Ruth

Another reviewer said exactly what I was thinking - this book is a downward spiral of the Lynley series and nothing compared to the earlier books in the series. Lynley himself was quite two-dimensional throughout, with none of the interesting interactions with his "team" that made earlier books in the series so compelling. His main focus in this book was an affair that seemed both unbelievable and out of character. Lynley's affair was just plain boring and trite with nothing to recommend it. The plot was really a tangle of tangents with so many "sub-plots" it was hard to care about any of them. Instead of having one or two - or even three - subplots with good character development - George had at least seven different subplots with a heavy hand on sexual/gender issues that didn't improve the story overall. More is not better. Deborah St. James came across like an idiot and deserves better. Simon St. James got the barest whisper of a part and didn't fair well, either. The only long term character that seemed true to herself in this story was Barbara Havers, and since she was only tangentially involved in any of the miriad subplots she wasn't enough to carry the story. I used to wait with great anticipation for the next installment in the Lynley series. Not anymore. If the downward spiral continues I won't be reading the next one. A once good series is being slowly tortured to death.