JUST ONE EVIL ACT by Elizabeth George

JUST ONE EVIL ACT

by

Elizabeth George

            Just One Evil Act is the eighteenth novel in Elizabeth George’s acclaimed Inspector Lynley series. In this book, we find that Hadiyyah, the daughter of Barbara Havers’ friend and neighbor Taymullah Azhar, had been taken from London by her mother, Angelina Upman, and Azhar cannot find them. Then, Angelina reappears and reports that Hadiyyah has been kidnapped from the Italian town in which they were staying. Can Lynley and Havers save Hadiyyah and help Azhar?

            I have always loved George’s Lynley and Havers. And, although I am still a fan of these detectives, I did not like Just One Evil Act. One thing I did not like – and a minor point – is that I do not speak Italian. As a good part of the book takes place in Italy, with Italian speakers, I felt like I was missing a lot. The second, and main, thing that I did not like is how George portrayed Havers. Havers is not perfect and has always been a bit quirky. But in this book, George has portrayed Havers’ imperfection to an extreme. Havers is not stupid, and throughout the book I kept wondering how Barbara could be so stupid. It was difficult – even painful – to work through this book; it felt like work. A third thing that I did not like is that the plot seemed to be wanting. The progression of the investigation felt like it jumped, or had holes in it, and I remain confused about how Havers survived for the next book. In addition, I was able to predict the outcome – something I am rarely able to do with Elizabeth George’s books.

            Nonetheless, the Inspector Lynley series is wonderful and remains one of my favorites. After seventeen great books, I found one of which I am not so fond; but, I am still looking forward to reading numbers nineteen and twenty.