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Elizabeth George was born Susan Elizabeth George in Warren, Ohio.
She is a graduate of University of California in Riverside. She also attended California State University at Fullerton, where she was awarded a master's degree in Counseling/Psychology and an honorary doctorate of humane letters
Professionally, she started out as a teacher. She was employed at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana initially, but there she gave in to her bent for organized labor and was summarily fired along with ten other teachers for union activity. She moved on to El Toro High School in El Toro, California (now called Lake Forest, California), where she remained for the rest of her career as high school English teacher. While employed there, she was selected Orange County Teacher of the Year, a tribute in part to the work she'd done with remedial students for nearly a decade. She left education after thirteen and a half years when she sold her first novel, A Great Deliverance, to her longtime publisher Bantam Books.
She has won the Anthony Award, the Agatha Award, and France's Le Grand Prix de Literature Policiere for her novel A Great Deliverance, for which she was also nominated for the Edgar and the Macavity Awards. She has also been awarded Germany's MIMI for her novel Well-Schooled in Murder.
Most of her novels have been filmed by for television by the BBC and have been broadcast in the US on PBS's MYSTERY.
Elizabeth George currently lives on Whidbey Island in the state of Washington.
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See her website for interviews, articles, photos of the settings for some of her books, and more....
www.elizabethgeorgeonline.com
Thomas Lynley Series:
A great deliverance - (1988) Series: Thomas Lynley mysteries, 1
Summary: Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers is getting a final chance for a promotion. Because of her abrasive personality, she's been unable to work with any of the detectives at Scotland Yard. Assigned to work with Inspector Thomas Lynley, whom she despises because of his privileged upbringing, the two head to Yorkshire to investigate the murder of a man by his daughter. She was found sitting by her decapitated father and would only say "I did it. And I'm not sorry", and she has refused to say another word. The townspeople believe she is innocent, and Lynley and Havers learn to work together as they solve the case. Readers who enjoy leisurely-paced, issue-oriented mysteries may also enjoy books by P.D. James and Martha Grimes. (Description by: Sue O'Brien) --
Payment in blood (1989) Series: Thomas Lynley mysteries, 2
Summary: Inspector Thomas Lynley and Sergeant Barbara Havers become involved in the case of the murder of a woman playwright on a Scottish estate. Suspects include the theatrical producer and owner of the estate, and actors in the play
Well-schooled in murder (1990) Series: Thomas Lynley mysteries, 3
Summary: Scotland Yard Inspector Thomas Lynley and Sergeant Barbara Havers attempt to find out who tortured and then murdered a gifted young student in the churchyard of an exclusive boys' prep school.
A suitable vengeance (1991) Series: Thomas Lynley mysteries, 4 (Prequel to first 3 titles)
Summary: The murder of a journalist leads to the exposure of a family secret and the loss of love for Inspector Thomas Lynley, who has just brought his young fiancee home to his picturesque Cornwall village.
For the sake of Elena (1992) Series: Thomas Lynley mysteries, 5
Summary: Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and his partner, Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, enter the world of Cambridge University to investigate the bludgeoning death of Elena Weaver.
Missing Joseph (1993) Series: Thomas Lynley mysteries, 6
Summary: When the vicar who has given her so much support is found dead, Deborah St. James begins a journey of personal discovery in order to find out who is responsible.
Playing for the ashes (1994) Series: Thomas Lynley mysteries, 7
Summary: Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, the Eighth Earl of Asherton, and his partner, Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, encounter what seems to be a perfect crime as they investigate a fatal fire at a fifteenth-century cottage.
In the presence of the enemy (1996) Series: Thomas Lynley mysteries, 8
Summary: A ten-year-old girl is kidnapped and her world and those around her are turned to chaos. A story of ideals corrupted by self-interest, of the sins of parents visited upon their children, and of the masks that hide people from each other and from themselves.
Deception on his mind (1997) Series: Thomas Lynley mysteries, 9
Summary: When a member of the small but growing Asian community of Balford-le-Nez is found dead, the sleepy seaside town ignites, and Sergeant Barbara Havers, working without her long-time partner, must find the killer before the price of deception becomes more than anyone can afford.
In pursuit of the proper sinner (1999) Series: Thomas Lynley mysteries, 10
Summary: Two dead bodies are discovered on Calder Moor in the mystic stone circle known as Nine Sisters Henge, and one of them turns out to be the daughter of Inspector Thomas Lynley's mentor.
A traitor to memory (2001) Series: Thomas Lynley mysteries, 11
Summary: When Eugenie Davies is killed by a driver on a quiet London street, her death is clearly no accident. Someone struck her with a car and then deliberately ran over her body. Detective Thomas Lynley tries to solve the case.
A place of hiding (2003) Series: Thomas Lynley mysteries, 12
Summary: A trip to a wintry island in the English Channel spells peril for forensic scientist Simon St. James and his wife, Deborah, when they discover that the legacy of World War II still haunts the isle's inhabitants.
With no one as witness (2005) Series: Thomas Lynley mysteries, 13
Summary: When an adolescent boy is found murdered under bizarre circumstances, New Scotland Yard acting superintendent Thomas Lynley and his colleagues tie the crime to a series of killings but find the case complicated by racial issues.
What came before he shot her (2006) Series: Thomas Lynley mysteries, 14
Summary: "In North Kensington three orphaned mixed-race children are bounced from one home to another. The middle child Joel takes care of the youngest, Toby, who isn't quite right. When a local gang threatens Toby, Joel makes a pact with the devil that ends in the murder of Thomas Lynley's wife."--From source other than the Library of Congress.
Careless in red (2008) Series: Thomas Lynley mysteries, 15
Summary: Scotland Yard's Thomas Lynley discovers the body of a young man who appears to have fallen to his death. The closest town, better known for its tourists and its surfing than its intrigue, seems an unlikely place for murder. However, it soon becomes apparent that a clever killer is indeed at work, and this time Lynley is not a detective but a witness and possibly a suspect.
THIS BODY OF DEATH - THE NEW LYNLEY NOVEL FOR 2010!
On compassionate leave after the murder of his wife, Thomas Lynley is called back to Scotland Yard when the body of a woman is found stabbed and abandoned in an isolated London cemetery. His former team doesn’t trust the leadership of their new department chief, Isabelle Ardery, whose management style seems to rub everyone the wrong way. In fact, Lynley may be the sole person who can see beneath his superior officer’s hard-as-nails exterior to a hidden—and possibly attractive—vulnerability.
OTHER WRITINGS:
- The Evidence Exposed (short stories), Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1999.
- Remember, I'll Always Love You, ASAP Publishing (Mission Viejo, CA), 2001.
- I, Richard: Stories of Suspense, Bantam (New York, NY), 2002.
- (Editor) Crime from the Mind of a Woman, Coronet (London, England), 2002, published as A Moment on the Edge: 100 Years of Crime Stories by Women, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2004.
- A Place of Hiding, Bantam (New York, NY), 2003.
- Write Away: One Novelist's Approach to Fiction and the Writing Life, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2004.
- (Editor) Two of the Deadliest, Harper Collins Publishers (New York, NY), 2009.
Contributor to anthologies, including Sisters in Crime, Volume 2, Berkley Books (New York, NY), 1990; Women on the Case, Bantam (New York, NY), 1996; and Murder and Obsession, Random House (New York, NY), 1999.
MEDIA ADAPTATIONS:
Twelve of George's Inspector Lynley novels have been adapted by the BBC and WGBH Boston and aired on PBS's Mystery! Series, including A Great Deliverance, 2001; Well-Schooled in Murder, 2002; Payment in Blood, 2002; For the Sake of Elena, 2002; Missing Joseph, 2002; Playing for the Ashes, 2003; In the Presence of the Enemy, 2003; A Suitable Vengeance, 2003; Deception on His Mind, 2003; In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner, 2004; A Traitor to Memory, 2004; A Cry for Justice, 2004; and If Wishes Were Horses, 2004. The character of Inspector Lynley has also appeared in other episodes of the PBS Mystery series not based on George's novels
NoveList Read-alike List
NoveList/EBSCO Publishing © 2005
Elizabeth George
by John Charles
Award-winning American author Elizabeth George's Mysteries brilliantly blend the traditional classic British Mystery with today's crime novels. George's elegant use of language, expertly evoked settings, and aristocratic police detective, will remind readers of many of the Mysteries published during the Golden Age of detective fiction, but her incorporation of contemporary social issues into her plots, her interest in character psychology, and the darker and more realistic tone of her books bring them closer to the style and sensibility of modern crime fiction.
In George's debut novel, A Great Deliverance, readers are introduced to her two main series sleuths: charming, sophisticated New Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, the eighth earl of Asherton, and his rough-around-the-edges, working-class partner Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers. The two find their first investigation together complicated by Havers's own personal dislike of the British upper class, which creates an antagonistic working relationship between Havers and her new boss Lynley. As the series progresses, the initial feelings of dislike and distrust between Havers and Lynley changes into a friendlier professional and personal dynamic as these two very different people get to know, and trust, each other better.
George excels at crafting realistically complicated characters, whose personal lives frequently spill over into the crime investigation at the center of each of her books. In addition to her series stars Lynley and Havers, George's strong cast of secondary characters includes forensic pathologist Simon Allcourt-St. James, a close friend of Lynley's who ends up marrying Lynley's former lover, photographer Deborah Cotter; Deborah herself, for whom Lynley still seems to have unresolved romantic feelings; and Lady Helen Clyde, Allcourt-St. James's former fiancée and laboratory assistant and Lynley's current romantic interest. Along with Lynley's convoluted circle of friends and lovers, George gives Havers an equally complicated personal history as she struggles to deal with aging parents and build a life for herself outside of her job. The realistically tangled relationships between George's characters and the ongoing details about their personal lives provide a strong link between the different books in the series. This rich use of characterization is one of the main reasons the books appeal to readers. Many of George's fans read her books as much to find out the most recent developments in her character's personal lives as they do for the mystery itself.
In addition to her gift for creating complex, realistically flawed characters, George has a penchant for crafting intricately constructed plots. George meticulously records the many details involved in crime scene investigations, and she frequently adds in secondary storylines to the Mystery at the center of each of her books, which gives her novels a leisurely pace. George is also wonderfully skilled at evoking a strong sense of place, such as the Cambridge setting of For the Sake of Elena or her use of the island of Guernsey in A Place of Hiding, and this lends its own sense of richness and depth to her Mysteries. George's elegant writing style is attractive to readers who like literary Mysteries.
George's use of some of the best known conventions of the classic British Mysteries in her books, such as the locked room murder she devises for Payment in Blood or the country house setting of A Suitable Vengeance, is especially pleasing to readers who enjoy traditional Mysteries, but her books should not be considered typical "cozy" British Mysteries. In George's literary world, murder is often violent and the subsequent investigation into the crime is realistically, but never gratuitously, detailed. George's interest in incorporating social issues such as drug abuse, racial violence, and corruption into her plotlines also gives her books a darker, but more modern, tone than the Golden Age masters of Mystery to whom she is sometimes compared.
Readers new to George will want to start with the first book in her series, A Great Deliverance, in which Lynley and Havers investigate a brutal murder in a small village in Yorkshire, since it introduces Lynley and Havers and sets up their professional and personal relationship. With the exception of A Suitable Vengeance, which actually takes place right before A Great Deliverance, each book chronologically follows the next, often building on events that took place in the previous novel, so George's mysteries are best read in the order in which they were written. Those interested in finding out more about George and her elegant, character rich Mysteries, will find the author's website http://www.elizabethgeorgeonline.com to be filled with information, including details about the PBS Masterpiece Theater adaptations of her books (several of which were based on original screenplays and not on novels by George).
Read-alikes:
Deborah Crombie is another American who writes deliciously literate Mysteries set in England. Like George's Mysteries, Crombie's series featuring Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and Sergeant Gemma James features expertly constructed plots and characters whose personal lives frequently become tangled up with their work as professional investigators. Readers can start with A Share in Death, which introduces readers to Kincaid and James, who meet when a body turns up at the time share where Kincaid is vacationing. An even better suggestion might be her later, award-winning Dreaming of the Bones. This is a truly superb tale involving Kincaid's and James's investigation into the death of a twentieth century poet, which brilliantly displays Crombie's graceful writing and her ability, like George, skillfully to blend several plotlines into one compelling story.
With her lyrical writing style and interest in exploring the psychology of her characters, Carol Goodman is another good choice for fans of George. Each of Goodman's smart standalone novels of literary suspense center around some past possible crime that may have a connection to the present day, and readers who enjoy the literary tone of George's books and her gift for creating complex characters will find an abundance of both of these elements in Goodman's work. Try Goodman's first book, The Lake of Dead Languages, in which a woman returns to the small private girls school she once attended as a new teacher, only to find that the recent deaths of several students may have a connection to the "suicides" that occurred when she was a student twenty years earlier.
Erin Hart is new to the Mystery genre, but she has quickly garnered a devoted cadre of readers for her evocative, character rich mysteries. Hart not only shares George's ability to create a superbly evoked setting but also her talent for crafting subtly nuanced characters whose working relationship becomes complicated by their personal lives. Readers will want to start with Haunted Ground, which introduces Hart's series protagonists American pathologist Nora Gavin and archaeologist Cormac Maguire, both of whom become professionally involved when the head of a woman is found in an Irish peat bog.
P. D. James, like George, is known for her classically constructed novels of detection, which blend the best elements of the traditional mystery with the occasionally darker, but more realistic, characteristics of contemporary crime novels. Social issues can play an important role in James's elegantly written Mysteries, and James rivals George in her interest in exploring the psychological nuances of her characters, in her ability to combine several different plotlines neatly in one book, and her gift for creating a strong sense of place. James is best known for her series featuring Detective Inspector Adam Dalgliesh, another unlikely policeman, like George's Lynley, from Scotland Yard. In Cover Her Face, the first book in the series, Dalgliesh is called to investigate the murder of a beautiful, stubborn housemaid.
Of all the Golden Age Mystery writers, Dorothy L. Sayers is perhaps the best match for readers who prize the classical roots of George's books. In many ways Sayers's series sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey set the standard for later aristocratic, sophisticated sleuths like George's Lynley, and Sayers's rich use of language and stylish prose will especially please those who enjoy George's literary approach to the Mystery genre. Readers new to Sayers will want to start with one of her early books, such as Strong Poison, in which Wimsey meets Harriet Vane, his one true love and future wife, when she is accused of poisoning her fiancé.
John Charles is a reference librarian and fiction selector for the Scottsdale(AZ) Public Library System and is the co-author of The Mystery Readers’ Advisory: The Librarian’s Clues to Murder and Mayhem (ALA 2002).
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