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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.
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Release date
March 20, 2018 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780525529842
- File size: 656968 KB
- Duration: 22:48:40
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Let's face it, Simon Vance is a rock star. His performance of this complex and multifaceted murder mystery is vivid and perfectly paced. There are no fewer than four disastrous mother-child snarls in the mix here, as well as all manner of British class and ethnic variations among investigators, suspects, and bystanders, and Vance is simply at home with all of it. Fans of Elizabeth George's series will be glad to be reunited with aristocratic Detective Lynley and Sgt. Havers, who famously dresses like a slob and can't follow orders--a good thing, when the orders would have caused her to dismiss a murder as a suicide. That Havers has also taken up tap dancing is less believable, but funny. A clever puzzle, brilliantly read. B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine -
Starred review from February 19, 2018
Bestseller George’s stunning 20th Thomas Lynley novel (after 2015’s A Banquet of Consequences) finds the detective inspector running things at New Scotland Yard in London while his partner, Det. Sgt. Barbara Havers, and his boss, Det. Chief Supt. Isabelle Ardery, investigate allegations of police malfeasance in Ludlow, England. Six weeks earlier, community support officer Gary Ruddock arrested Ian Druitt on suspicion of child molestation. Ruddock then brought Druitt to the unmanned Ludlow police station, where Druitt hanged himself. The Independent Police Complaints Commission cleared Ruddock of criminal wrongdoing, but Druitt’s influential father wants a second opinion or he’ll sue. To Ardery, the review is a formality; Havers, however, believes that Druitt was murdered and asks to reopen the case. When Ardery refuses, Havers consults Lynley, who can’t resist getting involved. George tackles a number of emotionally charged social issues with sensitivity and grace. Exquisitely rendered characters and a powerful sense of place enhance the meticulously crafted mystery, which satisfies as a standalone while furthering the series arc. Author tour. Agent: Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media Group. -
Starred review from April 23, 2018
British actor Vance does a strikingly effective job as narrator of the 20th book in George’s series about highborn Scotland Yard Det. Insp. Thomas Lynley, in which he and his partner, Det. Sgt. Barbara Havers, investigate a questionable suicide in the rural town of Ludlow. The early chapters find Lynley deskbound while Havers and their autocratic supervisor, Det. Chief Isabelle Ardery, look into the suicide. Ardery ignores Havers’s suspicions of murder and authenticates the suicide ruling. Circumventing an apoplectic Ardery, Lynley gets the case reopened, and he and Havers return to Ludlow, where their police work is interspersed by dramatic vignettes involving the local community. Vance’s vocal interpretations never falter. His Lynley is definitely aristocratic, but tempered by charm and empathy. Havers runs an emotional gamut from bristling pugnaciousness
to bouts of inferiority. Vance voices Ardery—who with her job on the line and her personal life in disarray grows increasingly dependent on vodka—with slurring, furious anger, and self-contempt. With its artfully described small-town atmosphere, meticulous plotting, and well-drawn characters, this is one of the author’s finer novels, with series newcomer Vance delivering a flawless, nuanced performance. A Viking hardcover.
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