A Great Deliverance

Inspector Lynley, Book 1

By: Elizabeth George

Narrated by: Donada Peters

To this day, the low, thin wail of an infant can be heard in Keldale's lush green valleys. Three hundred years ago, as legend goes, the frightened Yorkshire villagers smothered a crying babe in Keldale Abbey, where they'd hidden to escape the ravages of Cromwell's raiders.

Now into Keldale's pastoral web of old houses and older secrets comes Scotland Yard Inspector Thomas Lynley, the eighth earl of Asherton. Along with the redoubtable Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, Lynley has been sent to solve a savage murder that has stunned the peaceful countryside. For fat, unlovely Roberta Teys has been found in her best dress, an ax in her lap, seated in the old stone barn beside her father's headless corpse. Her first and last words were "I did it. And I'm not sorry".

Yet as Lynley and Havers wind their way through Keldale's dark labyrinth of secret scandals and appalling crimes, they uncover a shattering series of revelations that will reverberate through this tranquil English valley - and in their own lives as well.

©1989 Susan Elizabeth George (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Spellbinding...a truly fascinating story that is part psychological suspense and part detective story." (Chicago Sun-Times)

"Pure entertainment from its insidious beginning to its gripping end." (The Washington Post Book World)

"Awesome...immediately thrusts the author into P.D. James' dark orbit." (Kirkus Reviews)

I'm very good start to the Lynley series.

I'd seen the episode on TV many years ago. So decided to go back and read the series. It's a very good start but I must say the story is a little dated. I'm sure in the late eighties it was more shocking than it is now. For fans of the series the 1st novel is a must read but it might not be the best. And that's not a bad thing since there's more to look forward to.

Shock Value

When writing a debut detective offering back in the 90s, it seemed to be a must for the author to land on a shocking or controversial topic for the plot. Perhaps there was more of an appetite for, or at least tolerance of, graphic crime novels . People reading this book today would do well to keep this in mind, and Audible would do its readers a kind service to alert potential buyers to the sensitive material covered graphically.

That said, I think this is a book worth reading and well-written. The later books in the series are less graphic, because, well, the publishers had their audience in tow, didn't they. EG could carry on with less shock value. The characters do change and mature with the times as the books progress. I love the series and even the BBC program that was developed from it in the 2000s. Those in the US with BritBox can view it today.

Great Book to start series

I loved this book! It's very meaty, at times intense, very suspenseful. The narrator did a great job. I was thoroughly engaged through the whole book. It's definitely not a cozy, but I would sincerely recommend to mystery lovers. I can't wait to get to book 2.

Pretty good mystery

I enjoyed the lead up to the mystery part of the book and although you suspect "who done it" the development of why was good. I would have rated it better if there would have been a better balance for people of faith,

masterful

i loved the dialogue, management of the plot revelations, but especially the growth of the characters as they interacted with each other.

Brilliant!

The characters are as real and fully drawn as people you might know. The story, the mystery, is quite complex. A dazzling combination. Much deeper than your usual police procedural. Heartily recommend.

It was a slog, but the ending was worth it.

The story was long drawn out. There were points in the story were I spaced out only to be drawn back in my important plot points.

I didn't care for the narrator. There weren't enough tonal variations to distinguish characters. She also needs to work on her generic American accent.

I liked how there were clues here and there but the criminal mystery was, at least for me, still a gut wrenching surprise in the end.

At times, the novel sounded like a grocery store romance novel. The bedroom scenes and the love speech in the cemetery were hoaky. And really, what was the point of the "Ugly American" stereotype? A dentist from Laguna Beach shouldn't sound like Yosemite Sam's homophobic brother. They didn't add to the plot. If anything they were there for comedy relief but instead, they way they were written just horribly cringeworthy.

All in all, I'd say that the book was good, not great. I'll give the next book in the series a try because I get that the author was setting up for a sequel and I'll just attribute the slowness of the book for character development and the introduction to the 2 main characters.

Response to Deliverance..

The subject is horrorifying but the story and characters deliver with scintillating intensity . I can say it was gripping and probably valuable.

Amazing

I read this book when it was first published but the audiobook version is so mezmerizing that it was like I never read it before. This is one of the best stores ever and the end will have you in tears.

Spoiler

While the characters are well delineated, the subject matter heavily concerns child molestation which is a very difficult subject matter