Books With No One as Witness (Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers Novels)
Books and Publications Average Rating:

Rating: - Moving and complex-- George is still one of my favorite mystery authors.
You can accuse this book of being overly complex. You can even accuse it of being unduly implausible in a lot of respects. Still, it survives these flaws and ends up being one of my best mystery reads for the last month, purely on the strength of George as a writer.

In this book, Havers is still out of favor and doesn't seem to want to help anyone trying to help her win her position back. She and Lynley find themselves faced with a serial killer whose activities threaten to drag the name of the police through the mud. Ultimately, they discover that the man threatens even more than that...

I found that the pages flew by, and I'll be eager to see where George takes the characters from here. Recommended.

---

Rating: - Fallen off my "favorite author" list
Elizabeth George turns in another over complicated mystery. The plot is by turns boring and over-wrought, the villan is unconvincing, and she kills off a main character in a way that has nothing to do with the rest of the plot and is utterly implausible. With No One as Witness is a deeply unsatisfying book that reeks of the author's fatigue or boredom. Not worth the money -- not even in paperback. If you must read it, get it from the library.

---

Rating: - While not a witness for the prosecution I will say George can do better!
With No One as Witness is another in the long series featuring the aristocrat detective Thomas Lynley and the disheveled and
harried detective Barbara Havers. The novel is set in 21st century London dealing with a series of young impoverished boys who have been brutally murdered by a serial killer on the loose.
The book is dark and there is little humor in its endless pages. The Lynley-Havers novels are now being featured on PBS's
"Mystery" series and George's readership is vast.
The book is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong!!!!!!!!
I am currently reding a Dickens three decker called "Bleak House" but dear Boz could hold your interest with his characters and intricate plotting. George cannot!
George is an American who writes like a Brit but she needs to learn to edit or have someone edit her books! There are countless pages dealing with the inner politics going on at
Scotland Yards. Much could have been improved with conciseness
in writing. One doesn't want to spend this much time on a detective "thriller." Many pages are flat, dull and the reader
longs to find out what will happen so the hefty volume can be
placed on the heaving shelf!
I have read every Elizabeth George novel and consider her a fine writer but she does need to add more action, more humor and fewer characters if her next book is to do better.
So-So George!