Rent: In the Presence of the Enemy

I listened to the unabridged audiobook of this story narrated by Davina Porter who was excellent. After starting the Lynley/Havers series backwards with "No One As Witness" (didn't know it was a series) I got a list of titles and began with the first story. Liked Lynley and the other characters from the start but had mixed feelings about Sgt. Barbara Havers. She was a bit overbearing when first introduced and her pairing with Lynley seemed a bit strange but it worked. Their work relationship has grown throughout the series and they are now a great team. Funny as heck at times too! However, Barbara still was a bit annoying at times.In this story, she really comes across as a courageous, heroic and dedicated professional and I was rooting for her all the way. If this had been a movie, I would have been on the edge of my chair towards the end. Must say I never guessed who the villian was and it caught me completely by surprise.Elizabeth George is a terrific writer and has created a very satisfying series filled with complex characters and solid stories. I look forward to reading or listening to the remaining stories and will then look at the TV series based on the books that PBS periodically airs.

Fast moving, got to like the character Barbara Havers so much. Had no idea this was part of a large series until I went to look for more titles by same author. To my mind Elizabeth George is far superior to Nora Roberts, Iris Johansen, Mary Higgins Clark, or Sue Grafton who seem too formulaic after you read George. She is just much better at drawing characters that live and breathe. You're not just reading a book about them, you're in their company.

I really wanted to title this review using one of Barbara Havers favorite phrases but was afraid it wouldn't make it past the censors so I substituted the word "jolly!" This is a terrific book in which Havers really comes into her own.

It starts with the kidnapping of the daughter of a member of Parliament and a demand that the child's father, a tabloid newspaper editor, acknowledge her on the front page of the paper. MP Eve Bowen, who has kept the identity of her daughter's father a closely guarded secret, believes the kidnapping is a publicity stunt and an attampt to embarass her by newspaper editor Dennis Luxford. Although Luxford is willing to run the story, Bowen refuses to allow it and also refuses to have the police called in. Even after her daughter's dead body is found, Bowen continues to insist that Luxford is responsible- a charge that is given credence when the child's glasses and some of her hair is found in Luxford's car.

Then Luxford's son is kidnapped and the kidnapper makes the same demand. This time Luxford follows the kidnapper's instructions with a front page story, only to receive a phone call telling him that he'd gotten the story wrong and that his son will be killed unless the correct story is run.

This book has some delightfully humorous dialogue between Sgt. NKarta and Inspector Lynley, but it is a terrific book for Havers, who is in charge of the investigation at the site where the little girl's body was found. She even has a little romance, which, in typical Havers fashion, she doesn't have the faintest idea how to handle.

I would like to have seen some sort of scene at the end where MP Bowen is forced to face the realization that she is largely responsible for the death of her daughter but otherwise, this is an extremely satisfying book in an excellent series.

I listened to the audio version of this book and I several times found Derek Jacobi's voice jarring and not at all a match for how I had thought the characters would sound-- however, when he read the dialogue for Havers, he had her spot on so I'm willing to forgive him for making St. James's voice much too deep. He also used very thick accents for a couple of characters that made it difficult for me to understand what they were saying, but I still managed to figure out what was going on.

Elizabeth George's series featuring Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers is a distinguished one. Most books in the series are masterpieces of character development. The best ones are also marvelous plots that will leave you thinking.

In the Presence of the Enemy is by far the weakest of the books in the series. Unless you feel compelled to read every book in the series, I suggest you skip this one.

The character development is mostly about two narcissists, the career obsessed Eve Bowen, M.P., and her one-time lover, tabloid sleaze-jockey, Dennis Luxford. Now if you really find it entertaining to read about successful people who are hollow inside, feel free to read this book. But there's no reward for staring at the hollows in these two.

The plot provides an above-average mystery, but one that will leave you with a bad taste in your mouth.

The story? A young girl, Charlotte Bowen, has been kidnapped and her kidnapper threatens to murder her if Luxford doesn't acknowledge his "eldest child." Luxford is willing to do that, but Eve Bowen believes that it's just a publicity stunt that Luxford cooked up to embarrass the Tories. Evidence to the contrary fails to move Eve who seeks out help from Simon St. James instead. Simon involves Deborah and Lady Helen, and that sets them all up for a confrontation with Lynley when he finds out what they have been doing behind his back.

Perhaps the best part of the story comes as Barbara Havers struggles to handle one end of the investigation on her own. It's a challenge . . . that almost exceeds her ability to handle.

Ms. George just gets better and better. I read one of her books by accident and enjoyed it so much that I went back to the first Lynley/Havers book and am reading them in sequence. Each stands alone, but it is fun to watch the characters develop. This book is the best one yet. Complicated plot with no loose ends, well written fiction as well as a good whodunit. Definitely worth reading!