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After A Traitor to Memory, I was left with the
last Elizabeth George in my pile of books to read: A Place of
Hiding. Fortunately, while I was reading this one, the latest,
With No One As Witness, has been released, so that I have it
to look forward to: Isn't this great timing?
In A Place Of Hiding, don't think about
welcoming back Barbara Havers and Thomas Lynley: of the former, not
even the name is mentioned throughout the book, and the later
intervenes only as a side character: this time, it is up to Deborah
and Simon St. James to solve the mystery...
As the body of a wealthy Guernsey islander of
French origin, Guy Brouard, is found on a beach, on his huge
property, suspicions are directed to the only strangers present at the time of the murder: China and Cherokee Rivers,
two Californian siblings who were hired by Brouard to carry architect plans for
a project of a memorial museum dedicated to the victims of WWII.
Indeed, during that
time, Guernsey island was occupied by the nazis. Soon, China Rivers
is arrested: there seem to be damning evidence of her culpability.
When Cherokee appears on Simon and Deborah's doorstep, Deborah is
very surprised: China was Deborah's best friend in California, she
took care of her when Deborah was going through a very bad time...
Deborah had lost contact with China for many years, and did nothing
to rekindle the friendship, since she did not want to remember that
period of her life. However, when Cherokee explains China's ordeal,
Deborah does not hesitate and flies to Guernsey island to help her
friend. Simon, who worries for his wife, decides to come along and
uses his status as a forensic expert to make his own parallel
investigation...
Of course, Deborah and Simon will soon
discover that everything is not as it seems to be among the
inhabitants of Guernsey island. They will uncover many secrets, lies,
manipulations, deceptions, and desires of revenge that could easily
give plenty of people sufficient motives to kill such a man as
philanthropist Guy Brouard. But will this be enough to convince
Guernsey police, which are set on pining the murder of Brouard on a
stranger to the island, of China's innocence? And how will working
together on a case so close to Deborah's heart will affect the
relationship between the St. Jameses?
As usual, Elizabeth George has crafted a fine
mystery, with complex characters the reader will love to hate, an
atmosphere of suspicion and tension building, a satisfying
resolution. George proves very skilled at capturing the essence of
relationships between friends and between siblings. However, as in
A Traitor to Memory, I found some loose ends (or maybe I did
not pay attention enough...) I thought that motivations for some
characters' actions were not sufficiently clear: but maybe she did
this on purpose? My other complaint is related to main characters
and their pasts: I think that sometimes George could clarify facts
about characters that she, no doubt, explained lengthily in others
books but that we might have forgotten, like their past
relationships...
Last but not least: although going through an
investigation from a different point of view than the Lynley/Havers's
could have been a nice change, I was really annoyed by Deborah, I found her
unbearably childish and whimsical, really unsuitable
for a leading part. I really really missed Barbara Havers, but I
understood that she is back in With No One As Witness, so I
am looking forward to it...
Rating: 
© Discussing Books, 03/22/2005
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Critiques