Product Details

• Original language: English
• Binding: Audio CD

From Amazon.co.uk
In this latest from bestseller Elizabeth George, A Place of Hiding, recuperating from a failed love affair, agrees to accompany her ne'er-do-well brother Cherokee to the Channel Islands to hand-deliver a set of architectural drawings to an expatriate millionaire whose plans to fund a museum commemorating the war-time exploits of his Guernsey neighbours comes a cropper after he's found dead under suspicious circumstances.

George spins an intricate and lively plot that spotlights the efforts of series regulars Deborah and Simon St John to help Deborah's old friends free themselves; in the process, she introduces a fascinating cast of secondary characters, many of whom had much more obvious motives to wish Guy Brouard dead than the California siblings who seem tailor-made for a frame up. A fine addition to George's ouevre, this 13th outing in her popular series will delight her fans. --Jane Adams, Amazon.com

Customer Reviews

Great read
I've read every one of George's novels and this one ranks with the best. Well developed characters, all with motive to kill. Though the book is lengthy, it by no means drags on. Ms. George writes with style and clarity and distinguishes herself from your run of the mill murder mystery writers where violence is the underlying theme.

Just what was the point here?
I have read all of Elizabeth George's novels after watching the BBC series based on them. This one was a real dud as far as I was concerned. The plotting was thick and full of dead ends and the story populated by characters who never caught my imagination. And although the author does a pretty good interpretation of ordinary daily life in odd corners of Britain (in this case Guernsey) she still just misses making her characters believably British for me.

Although Barbara Havers is the UK equivalent of "trailer park trash", she is without doubt the most successful of George's regulars and I think she is a truly memorable character. However, when it comes to rich, titled, aristocratic British men, I don't think she comes close to making them believable, sympathetic or attractive.

I have always thought that Deborah and Simon had the potential to be George's most interesting characters because their personal backgrounds was fertile ground ripe for exploitation. However, this time, I just got annoyed. Sorry, but the way Simon is made to handle his disability, the way he blows it all out of proportion, Deborah's unwillingness to be open and honest with a man who adores her and the generally slovenly development of their characters in this story was just terribly, terribly disappointing. Also, I should think any reader who had not read the previous novels would have been wondering just what the hell was going on here with Deborah and Simon - too many allusions to the past makes this novel difficult to "stand alone".

Sorry, I nearly gave up after the first 100 pages. The last 30 pages were a frantic attempt to dig out a believable conclusion (and it was credulous to say the least) and the most interesting character was a council house bully of an elder brother who clearly was nuts!

Oh dear; what a disappointment - can't really recommend this and hope the author can do better next time.

Barbara, where are you?
Worst novel of the lot. In this novel I was left wondering why Simon didn't uncerimoneously dump his tiresome twit of a wife (Deborah St. James). The novels about Barbara Havers are by far the best. I am waiting for a new one.