So...we have a book where Havers is the lead and Lynley is only in it for a few moments. I don't think the book worked without Lynley being included. Also Havers started to bug me since based on her character it made zero sense why she got so invested in her next door neighbor. I also thought the ending of who killed the murdered man was a reach and a half. It just didn't make any sense from what we know. I honestly thought it was another character. Also there were too many loose ends that left me feeling unsatisfied. 

"Deception on His Mind" takes place about two weeks after the events in the last book. Lynley has married Lady Helen and is now off on his honeymoon. Havers is recovering from the brutal fight she was in. With forced time off she is at loose ends and when she finds out her next door neighbors are going to Balford-le-Nez due to a family thing, Havers decides to go to keep them out of trouble. From there we have Havers being invited in to help by the local DCI into the murder of a Pakistani man named Haytham Querashi. Racial tensions are high and the local activist groups are demanding that whatever English person who did this be brought to justice. George follows several people in the village and we quickly find out that everyone has secrets they are hiding.

 

So Havers....nope. I honestly thought she was replaced by an alien in this one until the very end when she does something Havers like that may end up causing ripples in the next book. I didn't even get why she was so invested in the case and wanting to follow Taymullarh Azhar and his daughter. 

The DCI on the case, Emily Barlow is no Lynley. It takes Havers a while to see her for who she is, but once again, I think it's going to take until the next book to unwrap that whole thing.

I do wonder at how things will go with Taymullarh and his daughter.  

 

George also focuses on Taymullarh's relations in this one, his cousins Malik and Sahlah are interested in this case since Salah was to marry Haytham. Sahlah has a lot of secrets in this one and her English friend Rachel who wanted her to stand up to her family and refuse to marry Haytham. We also have a local English matriarch, Agatha Shaw and her family that want the case to be dealt with so it doesn't bring even more ruin upon the village. 

 

Sahlah's POV's were the best in my mind in the book. However, George left a lot of loose ends with this character and I can guess at what is going to come next, but I hate that. I wish that George had been more explicit about things. Also there's still loose threads with other characters and the whole thing made my head hurt last night when I finished this one.

The writing was all over the place in this one. I couldn't follow a train of thought beyond Sahlah and Rachel's honestly. When we switch back to the case I found myself bored. The flow was pretty bad throughout I have to say. 

The ending definitely leaves things up in the air and I found myself thinking that this was just definitely the very definition of a filler book. 

This is my favorite in the Lynley series after the first one, A Great Deliverance. I didn't find it quite as powerful, that first book in the series moved me to tears. In this one Inspector Thomas Lynley is off on his honeymoon so his partner Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers--who was battered emotionally and physically in her last case--is on her own. And instead of taking the rest Lynley urged on her, Havers heads to Essex where a murder case is setting off racial tensions between English and the immigrant Pakistani community. One involving her neighbors Azhar and his eight-year-old daughter Hiddayah. And involving as well Emily Barlows, an up and coming Detective Inspector heading the case who Havers greatly admires. I did miss Lynley. I think Havers and Lynley are at their best together. I don't mean that in a shippy way, but that as characters I think they play off each other beautifully. However, even when missing from the action, Lynley has a constant presence in Havers's mind, and it's even more evident in this book than past ones he's had an influence on her--that she's learned from him. On the other hand, Lynley has some baggage--the St Jameses and Helen Clyde--and given I'm none too fond of them, I did find it a bonus that Lynley's absence meant we didn't have to deal with them or the soap opera aspects they bring with them. And I loved Haddiyah, and what she brings out in Havers. The last 70 pages or so were suspenseful and moving and if you can be proud of a fictional character, well I'm proud of Havers at the end. She's come a long way from the character we met in A Great Deliverance.

When Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers' Pakistani neighbor Taymullah Azhar and his eight year old daughter depart unexpectedly for a seaside village, responding to an upsurge of racial tension involving his family, Havers (who has a few issues with impulse control) takes advantage of a mandated holiday from her job and follows them, thinking to aid Azhar in navigating official channels. On arrival, however, she discovers that Azhar's background is more complicated than she realized. Once she learns that her colleague Emily Barlow is in charge of the investigation, she manages to work herself into the murder investigation that sparked the local Pakistani community's anger, acting as liaison with the leader of the protest group, who is aided by his cousin -- none other than Taymullah Azhar. With no shortage of suspects, both English and immigrant, Barbara finds herself balancing between her duties as an officer of the law and her friendship with the Azhars, and attempting to avoid the racial stereotyping that seems to cloud the vision of the local natives, including some of her fellow officers.

Inspector Lynley appears only in absentia, as he has recently married and is on his honeymoon. Personally, I was pleased to see that Havers could carry a book on her own.

Anything by Elizabeth George falls into my MUST READ category. Her writing is so good that I stalk her website to find out when new books are coming out. Unfortunately, I believe Lynley and George have def. gone into retirement! This book is no exception.

Elizabeth George has to be one of the best mystery writers practicing today, and ironically, as an American writing about British settings and characters. Sgt. Barbara Havers plays a dominant role in this book that rivals Ruth Rendell’s Simissola in its treatment of racial issues. Barbara is convalescing from a particularly severe beating when she learns that her neighbor Taymullah Azar, a Pakistani university professor, and his daughter have left for Balfordle- Nez to assist with a family matter related to the murder of a fellow Pakistani who was to be married to Sahlah, daughter of his cousin Muhammad Malik. The Maliks are wealthy owners of a famous mustard factory. Afraid that Taymullah will be in over his head with the local constabulary and racial tensions in the town, Barbara decides to follow along and volunteer her services in the investigation. The local DCI (Detective Chief Inspector) is Emily Barlow, a friend of Barbara’s, and soon Barbara and Azar are swept into competing roles as they are drafted to act as spokesmen for their respective groups. Muhammad is convinced the police will cover up any Anglo killer and try to pin the murder on a local Pakistani. The dreaded “Pakis” are hated by most of the local community, and by the local DCI, as Barbara soon realizes to her dismay. George does a great job of building suspense, dealing up a host of possible suspects, and the book simmers with racial unrest. George shows racial perspectives from all sides and the cultural differences leading to assorted suspicions are nicely portrayed. I listened to this book on tape on assorted weekends. It’s very ably read by Donada Peters, who is rapidly becoming one of my favorite readers, and I must admit to mowing a little more than necessary in order to complete a chapter. The ending regretfully leaves us hanging for George’s next book, In Pursuit of a Proper Sinner to discover what will happen to Barbara following her extraordinary actions in the boat chase at the end of the novel. But I’m already revealing too much. You will not be disappointed.