Careless with Pen

Elizabeth George, Careless in Red, 2007
I don't get it: this mammoth murder mystery (over 700 pages) was read by high profile editors in America and Britain, husbands, best friends, personal assistants, god knows who else, and not a single one of them pointed out to Elizabeth George that a major plot point was missing. And it's not even a minor detail that can be written off: it's a plot point that should explain how the killer executed a particular move which would allow them to commit the crime.

George has been pumping out these Inspector Lynley novels for years now and they are just as kitschy as Agatha Christie's best, though slightly better written and more soap opera-ish. Like many non-Brits who have never lived in the UK, Elizabeth George (an American) commits the amusing mistake of fantasising posh English people as rich, talented, beautiful, hard-working and kind hearted. It's the sort of fantasy that doesn't leave space for character flaws and, consequently, an honesty or realism that could elevate her books.

Inspector Lynley - a windswept, sentimental Lord that slums it with the pleebs at Scotland Yard - turns his back on (London) life after a personal tragedy, only to be the first person at a crime scene in Cornwall. Cornwall's surfing community is nicely depicted and some decent plot twists pop up here and there but not even Lynley's sidekick Barbara Havers (the series trump card) can save this mystery from being perfectly run-of-the-mill.