What Came Before He Shot Her

By: Elizabeth George

Narrated by: Charles Keating

Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

The brutal, inexplicable death of Inspector Thomas Lynley's wife has left Scotland Yard shocked and searching for answers. Even more horrifying is that the trigger was apparently pulled by a 12-year-old boy. Who is he? Where did he come from? And what were the circumstances that led to his final act of desperation?

That story begins on the other side of London, in rough North Kensington, where the three mixed-race, virtually orphaned Campbell children are bounced first from their grandmother then to their aunt. The oldest, 15-year-old Ness, is headed for trouble as fast as her high-heeled boots will take her. That leaves the middle child, Joel, to care for the youngest, Toby. No one wants to put it into words, but something clearly isn't right with Toby.

Before long, there are signs that Joel himself has problems. A local gang starts harassing him and threatening his brother. To protect his family, Joel makes a pact with the devil - a move that leads straight to the front doorstep of Thomas Lynley.

An anatomy of a murder, the story of a family in crisis, What Came Before He Shot Her is a powerful, emotional novel full of deep psychological insights, a novel that only the incomparable Elizabeth George could write.

©2006 Elizabeth George (P)2005 HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

Critic reviews

"George deftly depicts the palaver and predicaments of middle-[class] and working-class Brits in this dark, chilling tale of desperation and revenge." (Booklist)
"Another winner from the current master of the classic English mystery." (Atlantic Monthly)

Absolutely Absorbing

I listened to this bit by bit while I walked and could not wait to get back to it every day. Charles Keating is phenomenal. The voices of the characters are so real. This book is full to the brim, with much going on, many layers, complex, rich, dense with all kinds of love and pain.

unexpected

The entire story was unique from all previous writing by Elizabeth George. It was well done from a completely different perspective. It was hard to stomach this reality but an excellent read.

What Came Before He Shot Her

Oh my, what a great story. I have been promising myself to read this book for a long time. How awfully sad it was.
A shattered family to begin with. Each one of them trying desperately to right all the wrongs in their life. Reaching out to a greater betterment for their future, only to be brought down again because of their place in society. It is heartbreaking, and what made it more so, it probably is happening everyday in community's such as theirs. I will never forget this book. A huge eye opener for me into real life.
I love Elizabeth George, but by far this was one of her best.

Unsatisfactory ending!

Liked the story and great development of characters but extremely unsatisfactory ending!
Stayed connected to all the characters and then don’t know what happened to all of them.

very good book, though sad

I love Elizabeth George, I would say this is among her best writing. It is very sad, though. It is unlike the Lynley/Havers series but the quality of writing and evocation of feeling, characterization is great. I would recommend this book - the characters are very real. It is very engaging, a suspenseful story, just heart wrenching.

Abridged version

I would have preferred an unabridged version but I couldn't find one. It was OK.

from a different point of view...

Thank goodness I didn't read the reviews before downloading this book! I, as usual, relied on the fact that I love this series and it's author. What may help would be to know that it is part 2 of a trilogy, if you will (my categorization only). Part 3 is Careless in Red, a very compelling read. The "trilogy" is the story of Helen's murder from 3 aspects and I truly enjoyed the journey, sad and depressing as it was. The usual story line tells of the murder, the chase and the capture. "What Came Before He Shot Her" comes from the other side of the story, the perpetrator and how he got there. And, of course, "Careless" is from the aspect of the distraught widower. I thought the idea of looking at the 3 sides through the 3 books was brilliant!

Riveting!

This is a compelling novel: knowing how it will end puts the reader in the position of helpless spectator to the events leading up to the culmination. More than once I wanted to shout "No!" at the choices the characters make, all the while knowing that from the characters' point of view, that is the best they can do.

I usually listen while I walk, but I was getting so choked up at the end that I had to wait until I got home to finish the book.

Excellent reader- Charles Keating does all the accents dead on.

Cruelly accurate

On reading this work you may want to dismiss it as mere fiction. It is, rather, an accurate depiction of the blighted lives of lowest of our socio-economic classes (at least in the U.S. and U.K.). Kudos to Elizabeth George for having the courage to write and publish this singularly authentic and disturbing work. Keating's narration does it justice.

Great listen

This was a very tense book that held me in its grip to the very end and left me wanting the next book immediately. It's a very good book, well written, leaves u feeling a bit haunted. The narrator did an incredible job, from upper class English to Jamaican accents. He put you there.