What Came Before He Shot Her audiobook

** spoiler alert ** Given the negative reaction to this novel from many of Elizabeth George’s long-time fans, I fully expected not to enjoy this. Perhaps it was the lowered expectations, but I found this novel to be engrossing and extremely well-written. I’ve enjoyed EG’s previous novels (all of them) and have always been impressed by her character development; what I hadn’t realized is just how incredibly skilled she is at this.Following EG’s extremely bold (an very ill-received) killing of one of her main characters in “With No One As Witness” EG takes a number of further bold steps:1) Her very next novel deviates entirely from the story lines her readers have been following for over a decade2) She has the audacity to ask us to immerse ourselves in the world of Helen’s killer3) She has the further audacity to make us sympathize with him4) This white, well-to-do American author writes a novel about a poor mixed-race family living in a crime-ridden London neighborhood. Not only that, she writes the dialogue entirely in the vernacular.By all accounts, this should make for an awful novel. Not so. Somehow Ms. George pulls it off beautifully, giving us a rich environment peopled by complex individuals who are not always what they seem.It’s been so long since I’ve read “With No One As Witness” that I didn’t know going into this novel who the “he” was in the title. I’m not sure if that was made clear in the former novel, but I truly appreciated not knowing until the event occurred. It enhanced my enjoyment to get to know the characters and develop my own feelings for them without knowing their ultimate fates. I highly recommend letting the memory of “Witness” fade before delving into “What Came”.I think the character of Ivan is Elizabeth George inserting herself into the story. EG certainly know how to “wield words” (I’m not so sure about her ability to wield weapons, or to fix a clock). Ivan certainly provides the more literary aspects of this novel, especially as his mandate to “Wield Words Not Weapons” is completely turned around by the end, in which weapons are wielded and words are deliberately withheld.

Having advance warning that this book is not part of the Lynley series, but gives a background (or second point of view) of one of the things that happens in Lynley's life, I found this book amazingly brilliant. I should not have been amazed. Elizabeth George is a spectacular writer.I was so ensconced in Joel's life that I could not stop thinking about the book when I was not reading it. Whenever I had a free moment, I wanted to be reading it. When I had a free moment, and had committed to doing something else, I was disappointed that I was not able to read.This is the story of three siblings. Quite a few things go wrong in their life, and in their quest to get things right, or improve their circumstances, things continue to go the way things often go in life. Things spiral out of control, often because of the best intentions of the children as well as the adults in their lives. This book is rings true. Elizabeth George show us how these things happen all the time in the real world.

I read lots of novels, but I regard most of them as snacks - they don't stay with me very long. This one, however, has. I've read most of Elizabeth George's books, and am familiar with her characters, I think they're even a TV series. But this book was so different. The 'Her' is one of Ms George's well-known characters, but you don't really know that until the last few pages of the book.The story is that of Joel and his older sister and younger brother. Their dad was murdered, their mum's in a mental hospital, their gran is going back to Jamaica. Their aunt learns she is to take care of them when she finds them, literally, on her doorstep. Joel's a fantastic kid, wants to do the right thing, wants everyone to be happy and does what he has to to protect his siblings. That's all I'll say about the plot. I just think the author has done an excellent job of showing how one young boy can get from point A (quite innocent) to point B (under arrest for murder) without ever having done anything wrong but make some bad choices. He's SURROUNDED by people who make bad choices, and, to me, the story really illustrates how a few (or many!) bad choices can have a knock-on effect that can completely change a person's life for good or bad.It's been nearly a year since I read this book, but it's stuck with me, and it's one of the few novels that I will most likely read again. It would make a great TV drama or possibly film.

This book is one of my all-time favorites. It's the story of the Campbell children, 15 year-old Ness, 12 year-old Joel, and eight year-old Toby, who are left by their grandmother Glory. She has gone off to Jamaica to be with her boyfriend leaving the children to be cared for by their aunt Kendra. George captures the flavor of this Jamaican family as they struggle to survive in a world that becomes increasingly more threatening especially for the children. The author explores each character's inner feelings, their wants and desires and evokes empathy in the reader. We hope the children will make it yet know so much is against them. Conflicts permeate every page. It is a page turner.

I have always enjoyed the mysteries of Elizabeth George. She writes the types of stories that are more about the characters than the mysteries. She invites you into the lives of the detectives, the victims and even the perpetrators. In this novel, she leaves the mystery genre to explore the life of the 12-year old boy responsible for the murder of one of her primary characters. She takes you deep into the live of North Kensington, a poor, working-class neighborhood in London and shows the struggle for survival that is the daily life of millions of children in urban settings all over the world. It is a gut-wrenching reminder of the impossible choices that face so many people as they seek to negotiate the complex social layers of life in the city. She brings the characters of Joel Campbell and his family to life and makes their struggle real and immediate. You will not forget them or their stories.

Chilling and fascinating departure for George. She tells a pitifully sad story from the viewpoint of the 12 year old boy who was Helen Lynley's killer. The story is a mystery in its own right as well because of how the theme of revenge plays out. DIehard fans of Havers and Lynley hated this book, but to me it shows how talented George really is.

4 & 1/2 stars. i confess i wouldn't have picked this one up if i'd known it what it really was: i did look carefully at it first to make sure it was a Linley mystery. and it is; except not really. it's riskier territory. then i stayed up for two nights running till 4am to read it through, so it was certainly riveting, the way she built the story. the characters come so alive, and the reader is dragged (kicking and screaming, in my case) into the narrative. and the sense of dread carries the novel: the way it grows, the way it spreads, the way it matters. until in the end, it makes perfect sense out of what we like to call a senseless crime. in that context, of course, the indictment's aimed at us. but it still works, in that No Way Out way that this kind of societal/psychological novel tracks.

This is such a sad book also. If you are keeping up with the Inspector Lynley series, you have to read this book. In it, everything changes for Inspector Thomas Lynley & Barbara Havers. Inspector Lynley & his wife are expecting their first child & she's all excited trying to figure out what the baby should wear at it's christening. Should she go along with the clothes her mother-in-law has sent to her, that all the Lords have worn through the generations, or should she start a new tradition & buy new clothes for her soon to be born baby. Caught up, as she is, in her dilema, Thomas is involved in what appears to be a serial killer on the loose in England killing young boys. As events unfold, the climax of the story builds up suspense all the way to the very end. The book closes with a slam-dunk ending that will leave you with your heart in your stomach! It's a "must read" book that will have you buying the next book in the series so you can find out what happens next! I couldn't put this book down! You won't want to miss reading it.

Can a book be worth reading when you know the ending? This one was. In the prior episode of Inspector Lynley his wife was shot in a "random" shooting. This book is the story of the boy involved and what lead up to the shooting. It is a tale of three children who lose their father and mother in different ways and end up being dumped with their aunt. Their fight for survival due to the circumstances which brought them here and the paths they choose illustrate a situation which happens daily results in a frustrating tale of how humans interact, misunderstand each other, fight for control of their lives and, by doing so, the lives of others and in the end often just give in.

I picked this up at a library book sale. I have not read Elizabeth George before, but I am aware of her long running series with Inspector Lynley. This is actually not a mystery really. I would just call it a crime novel. Apparently in the previous book in the series Inspector Lynley’s wife is killed and this book tells the story of the killer’s life leading up to the event that takes her life.The killer is Joel a young orphan with an out of control older sister, an overwhelmed aunt, who they live with, and a younger brother who is supposed to be autistic from the descriptions. Joel tries to do everything to take care of his ragged family and survive in a world of drugs, prostitutes, bullies and crime. Unfortunately, his best is not enough. This book explores statements about class and race and social inequities that are not “fun” to read about. It opens up the discussion of choice and how things such as one’s race, wealth, or other accident of birth limit choices sometimes to the point that there are no good ones.Although this was not what I was expecting (I thought it was going to be a mystery), it was well written and the author did a particularly good job with the character’s voices, speaking street language in a way that seemed natural and not contrived. I do think that a reader would benefit from at the least being familiar with the series, if not having read the directly preceding book.

Elizabeth George is one of my favorite authors. She writes stuff I love to read; characterization first, great plots, but for me, it's always the characters and how they react to the plot that drive a great read. I think she surpassed herself in this book; I'm somewhat surprised to see that the ratings don't reflect that. It's a departure from her series in that her regular characters don't appear until the very end, but the three children who carry the book are written superbly. It's a look into the lower-class that exists in any city and town worldwide, and it's stunning. The children, oldest sister, middle brother, and younger emotionally stunted brother are dumped by their grandmother on an aunt's doorstep, literally. Their father was shot on the street some years earlier, an innocent victim, and their mother is institutionalized with severe depression. How they struggle to make a life, and how their aunt struggles to integrate them into her single lifestyle is so empathetic and well-told that the author's passion for her message shines on every page. Truly, it's one of the best books I have ever read; it has stayed with me all this time, and made me consider what hopeless lives so many children lead. It made me want to do better for all the children I come in contact with, and isn't that the point of a good book?

What Came Before He Shot Her by Elizabeth GeorgeHaving read several of Elizabeth George's mysteries, I was surprised to find myself reading an entirely different type of book. Do not expect this novel to include more than a mention of the characters from her well-known and beloved Detective Lynley series. At the outset, I was not too sure what I would think of it, but as I read I became totally drawn into the characters and unable to put the book down. The characters are believable, volatile, and very well drawn. This novel takes us into the darkest parts of London and gives us insight into the people who must deal, on a daily basis, with the dangers and hopelessness portrayed here. The book, utilizing a mix of patois and formal English, is situated around one particular dysfunctional "family" and ultimately how the events led to the final desperate outcome. The book itself is somewhat of a prequel to George’s previous novel "With No One As Witness". It unrelentingly takes us back into the events and crises in the life of a young boy determined to protect his siblings regardless of the dangers he must face. The final horror brings us full circle to the shooting and death of a Scotland Yard detective's wife. I found the book took me on a journey I would not normally want to take, but is well-written for its subject matter. It is definitely not a light read.

I have read this book twice or seen a show based on the book as some of this was so familiar. What is different about this book is the way it fits in, and doesn't fit in to the story of Inspector Lynley. It is told from the point of view of the children involved and so the interpretation of events is from a child's point of view. It quite accurately portrays the dangers in the lives of children that adults often are not aware of, or downplay because they have concerns of their own. The breakdown of a family unit because of problems with poverty and mental illness is spelled out in the story that covers more than 10 years in the lives of the children. We see how inadequate all the social systems in place for protection fail again and again. At the end we see how all of this culminates in accidental murder.

Elizabeth George delivers her best when she’s writing about the working class. Barbara and Nkata first and now this remarkable work that is all about Joel and his family tragedy before it touches upon Lynley’s. Brilliant. I’m sorry that the series will inevitably go back to Deborah, etc. Forgive any mistakes in the spelling of character names since I listen to the audiobooks and I can only guess.