Review: THE PUNISHMENT SHE DESERVES, Elizabeth George

• 
  This edition read on my Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B074SKLHD1
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hodder & Stoughton, Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 20, 2018
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 706 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1444786637
• Book 20 of 21 ‏ : ‎ Inspector Lynley 

Synopsis 

When a Member of Parliament shows up at New Scotland Yard requesting an investigation into the suicide of the son of one of his constituents in the beautiful town of Ludlow, the Assistant Commissioner sees two opportunities in this request: the first is to have an MP owing him a favour, and the second is to get rid of Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, whose career at the Met has been hanging by a thread for quite some time. So he assigns Havers to the case and for good measure partners her with the one person who shares his wish to see the back of her, Detective Chief Superintendent Isabelle Ardery.

But Ardery has her own difficulties. She is not happy to be sent away from London and as a result is in a rush to return. This causes her to overlook certain uncomfortable facts. Soon, the case is opened again and this time, it is Lynley who must accompany Havers to Ludlow, with little more than a week to save the Met's reputation and Barbara's job. And the more they investigate, the more it looks as if the suicide was part of a much more sinister pattern of events.

My Take

I have actually read this book before but brain-fade ensured that I didn't remember much of it except the general premise that here was Barbara Havers in trouble again. I have seen all the TV versions so am not  really sure what I've watched and what I've read.

I'd also forgotten that when you take on reading an Elizabeth George novel you are committed to a BIG read. Initially I got a large print copy from the library but took it back when I discovered it was almost 900 pages in length and almost impossible to hold. So then I bought a Kindle copy and read it on a number of devices. That has taken me a week to read.

What has struck me about the novel is how complex it is, how many subplots there are, and how difficult it is to determine when the various strings of the plot are going to merge, and also how many unexpected events there are. 

In reality I have enjoyed the challenge of reading this novel and aim to continue the series at some stage, but on my Kindle. 

My rating: 4.7

I've also read

CARELESS IN RED
4.6, BELIEVING THE LIE
3.9, THE EDGE OF NOWHERE
4.3, THE PUNISHMENT SHE DESERVES