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

Rating: - Masterful mystery by a masterful author
George's vivid and multi-faceted characters are what always keeps me coming back for more. I think she is not only one of the finest mystery authors out there but also one of the finest authors, period. This book is certainly no exception and while one of its plot twists was ruined for me by my reading a Time review of her novel after this one before reading this one, it really didn't lessen the impact. Whenever I read one of her books, I find myself devouring the pages ravenously, completely caught up in the world she has created. What I find so endlessly fascinating about her books is that she not only writes from the perspective of the detectives on the case--Havers, Havers, Havers, I can never get enough of your character!--she also writes from the perspective of the crime's perpetrator. Thus, she delves into the darkness and depravity of those who commit unspeakable crimes.

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Rating: - Even Deeper Ties that Bind
Once again Elizabeth George has taken a crime story that has so many twists and turns that you almost forget what you are really reading is the lives of the five main characters and how they grow and change through time. George is able to explore the complex world of human relationships with care, compassion and realism. That we come to know the characters and may even miss them between books is certainly a sign that George writes about the human condition. Yes, the crime puzzle is excellent, but it would be just another worn out formula detective novel without the human relationships. What happens to Helen forced me to put the book down several times before I could pick it up again and yet I understood why this had to happen. Like Sheri Tepper, George takes a writing genre and forces us to look at ourselves and our humanity and ask the tough questions about both. Reading George's books with friends, particularly close friends, is a way to enhance the George experience even more -- but it's still pretty good alone. I look forward to the next George novel, as I always do.

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Rating: - Good but not great
This book is very long and it took me a while to get into it. It was a bit slow going at first. I loved other books by Elizabeth George but this was not one of her best and the ending was terribly sad.

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Rating: - A little too long................
I have enjoyed all of Elizabeth George's well written mysteries and have read them through the years in the order they were published. For what ever reason WITH NO ONE AS A WITNESS took me forever to read and maybe because of this long often interrupted stretch of reading time I had to keep turning back to figure out which of the minor characters was which. On the positive side George's great detectives, Havers and Lynley, get a lot of time, the mystery is compelling to at least near the end and the author certainly pays attention to detail. Yet this is not the "pageturner" some of her earlier books were. As to the great "shock" I like some other reviewers found it to be a bit contrived.