Product Description

Fat, unlovely Roberta Teys is found in a barn, an axe in her lap, beside her father's corpse. She confesses her guilt, but the parish priest insists she is innocent. When Inspector Thomas Lynley and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers investigate, they uncover a series of shocking revelations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1914355 in Books
• Published on: 1997-11-06
• Format: Audiobook
• Original language: English
• Binding: Audio Cassette

From Publishers Weekly
In her debut novel, George too often plays to the gallery with characterizations broad enough to border on caricature. The legendharking back to violent events in Cromwell's timethat surrounds local Keldale Abbey pales in comparison to a modern-day crime committed in this quiet corner of Yorkshire, England: Roberta Teys, a silent, obese adolescent, is accused of killing her church-going father with an axe. The detectives sent by Scotland Yard to investigate are a mismatched pair. Inspector Thomas Lynley is smooth, attractive and utterly upper-class; "stubby, sturdy" detective-sergeant Barbara Havers, conscious of her plain appearance and lower-class origins, considers Lynley a "sodding little fop." Thrown together, they weigh the general conviction in the villagethat Roberta could not possibly have wielded the bloody axeagainst mounting evidence that damns the now catatonic girl. In sifting slowly through the ashes of the past, the detectives find enough horrific skeletons in every closet to lead them to a climax unexpectedly loaded with fire and fury. While Lynley seems rather bland despite emotion roiling beneath the surface, it is Havers' painful secrets and driving rage that encourage one to overlook decidedly uneven passages in this essentially intriguing psychological thriller. 35,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/promo.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"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"Exceptionally assured and impressive...highly entertaining."—Newsweek"Awesome...immediately thrusts the author into P.D. James' dark orbit."—Kirkus Reviews


From the Paperback edition.

Ingram
This extraordinarily well-reviewed first novel introduces Scotland Yard's Inspector Thomas Lynley and his assistant, Barbara Havers, as they investigate a brutal murder.