Re: Currently reading
- From: Mhrormhr <Mhrormhr@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 12 May 2006 02:43:18 -0400
On Fri, 5 May 2006 11:07:38 -0600, "Lauradog" <Lauradog@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Just finished "Death of a Hollow Man", and "The Killings at Badger's Drift",I just finished (re)reading Elizabeth George's With No One As Witness
by Caroline Graham, and am now starting "A Place of Safety" by the same
author. Ahhh, another series of British police procedurals, my favorite
reads. And hers are flavored with rare touches of humor that I enjoy. So
what's everyone else reading?
Sue D.
(came out last April). This book caused a HUGE uproar among her fans
.... I have mixed feelings about it.
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Like most of her readers, I was shocked at the death of Helen ... and
wonder if/how the series will continue. But after some thought, I
think EG has left room to go either way: there IS some sort of
resolution for the main characters (whether you LIKE that resolution
is a matter of opinion!), and the series could close with this book.
(Note, scheduled publication on 10 October, 2006 of (?) "What Came
Before He Shot Her" (?) is supposed to be a prequel.) If she does
choose to continue the series, I can see several ways for the series
to turn, including keeping Lynley in the series. Remember, happy,
contented, well-adjusted characters are BORING!!! :-)
So, I'm VERY curious about the prequel, and even more curious to see
where things go AFTER that.
But, back to WNOAW ... rumors on her website allude to this book being
heavily edited, possibly in a rush -- I did find it rather choppy as
it moved from scene to scene, and also found the prose not up to EG's
usual elegant and eloquent standards.
There are, however, three specific things that really bothered me, and
I'm wondering if anyone else noticed ...
(note, page numbers refer to the hard cover edition)
--------------------
pg 286-287 (body in Queen's Wood found, Lynley and Havers at the
scene)
Robson gestered to them ... worked his way over ... shoved his hands
into his pockets ... back door opened Hamish Robson got into the car.
pg 312
(Robson) came into the office with a yellow legal pad ___in his
hand___ and a small stack of paperwork ... ___used his thumbs___ to
hold his legal pad across his knees.
p. 547-550
(Robson'd) come to the door wearing rubber gloves, which seemed odd
till he ushered them into the kitchen where he was doing the washing
up ... he was wearing a cardigan and he hadn't bothered to roll the
sleeves up, so where the gloves ended, the wet began l... his hands
were clearly visible now and what was on them wasn't a cut but rather
a scratch, several scratches in fact. They'd been deep by the look of
them and possibly infected,but they were healing n ow and the flesh
was new and pink.
***Since ALL cuts (whether done by the victim or the cat in the
apartment) were incurred at the time of the murder, given the
descriptoin of them on 547-550, it really seems (IMHO) that they also
should have been clearly and easily visible in the post-murder scenes
where Robson is acting as the profiled in the presence of Lynley and
Havers! Introducing cuts that HAD to have occurred during the murder,
making specific references to his Robson's had as being at least
partially visible in scenes after the murder -- WITHOUT any reference
to cuts which most definitely had been inflicted by that point --
seems a cheat to me, a sort of deus ex machina (only it's a forensic
detail instead of a character). :-(
--------------------
This is a "little thing" ... but since it was part of the "first since
Helen" stuff, it bothered me.
p. 325
(Lynley) slid into the car and closed the door ... he couldn't bring
himself to adjust the car seat from her (Helen's) height to his ...
*** But ___Deborah___ was the last to drive it; __she__ parked the
car, not Helen (which is why Helen was on the steps when she was
shot). My impression is that Deb is quite a bit taller than Helen, and
Deb certainly would have adjusted the seat before parking Tommy's
"precious car." I can't see Deb cramming herself behind the wheel and
___not___ adjusting it from Helen's position, because she'd be nervous
enough parking it anyway, without making it even more difficult.
--------------------
Fu has a pattern for his killings ... as shown with Sean Lavery
p.114
.... turned in his seat and bending to the back of the van, the boy
reached towards the cooler. This exposed his torso. It was a movement
designed to aid in what followed. He turned the torch and pressed it
into the boy. Two hundred thousand volts scrambled his nervous
system. The rest was easy.
p. 450
.... before him [Davey, Queen's Wood body], the others had all eaten
within an hour of their deaths. And in every case, the contents of the
stomachs were identical ...
***This "evidence" makes ___no___ sense to me! The point being made
here is that Davey did ___not___ have the same stomach contents, which
was a clue that his murder was not part of the serial killings. But
exactly WHEN did all of the other victims eat this uniform meal???!!!
According to the above scenario on p. 450, they boys are lured with an
incentive of food, cokes and beer, but it seems to me that they never
get any opportunity to eat/drink because it's as they are reaching
behind to GET the food/drink that Fu hits them with the taser. And
once he's stunned them, I don't see him allowing them any kind of
"snack break!" Did I miss something?
--------------------
In any event, I for one ___will___ miss Helen -- as she did for Tommy,
she made me laugh.
And regardless of where EG goes from here, I still think she's one of
the best, and I'll keep reading.
Now, I need a new British police procedural series! Any suggestions
(I've read all of Grimes, a lot of Reginald Hill, and PDJames of
course). :-)
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