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Epicurus.com - Careless in Red: A Novel
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List Price: $27.95
Our Price: $18.45
Your Save: $ 9.50 ( 34% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Harper
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780061160875
ISBN: 0061160873
Label: Harper
Manufacturer: Harper
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 640
Publication Date: 2008-05-01
Publisher: Harper
Release Date: 2008-05-06
Studio: Harper
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Editorial Reviews:
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In her most eagerly anticipated novel yet, Elizabeth George brings back Scotland Yard's Thomas Lynley to investigate a ruthless crime. After the senseless murder of his wife, Detective Superintendent Thomas Lynley retreated to Cornwall, where he has spent six solitary weeks hiking the bleak and rugged coastline. But no matter how far he walks, no matter how exhausting his days, the painful memories of Helen's death do not diminish. On the forty-third day of his walk, at the base of a cliff, Lynley discovers the body of a young man who appears to have fallen to his death. The closest town, better known for its tourists and its surfing than its intrigue, seems an unlikely place for murder. However, it soon becomes apparent that a clever killer is indeed at work, and this time Lynley is not a detective but a witness and possibly a suspect. The head of the vastly understaffed local police department needs Lynley's help, though, especially when it comes to the mysterious, secretive woman whose cottage lies not far from where the body was discovered. But can Lynley let go of the past long enough to solve a most devious and carefully planned crime?
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: careless in red
Comment: Elizabeth George in my favorite writer, and I purchased "Careless in Red" the day it came out. I was so disappointed in the reviews that it took awhile for me to start it. Big mistake. I thought it was terrific. Perhaps not quite in the league with "Playing for the Ashes" or "Deception of his Mind", but close enough. First, I did not find the characters names hard to remember, or the plot hard to follow. If you are writing about people who live in Cornwall, Tom, Dick and Harriet are not realistic choices. While I did eventually guess the murderer, it took awhile, and certainly made sense. I never found the "who" to be really important in an Elizabeth George novel, but rather the "why".
Second, I found her group of primary and secondary characters to be very appealing and sympathetic. More so then in most of her book. Reviewers who complained, surely could not be regular readers. Elizabeth George's topics have always been realistic, and some of her themes are not pretty.
Third, what do you do with a character who has lost his beloved wife and son in such a horrible manner. To me, having Lynley walk for 43 days until he stumbles upon a body, is as good as any other means for opening the book. I certainly would not have expected him to hit the bars or the booze. I liked Helen and will miss her. During the last 2 years, I have periodically re-read all 13 books, and realize while Helen may have appeared to be fluff on the outside, she was a class act with a strong inner core. I felt the same way about Daidre, who was also a class act, in different ways. She appeared to be exactly what Lynley needed to come back to the world of the living. There was nothing improper about their relationship, as some reviews have suggested. I wondered if she would reappear in future books, much down the road, as their differences would be interesting to see play out on paper. Yes, Havers comes back to aid her dear friend, and as always she is perfect. I did not like Bea, as much as some readers. At times, she appeared too much like (not in looks)to Havers, and there can only be one. With the exception of "A Place of Hiding" all of Elizabeth George's books are 4 to 5 star rating. My only criticism is that it was Helen, not Deborah, who was done away with. I can not figure out what two such dreamy men could see in such a boring, dim-wit women. 13 books, no growth, no personality, leads to boring story-line.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Misery...
Comment: For the record, the three is based solely on the fact that like it or not the woman is a bloody brilliant writer...Now having said that.. I will take up the choice of my title...;-) I now see why a fan can learn to hate the writer... although hate is not truly how I feel, I am still not over the killing of Helen (and I speak for many of us) but also that ridiculous attempt at social statement, trying to in some way let us the readers understand, quote "what came before he shot her" unquote...a total rip off for consumers as these books are not cheap, and falsely called a Lynley/Havers novel.. to which I still take umbrage.. 'Whatever'..as in another review I wrote, I say to her: "Ms George you developed your popularity based on serial detective novels.. Dickens you are not".... But let me get back to 'Careless in Red' The only saving grace for me about this novel was the truly realistic suffering on the part of Thomas Lynley... I needed that catharsis myself.. although some readers felt it out of place, I felt it the only wise thing she has done since before the deed itself.. Why, because he was suffering unbearably just like many of us, at the loss of our beloved Helen and her unborn child.. and in doing so it made Ms George accountable for having inflicted this upon him in the first place...As a writer she must have some bond with Lynley, and so now she must look at what she caused by her decision...
The book as a whole botherd me for many reasons..Mainly most of the characters were so annoying... and self pitying.. I could go on.. As for the end of the book with a murderer getting away..another, Whatever... But I am at the mercy of the writer, because, as most fans will agree, like it or not, any book with our Barbara in it is a must read... ;-)
Customer Rating:
Summary: moralistic twaddle
Comment: Really? You guys liked this book? Unfortunately for me, I read this one after I read Playing for the Ashes and a third one - can't remember the title - In all three, the author is definitely out to get the sexually adventerous libertines of the world, even if it ultimately has nothing to do with the plot (the third one I read....the one where Lynley goes to Scotland and the two young people die out on the rocky hills somewhere). Anyway, I was puzzled by the author's apparent moralistic self-righteousness until I saw of list of books by her on Amazon which includes something about loving God with all you mind. Oh, well, that explains it. Elizabeth, relax and live a little. Jesus Christ!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Off her form
Comment: As a big fan of Elizabeth George and the Lynley series, I eagerly anticipated the arrival of Careless in Red. I even had the tingle excitement we "bibliophiles" get when I finally checked it out of the library. Unfortunately, the book is a major disappointment. There are too many characters, many of whom are dysfunctional, uninteresting, and depressing. The writing is laborious at points, especially all the details about surfing, waves, isobars, and minor roads in Cornwall. Lynley was present but may as well have been left out. Havers arrived too late to redeem the book, though her late arrival made the last 300 pages bearable. I never really had any desire to know who killed Santo Kerne, though I do admit I plowed ahead and finished the book... all the while waiting to start on the new Deborah Crombie book (Where Memories Lie). Readers who liked George at her best would do well to read one of Crombie's novels.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Lynley & Havers are back = 5 stars, Daidre Trahair = pain
Comment: After delivering a shocking blow in the last outing for Lynley and Havers, Elizabeth George picks up the story a few short months after the death of Lynley's beloved wife Helen. The St Jameses and Nkata are not part of the action. The St Jameses aren't even mentioned. Havers does show up nearly halfway through. I admit that this is fine with me, I don't miss Nkata and Havers had been getting on my nerves. This book showed me that Havers and Lynley are at their best interacting with each other - not pondering each other, or in Havers' case, pondering her own life ad nauseum. To each their own, I know some readers adore Havers and there are many Haverisms on display here to satisfy.
Overall, this book is classic Elizabeth George: lots of local scenery and in depth characterizations of the main suspects. As usual, the start is slow with characters being introduced and drawn but halfway through you couldn't pry this book from my hands without a gun. This time around the murder is of an 18 year old, Santo Kerne, and the group obsession is surfing. You might think this is less juicy material than, say World War Two in A Place of Hiding, but this isn't Gidget, Moondoggie and the Kahuna running around planning a beach party. The Kernes are a seriously messed up family with mother Dellen easily winning the award as most detestable character. George does a fine job with her characterizations of Dellen and her daughter Kerra.
The other characters lead by lead detective Bea Hannaford are well-drawn and interesting. George's main themes are the sins of the fathers and the painful misunderstandings between parents and children. There's a lovely subplot about an aging grandfather of decidedly fixed opinions dealing with the spiritually inclined granddaughter his son has sent to live with him. The interactions between Selevan Penrule and his granddaughter Tammy never strike a wrong note and their evolution feels earned.
The mystery is top notch if a not entirely mysterious, Thomas Lynley's emotional floundering between stunned grieve and guilty ability to survive is spot on, and the break from the usual characters actually makes their bond all the stronger. It's good to see Elizabeth George back on form.
So why only 4 stars?
The problem is Daidre Trahair. The veterinarian from Bristol is front and center throughout the book with Lynley just knowing she's not the murderer and the lead investigator smelling a rat. I'm with the lead investigator on this one. Trahair may not be guilty but she's more rodent than recurring character material.
George is too smart a writer to foist this bundle of clichés on her readers. The detective attracted to a suspect he knows isn't guilty. The woman with a mysterious past. A policeman falling for someone who doesn't trust the police. The woman with a quirkily spelled first name to clue us in that she's different. Love against class differences, etc. And that's just for starters. Maybe George sees Trahair as a strong, smart independent woman struggling to come to terms with her past. I saw a self-obsessed woman who thinks nothing of lying to suit her "privacy" when a simple deflection would have achieved the same ends. A woman who gets quite put out at the idea of the police investigating her background in a murder inquiry yet happily investigates the background of the policeman via the internet. And smart, innocent people don't lie to the police about things that can easily be found out.
Not halfway through the story Daidre Trahair's fixation on Thomas Lynley gets downright creepy. She's not just reading up on him, she's hanging around waiting for him to leave his hotel so she can talk to him or otherwise watching him (you know, like a stalker), she's asking other detectives (during her own interrogation!) about his dead wife. But the most appalling scene comes when after stupidly revealing that she's investigated Lynley's background Daidre Trahair offers Lynley spiritual advice. She presumes to tell a grieving widower how he should feel about his wife's death. I kid you not. And she doesn't let up when Lynley tells her he doesn't share her beliefs. She keeps going. Calling her ramblings "beliefs" is generous. A more formless bunch of New Age, quasi spiritual silliness you've never heard before. She spends as much time telling him what she doesn't believe as what she does. How this is supposed to help anyone or who on earth would force this on someone they've known less than three days is more a mystery than the central plot.
If Elizabeth George is setting Daidre Trahair up to be a creepy stalker in the next book, her narrative choices here are brilliant. If she's setting Trahair up as Lynley's new love interest - and why would he need one this soon? - then I'll have to rethink my 20 year relationship with Lynley-Havers and company.
Don't do it, Elizabeth George, you're too good for this!
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