Advanced Reader Review: The Punishment She Deserves
Summary: Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers and Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley are forced to confront the past as they try to solve a crime that threatens to tear apart the very fabric of a quiet, historic medieval town in England
The cozy, bucolic town of Ludlow is stunned when one of its most revered and respected citizens--Ian Druitt, the local deacon--is accused of a serious crime. Then, while in police custody, Ian is found dead. Did he kill himself? Or was he murdered?
When Barbara Havers is sent to Ludlow to investigate the chain of events that led to Ian's death, all the evidence points to suicide. But Barbara can't shake the feeling that she's missing something. She decides to take a closer look at the seemingly ordinary inhabitants of Ludlow--mainly elderly retirees and college students--and discovers that almost everyone in town has something to hide.
A masterful work of suspense, The Punishment She Deserves sets Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers and Inspector Thomas Lynley against one of their most intricate cases. Fans of the longtime series will love the many characters from Elizabeth George's previous novels who join Lynley and Havers, and readers new to the series will quickly see why she is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed writers of our time. Both a page-turner and a deeply complex story about the lies we tell, the lies we believe, and the redemption we need, this novel will be remembered as one of George's best.
I received this as an advanced reader from Penguin's First to Reading program. Fair warning, this is the first Inspector Lynley novel I have ever read. I've always seen Elizabeth George novels before and I've been curious about them, but I never took the plunge until now.
If anyone asked me how I would describe this novel, I would describe it as someone taking a Midsomer Murders episode and writing it out in full. That was the vibe I got from reading the novel the whole time. I was shocked when I saw that the book was almost 700 pages. I was wondering what kind of mystery required 700 pages to tell. It turns out it involves not only character development from the detectives themselves, but every side scene that the non-police characters were involved in as well. This is definitely a type of storytelling method that is very specific to certain writers. I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of it. I like it as a form of television, but not having to read it out. Call me lazy, but, I feel as if the constant scene changes to make the reader almost omniscient take away too much from the main characters - Lynley and Havers.
The mystery was well-written and I had trouble guessing the solution at first, but some clues helped me solve it before the final solution.
Fans of the series will enjoy it as well as those readers who want to see what the detectives don't and want to be involved in the entire process. Anyone who wants the simple process of solving the mystery where focus is primarily on the detectives and only a few side scenes involving the victims or side characters might want to skip this.
Overall, I give The Punishment She Deserves an A-.
