Careless in Red audiobook

It’s been four years since we last caught up with Inspector Thomas Lynley and Sgt. Barbara Havers. Four very long years.Four years made longer by the fact that at the end of With No One As Witness, Elizabeth George left Lynley and the entire series as a cross-roads. Something big happened at the end of the book that left me stunned at the audacity of George to contemplate it, much less pull it off. And it left me eager for more.And then we got her last book, What Came Before He Shot Her, which was good but didn’t quite satisfy the craving and yearning I had for more Lynley and Havers.Finally, we get Careless in Red. And it was worth every last day she made us wait for it.Careless in Red opens a few months after the events of With No One as Witness. Lynley, in his depression over his wife and unborn child’s death, has gone on a walk and a rather long one. He’s wandering up the British coast, trying to get away from places and things that remind him of Helen and those well-meaning friends and family who are trying to understand what he’s going through. On the forty-third day of his walk, he discovers the body of Santo Kerne on the rocks, apparently killed while cliff climbing. Lynley tries to report the crime and soon finds himself drawn into the murder investigation (early on, he’s as suspect, but soon he’s dismissed as such and made part of the investigation, though his role is entirely unofficial).As she’s done with the last few Lynley and Havers novels, George expands the focus beyond our two protagonists. George introduces a myriad of characters who knew the deceased, many of which have a very good reason to wish harm to the eighteen-year old boy. Kerne was part of the surfing commuity as well as a ladies’ man and had burned more than his fair share of bridges. Add that to mysterious ties to the past by his parents and you’ve got the usual George tapestry of colorful suspects, all of whom had a very good motive for bumping off Santo Kerne.All of these lead to a satisfying conclusion to the mystery, which I won’t give away here. And while the mystery itself is absorbing, it’s the pyschological aspects of the novel that make it compelling. From a literary standpoint, George is head and shoulders above any mystery novelist writing today because she does more than just present the facts of the case. She take the time to get inside the lives of each of the suspects, having them be characters rather than simply suspects. We get to see why they’d each have a myriad of reasons to comit the crime and why they have a myriad of reason to not comit each crime. In Careless in Red, George takes the time to develop each of the people of the setting into something more than just a standard suspect. But the character development doesn’t stop there. The story is about Thomas Lynley and his journey through the healing process. When we first meet Lynley in Red, he’s still reeling from the death of his wife. The novel provides Lynley with a way to reconnect with the world and become part of it again. Yes, it’s a bit of convienence that Lynley is walking on the coast and happens across a dead body. But that event serves as a catalyst that allows Lynley’s healing process to continue and bring him back to the things of his life that matter–his friends, his family and his work at New Scotland Yard. You can take Lynley out of Scotland Yard, but you can’t take out his essential instincts as a detective. George highlights this in a subplot when Lynley assigned to watch and discover more about a mysterious vet. And the book includes Havers, who may be my favorite character of the novels. When Lynley calls her for help around page 200, I was literally cheering. Bringing the two together is a delight and it’s always a pleasure to see how others outside of the Lynley/Havers circle react to the give and take of the characters.In short, Careless in Red is everything that I was hoping for and more. Well-drawn characters, a well-executed mystery and our chance to explore more about Lynley and Havers. I won’t say this is an ideal place for a new fan to step in, but certainly you could if you wanted to. Instead, I’d say if you want to find out why everyone loves Elizabeth George, start with her first novel A Great Deliverance and explore the Lynley and Havers universe from the beginning.

Isn't Elizabeth George terrific?! I love her books and just wish she's crank them out more regularly and quickly. It isn't as if the woman isn't productive, either. It's just that fans want more, always more. Of course then they wouldn't be the same books, would they? Here we have DS Lynley mourning the loss of his wife. Lynley takes mourning very, very seriously. He's been wandering the coast of Cornwall for weeks, living rough and not especially well. Just walking. Naturally he finds a body. It seems a young climber has fallen from a cliff. Accident? Or something else? Well, this is Elizabeth George, so you can guess. The local police range from the cold, hard Bea Hannaford to her bumbling officers. There are too few investigators with too little experience, and Hannaford's unwillingness to listen to what anyone has to say does not help matters. There are many plot lines, but George keeps them from tangling up, so a reader is intrigued rather than lost; such is her skill with plot. And this is a great mystery. Of course she sends a reader off on false leads, convincing false leads. And even though you know that at least some of them must be false, they are part of such a rich story that you almost forget that basic of mystery fiction. This is a feast of friendship, relationship, family, small town, and emotional intrigues. As for character, this might be her best yet. George really gets a reader inside the heads of her characters in a way few can; such is her art. Perhaps the best example of this is early on, while Lynley is walking the coast and as he slowly, very slowly, emerges into the world. Here George manages to convey that he is so lost in grief as to be barely there inside his head. It's an amazingly eloquent bit of writing. Someone just liked this review, leading me to reread it. This reminded me of how much I liked the book. Now I must re-read the book.

Nachdem im letzten Band Inspector Lynley komplett außen vor gelassen wurde, weil die schlimmen Ereignisse, die ihn aus der Bahn geworfen hatten, aufgeklärt wurden, ist er jetzt wieder mit von der Partie.Er hat sich noch nicht wirklich gefangen, aber sein Spürsinn wenn es um Mord geht, packt ihn wohl einfach - ob er will oder nicht.Die Autorin holt hier wieder sehr weit aus und verstrickt einige Figuren gekonnt in die Sparte der Verdächtigen, was es nur umso spannender gemacht hat. Ich hatte zwar schon relativ früh gewisse Ahnungen, aber das hat mich nicht gestört. Vor allem sind ihr wieder die Charaktere wunderbar gelungen, die alle etwas zu verheimlichen haben und die oftmals jegliche Moral vergessen lassen: wie eben auch im richtigen Leben.Unterhaltsam, fesselnd, etwas weniger spannend - trotzdem wieder eine gute Fortsetzung.

I am a real fan of Elizabeth George's novels, and am very hopeful, as I begin Careless in Red, that she has regained the touch she lost so badly in What Came Before He Shot Her.I'm about 400 pages in, and very pleased. The plotting is meticulous, as always with George. There were enough characters that I made a list; I guess if I did that, perhaps she should have. There is a very touching process going on in this book. Thomas Lynley, who George has "lived with" through 14 other novels, has been devastated by the murder of his wife Helen (two books ago). George is carefully and tenderly nursing her character back to life. It's nice to watch, as an important sub-plot to the solution of the current crime. Or maybe it's the main plot.Finished. It's a long book, which allowed me to savor the plot and the characters. The ending was unusual (I won't say what, of course) but George shows she's willing to take risks in her writing, and she pulls it off.

I think we have seen all the episodes of the TV series. I recently started reading the books, actually it's a multimedia experience. I check out the audio and the book from the library, listen on my commute and read at home. The books are so much richer than the show. I love how she thoroughly researches her subjects. Very engaging series!This is my favorite. My only complaint was that I had trouble reconciling the affable Jago Reeth with the obsessed John Parsons.My heart ached in the scene where Daidre introduced Lynley to her family. What a wrenching life decision!The book wrapped up all the story lines well and I didn't feel that the solutions were contrived.I really cared about the young people especially in this book.

Well-written, good characters, good plot. Even though I had read a few of hers earlier, I had somehow forgotten about the series. This book (a Christmas gift) was a real reminder of how good Elizabeth George is in her genre and I re-read the whole series following this read. I'm sure I'll do that again!

I've read all the Thomas Lynley novels and found them all to be a cut above most detective series, partly because George develops complicated characters who lead complex lives. Careless in Red, despite the somewhat trite title, is more of a sprawling family novel than it is a mystery. Several family sagas are played out, incorporating the intergenerational conflict that binds individual family members to each other and intertwines them for good and ill with other families involved in the story. Lynley, who is still trying to come to terms with his wife's senseless murder, gets drawn into the drama by accident, but his reluctance is overcome by his natural instincts.One thing Elizabeth George does well is set a scene. The denizens of Cornwall and the countryside are concrete and unique. I've never been to England, but I have a sense that after reading George's book, I would have a familiarity with the place. I wouldn't feel right at home, however, because George manages to create a Cornwall that is as strange and foreign as if it were the ends of the earth.I'm looking forward to the next Lynley book. A side note: I watch the Masterpiece Theater version of this series, and I enjoy the episodes, but the books and the TV shows are two different creations. So much is left out of the TV version that it's difficult to recognize it as the same work.

Elizabeth George at her very best! You begin to feel that the characters are people you know well, and the dead body, the person who committed the murder, had me fooled to the very end!I can usually figure out "whodunit" quickly, so this was a great surprise. The only problem with any of her books, when you're finished with it, you feel a sense of loss because the story is over, and the characters are now no longer a part of your life. I wish she would write the novels quicker, but then, they wouldn't be as good or as involved. I've read every one of her Thomas Lynley books and I anxiously await her next one!

Elizabeth George has a wonderful way of creating sympathetic characters out of horrible people. Her grasp of the human condition and all that entails lends her books a real richness that make them about more than the body found at the beginning and the resulting murderer revealed at the end. Despite not being a reader of murder mystery, I find myself drawn back to her books again and again and I think that's why. Careless in red is no different. Though a mystery in name, it is in reality a study of family and the many ways they can screw you up, or be screwed up by them. It's also a study of grief, although, were I to look for flaws in the book, it might be the handling of Lynley's recent loss. Although it's clear the book isn't about him, I would still have liked more exploration of how he was dealing with his wife's death. Highlights for me include the horrendous, heartbreaking story of Ben and Dellen, so easy to imagine and portrayed in painful detail. Havers, as always, is a welcome addition too. A great book, compelling and hard to put down, with the kind of denouement few authors would have the courage or skills to pull off. Highly recommended.

Another satisfying read by Elizabeth George. I was glad to see her return to her mystery roots after the last book, which was too depressing for me. Great character development of the main suspects caught up in this latest murder mystery.I could have used more Barbara Havers, but overall a nice addition to her series. As always, looking forward to the next one.

Thomas Lynley, still coming to terms with the murder of his wife Helen, has retreated to Cornwall where he is hiking the bleak, rugged coastline alone with his thoughts, memories and demons.On the forty-third day of his walk, he finds the body of a young man who appears to have fallen to his death. As the first person on the scene, Thomas Lynley himself is under suspicion.Thus begins one of the most interesting mysteries I have read for some time. Can Thomas Lynley overcome his inner demons (and does he want to?) to assist the undermanned local police to solve what appears to be a carefully planned murder? Almost everyone in the local town appears to know something that might be relevant and almost no-one wants to volunteer any information. There are plenty of secrets and an abundance of red herrings to engage and distract the reader. Even if you do work out who did it, and why, before the end of the book as I did there are other aspects of the story which kept me interested to the end.Barbara Havers is sent to assist the investigation. So we have a version of the old partnership between Lynley and Havers in operation together with a new partnership between Havers and Detective Inspector Bea Hannaford. There are plenty of interesting characters here and some complex (and not so complex) motivations come into play. So, why four stars instead of five? Some aspects of the story worked brilliantly for me, others less so. But overall, this is an engaging novel which has me hoping that we’ve not seen the last of Lynley and Havers (and some of the other characters introduced, as well).

There are books meant to be read pool/beach side in the hot sun with sweat dripping down your face, one hand shielding your eyes from the sun all the while angling your book so that you may read it. They don't have complicated plots--Janet Evanovich comes to mind. As does any bodice ripper romance. Light, fluffy books that don't require much thought are for summer waterside recreation. There are also books to be read on the plane. See above considerations.800 page novels filled with complicated turns and twists and complex dialogue and shifting view points all while expounding on the finer points of surfing British style, however, are better saved for Florida mornings when you open your hotel room curtains and see pouring rain, hear rolling thunder and your roommate announces she plans to sleep as late as possible.THAT'S when you settle into your blankets, sigh at the lack of kitty sleeping at your feet, and treat yourself to Elizabeth George's finely written Lynley mysteries.Although at first, I WAS worried it was going to be a mournful paean to Lynley's grief over Helen. What a sigh of relief when Detective Sgt. Havers came to the rescue. I love that junk food-eating, chain-smoking, rumpled clothes-wearing, red high-top sporting, blunt-speaking, doggedly-loyal sidekick.i

#15 of the Havers-Lynley series- This phase of the series follows the death of Helen and Lynley has left Scotland Yard and is walking aimlessly along the English coast. A section of coast that is known for surfing. That was an interesting aspect of this book. When Tommy reaches the area of Casvelyn, he finds a body on the cliffs by the shore. He runs up to a cottage hoping someone is there and breaks the window to get in. He finally finds Daidre who helps him find a phone to call the authorities. Since he was the first to find the body, he is ordered to stick around town to answer questions. And thus begins the investigation of Santo Kerne's murder. I was really looking forward to reading this book. I really think this author is in a league all by herself. Her writing is incredibly intricate and yet woven in a complete and satisfying way. However, the climax and the ending left me unsettled. This book was over 6oo pages and it took a while to get the stories established. So I was expecting an exciting and satisfying ending. It just wasn't delivered the way I expected. I still love the series, this one just wasn't my favorite.

It's been a while since I last read an Inspector Lynley murder mystery, so I was looking forward to it. It was a massive read - 800 odd pages, and at first a little slow. Then as the book progresses the plot and subplots become well-drawn out and well executed. We have a tortured Lynley who has recently lost his wife Helen, and unborn child in a mindless myrder. It is his psychological state that we are subjected to in a very touching process, we wait with faint breath as he gradually begins to come alive and we catch a glimpse here and there of the old character shining through.Throughout the book there is a whole mass of characters, each one having his or her own secret, red herrings therefore abound. One thing comes through - almost all of them spend most of their life living in their own little hell. A motley group of difunctionals one and all and not at all likeable! Despite the books length, which I thought too long and therefore could have been tightened up somewhat, I did thouroughly enjoy the story. It had an unusual ending which I liked as all too often human life is like that.A great mystery with many subplots.

Lynley blijft boeien. Ik ga binnenkort aan deel 16 beginnen.

I was so happy to see another Thomas Lynley novel by Elizabeth George. After the last one that she wrote when she had his wife (Helen) and unborn baby killed, I was afraid that she wouldn't write any additional books about him. This one was really good, and I enjoyed it. I don't think that I enjoyed it as much as her other books about him, because I really loved the relationship he had with his wife. But now I have hope for being able to read about him and his co-hort Barbara Havers in future novels.