Of Death by Elizabeth George


A young woman has been murdered in a cemetery in London.  Jemima Hastings was a real go-getter, a woman who had a home and a business in rural Hampshire.  Six months ago without a word to anyone, she left her long-time partner and her business and moved to London.  If Gordon, her partner, knows why, he's not saying.  Her brother, Rob, is not happy about it and less so when Jemima talks about finding a new man.  She is rarely without a man, and most of them no well near as good as she believes them to be.

Isabelle Ardery is also in new surroundings.  She has been brought up from a provincial district to try out as the next department chief at Scotland Yard.  Isabelle has sacrificed a lot for this chance and she doesn't mean to let it pass without success.  Her team is less than impressed.  Her management style is brusque and they don't yet respect her decisions.  In her turn, she believes the team lax and far too likely to strike out on their own than work as a unified team.

Isabelle sees the biggest problem as their loyalty to a man who is no longer there, Inspector Thomas Lynley.  He is still on compassionate leave after the death of his wife.  Determined to make a success of this gift she has been given, Isabelle talks Lynley into returning on a limited basis to help her catch Jemima's killer.  Will he be a help or will his presence and the team's continued loyalty to him be a distraction?

This is the sixteenth Inspector Lynley mystery.  He remains one of the great characters in mystery writing, an earl who becomes a London inspector and follows the strictures of Scotland Yard.  He is cool and reserved, yet fiercely loyal to those he lets into his world.  His relationship with his team is fascinating, and the introduction of a new character is interesting.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

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