What Came Before He Shot Her
Inspector Lynley series #12

by Elizabeth George

As is often the case when a popular writer strays from her usual methods there is a lot of controversy surrounding this latest paperback of Ms. George's. It is not really a classic mystery "who done it," but rather more like why did they do it? We know right from the start who the murderer is (like a Columbo TV show!) and the book evolves around discovering the background, motivations and history of the murderer. It is really a sequel to the book With No One as Witness, although Inspector Lynley never appears. Not wanting to have this review contain spoilers, let it suffice to say that there is a grenade (metaphorically speaking) being thrown into the midst of the established characters of the Lynley series cast, starting with the events in With No One as Witness . This bombshell provides the dark impetus for this novel, and leaves the reader breathless and gasping.

Elizabeth George is known for her books addressing the dark side of humanity, and giving a lot of psychological insight. But nothing can minimize the feelings that the reader will have upon reading this novel; we are stunned and shocked by the horror of the murder, and nastiness of the crime. Ms. George herself says that: incest, betrayal of country, pornography, schoolyard bullying, illegitimate birth, arranged marriage, drug use, prostitution, sadomasochism, etc. are part and parcel of what she writes about, for she apparently believes that escapist literature to be the purview of other writers.

It is difficult to read such an intense and dark novel, and come away unchanged. The youthfulness of Joel Campbell, the lack of the usual characters (except Havers and Nkata in the very last portions of the book) and the social and cultural diversities shown make it a very hard read. Even in understanding the motivations for writing about Joel, the author has changed our perspective on the series, and given the reader a punch to the gut not soon forgotten. If you find this to be true for you as well, be patient, for Inspector Lynley will be back in Elizabeth George's next novel - Careless in Red