I didn't realize until I had plowed through almost half of this that it was a prequel. Just didn't like it. ( )

This is a prequel in that we learn more about most of the main characters past. Barbara Havers features very little but I really enjoyed it nonetheless and look forward to continuing this series. ( )

A Suitable Vengeance is the fourth of the Lynley-Havers series by Elizabeth George, however, it deals with events that happened prior to the very first book of the series, A Great Deliverance. It has plenty of background for Lynley fans and also reveals a great deal of the Lynley family history. Unfortunately DS Havers plays only a cameo role which is a shame because she would have brought a touch of reality to a highly melodramatic tale. Previous books have hinted at some sort of a triangle between Lynley, St. James and Deborah and this book will finally answer them. It's way too long and really overwritten but as a fan of the series I found it interesting to fill in some of the character's background.

In this book, the main action is set in Cornwall where Lynley plans to introduce his fiancee, Deborah Cotton. "A Suitable Vengeance" starts out extremely slowly. In fact, the first murder, that of a local newspaperman, doesn't occur until at least a quarter of the way through. If it had been a straight murder story rather than a vehicle to explore the histories of our main characters it might have been more interesting. The murderer ended up being a surprise for me but I was so annoyed at the Harlequin-like, self-pitying relationships between Lynley, St. James and Deborah that by the time I got there I no longer cared.

The descriptions of Cornwall are excellent, providing a convincing sense of place and an atmospheric backdrop. Hopefully, in her next novels George will return to the approach that worked well in the first three novels, where she writes a great mystery that any observant reader can solve and, along the way, deepens the reader's understanding of some very likable characters. I'm still a fan and have already picked up number 5 of the series, For the Sake of Elena.
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Seriously you guys. I hard shrugged this book throughout. Why George decided to throw out a book that shows events that took place before the first book in the series baffles me. Also there's just a look at Havers and that's it. I cannot read a whole book following Lynley and St. James again. My head was done in. Also the casual way that everyone reacted when a character was almost raped just made my jaw drop. Also the plot line following who murdered several people and why was beyond convoluted.

"A Suitable Vengeance" I think takes place at least 3 years before the start of "A Great Deliverance." In this we have some of the same characters we know today (Lynley, St. James, Lady Helen, and Deborah) but of course at different places in their lives. We see Lynley in a relationship and engaged. We know that St. James has feelings for her, but because of an accident leaving him disabled he is reluctant to be with her. Lynely asks Deborah and others to come to his family home, Howenstow, in order to formally propose to Deborah. Of course a murder takes place that leaves a lot of questions and then leads to the death of another person. Lynely and St. James start investigating when it appears their family members (Lynlely's brother and St. James's sister) may be involved in some way.

Lady Helen continues to be the best thing about this series. I ended up despising Deborah through this whole book pretty much. She's exhausting. Lynely seemed to just be there and most of the story hangs on St. James. I don't mind being in his POV for the most part, he seems to be constantly struggling to not show people what he is feeling. We get a brief glimpse of Havers and I was ticked. Seriously, you need Lynley and Havers together, you can see without her in his life and vice versa. I think if Havers had been on the scene you would have had someone on the scene to look at things that they all kept overlooking in their rush to protect others or lie to each other about the habits of the rich and titled.

The writing was fine, the flow was off though. I just didn't follow much of what anything was going on and we kept having twists and people going well so this is what happened and then it would be, nope this is what really happened. I ceased caring after about the third or fourth revelation.

The ending was just a letdown. I already know what happened with all of the parties in this story so I didn't care. The resolution to the murders had me going okay...that's super complicated. I felt like I needed a flow chart to understand how everyone and thing was linked together. ( )

When journalist Mick Cambrey is found dead, castrated, local opinion is that he got what was coming to him. Inspector Lynley of Scotland Yard investigates the murder in his hometown Howenstow where he knows everybody from his childhood. As the investigation proceeds another murder occurs.
A Suitable Vengance is the fourth book by Elizabeth George about Inspector Lynley and I listened to an audio edition of it published by Bantam Audio Publishing of 1991. I jumped right into A Suitable Vengance and I felt it worked well as a standalone. I am curious what happened to Lynley in the 3 previous installments. In this early release Havers only makes a brief “guest appearance” working with the local investigator. She has not met Lynley at this point.
The story is set in and around idyllic Cornish village of Howenstow. He takes on the investigation assisted by Simon St James. As they are outside their jurisdiction, they are not working in any real professional capacity; more or less as private citizens when investigating the murder of Mick Cambrey.
The plot of A Suitable Vengance has a number of fascinating elements. We get to read about cocaine trafficking, experiments with cancer drugs, cross dressing, posh lifestyle and complicated, bad relationships.

Main character is Inspector Thomas Lynley, 8th Lord Asherton who is heir to the Howenstow estate, has a seriously complicated relationship with his estranged mother following her infidelity. Fortunately as the story progressed, they both to become a little more mature about the incident.

Secondary character Peter Lynley is Inspector Lynley’s younger brother who is a drop out of Oxford. He is addicted to cocaine and lives from one fix to the next. I felt very sorry for him as he felt abandoned by his older brother when very young and kind of gave up on his own life.
To choose a favorite character in this story feels hard. Thomas seemed to be the hero and Peter more of tragic character. My least favorite I think was the first victim’s father Harry Cambrey, who was creating and trying to keep up a lie about his son to shield the family from prejudice.

My favorite part of the plot was descriptions of the posh lifestyle of the Lynleys. Reminiscent of environments from Downton Abbey set in a crime fiction story. It included everything from dinner parties and big social events to descriptions of the manor house itself.

A Suitable Vengance (Inspector Lynley #4) by Elizabeth George is a story with a mix of very fascinating elements ranging from cocaine trafficking to drug experiments. Including twists and turns a very surprising ending. As I am curious about the main character’s relationships, I will definitely go back and pick up on that storyline.
Fans of Elizabeth George would love A Suitable Vengance, as would readers of crime fiction.
Similar authors to explore might be Louise Penny or P.D. James.
Thank you to Kristiansand Public Libraray for providing me with this audio CD edition of A Suitable Vengance which gave me the opportunity to share my honest review. All opinions in this review are completely my own.

My rating: 4 stars / 5
Main reasons: exiting plot, great character development, surprise ending ( )

A SuitableVengeance (1991) (Insp. Lynley #4) by Elizabether George. You don’t know what you’ve got till its gone. That phrase says a lot about what is happening, or actually,not happening, in the world of Covid-19. But it also applies to this novel. Sgt. Havers is all but missing, making only a brief cameo at the end.
Here we have a prequel to the first novels in Ms. George’s Thomas Lynley/Barbara Havers detective tales. The group of friends that you have met in the other books are gathered in Cornwall at Lynley’s estate Howenstow. They come together in celebration of Lynley’s engagement to photographer Deborah Cotter. But it is a hell of a weekend, and not in the boisterous, “man was that a blast!” sort of way. We know the engagement is doomed, but not the friendship, and this is what causes the relationships that ensue.
There is a lot of angst here, love gone wrong, reasons for Lynley’s poor attitude towards his mother, why Deborah hates Simon St. James, and Lynley’s younger brother’s addiction to cocaine. There are other people hanging around, including Mr. Body, who goes by the name of Mick Cambrey. He conveniently is sexually mutilated and killed about a fourth of the way into the book.
Not your conventional entry to the series, but this book serves as a road map to the people involved. It is the ongoing nature of their relationships which both drive and give this series its strength. Not a standalone book by any stretch, but a welcome addition to the history of Lynley. ( )

just okay... a bit plodding and rambly, which made it feel like it could have used some editorial tightening up. but, i did like getting the background on lynley's family, deborah, and simon. ( )

This one was a prequel - rehashing the Lynley angst that was referred to in the other mysteries. I missed Havers, though she did put in a cameo. ( )

An enteraining read. Amazing to see the intial stages of these characters particularly when you know how they have developed in the later series.

http://onerightword.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/a-suitable-vengence-elizabeth-george.... ( )

Oooooohhhhhh! So that's how Deborah and St. James ended up together. I knew the gist, now I know the sordid details. Linley is truly an English Lord with a Lord's family. Keep that upper lip stiff and civil, by all means. ( )

un tranquillo weekend de paura (attenzione svelo una trama!!)
Non lo faccio mai, ma questa volta mi sembra di fare un servizio sociale: vi racconto cosa succede così potere rispamiarvi di leggerlo e potete passare agli altri della George (se vi piacciono i suoi gialli che non sono malaccio) senza questa menata che anticipa le storie dei protagonisti in un insieme di drammi, insensatezze, bachi nel racconto,personaggi intelligentissimi che diventano scemi per necessità della storia,ipocrisie mascherate da sincerità, psicologismi da soap opera e chi più ne ha...
Dunque, Linley è fidanzato con Deborah che è amata (e riama senza saperlo)Simon St.James. Alla fine tutto si aggiusta.
Lady Helen che non è ancora fidanzata con nessuno alla fine consola il povero Linley a cui non ne va dritta una.
Poi, Linley è incazzato da anni con la madre che ha cornificato il padre mentre questi era morente. Non ha mai perdonato (ma il libro è fatto apposta per sanare le ferite di una vita!)né lei né il suo amante il dottore. Quando fanno pace si scopre che il vecchio amante è un delinquente, ma tutto finisce in gloria perchè lui ha il buon gusto di spararsi e liberare tutti della sua ingombrante presenza.
Peter il fratello di Linley è un drogato per colpa (anche) di Linley che in collera con la madre anni prima lo ha abbandonato bambino nella casa avita in Cornovaglia. Catarsi collettiva e riappacificazione.
Quasi tutto succede nel weekend: un quasi stupro in pubblico, un assassinato evirato, un drogato che cade (l'hanno buttato?) dalla scogliera, una povera sciammannata assassinata con overdose, un cattivo (ma anche no) che si tira un colpo.
La cosa più stupefacente (per me) è che il libro l'avevo già letto quindici anni fa. L'ho trovato come nuovo...cosa non fa l'età!

[audiolibro] ( )

E George's books are a consistent pleaser. Her endings are always a surprise yet the clues are there for all to see along the way. Perfect. ( )

A contemporary murder mystery set in Britain. Rich folks, drug use, love affairs and medical research all play a part in this fairly typical whodunnit.
Not bad - my main complaint is that for the first couple of chapters you really think one of the main characters is an older man, then you find out he's 32. (Both the friend who gave me the book and I felt this way). It's disconcerting to have to readjust your mental image of him so suddenly. And I didn't find the drug use, as portrayed, very convincing. I got the feeling Ms. George has likely not tried any illegal drugs (not that I'm saying she should!) ( )

A Suitable Vengeance is the fourth of the Lynley-Havers series by Elizabeth George, however, it deals with events that happened prior to the very first book of the series, A Great Deliverance. It has plenty of background for Lynley fans and also reveals a great deal of the Lynley family history. Unfortunately DS Havers plays only a cameo role which is a shame because she would have brought a touch of reality to a highly melodramatic tale. Previous books have hinted at some sort of a triangle between Lynley, St. James and Deborah and this book will finally answer them. It's way too long and really overwritten but as a fan of the series I found it interesting to fill in some of the character's background.

In this book, the main action is set in Cornwall where Lynley plans to introduce his fiancee, Deborah Cotton. "A Suitable Vengeance" starts out extremely slowly. In fact, the first murder, that of a local newspaperman, doesn't occur until at least a quarter of the way through. If it had been a straight murder story rather than a vehicle to explore the histories of our main characters it might have been more interesting. The murderer ended up being a surprise for me but I was so annoyed at the Harlequin-like, self-pitying relationships between Lynley, St. James and Deborah that by the time I got there I no longer cared.

The descriptions of Cornwall are excellent, providing a convincing sense of place and an atmospheric backdrop. Hopefully, in her next novels George will return to the approach that worked well in the first three novels, where she writes a great mystery that any observant reader can solve and, along the way, deepens the reader's understanding of some very likable characters. I'm still a fan and have already picked up number 5 of the series, For the Sake of Elena.
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At first this one appears to be out of sync with the earlier episodes in this series, but it is so well written that the reader is caught up in the mystery (almost a closed door classic) while we learn about Thomas Lynley's romance with Deborah Cotter whom he has brought home to meet his mother.

He ends up spending more time with his "best friend" Lady Helen Clyde and his life-long friend forensic scientist Simon Allcourt-St. James and readers are left wondering who will end up marrying whom. An enticing way to keep us ready for the next in the series. ( )

One thing about George: she doesn't write pulp mysteries! I love it that I generally have to look up a few words--sometimes just to corroborate their meaning; sometimes because I really am not at all sure!

As ever, my knowledge of the series does not allow me to place the ongoing relationships in the proper sequence. Sorting out Deborah, Lady Helen, the Earl's family....I should start a playbook!

No spoiler alerts, but the title is right on _target on several levels! ( )

Enjoy the Lynley stories—and this gives great backstory (Havers has a walk-one role!) as I haven't read the stories in the proper order. ( )

Enjoy the Lynley stories—and this gives great backstory (Havers has a walk-one role!) as I haven't read the stories in the proper order. ( )

It is hard to imagine that Elizabeth George is an American author. Her books are so British. I really enjoy reading this series. ( )

Great read, will read more from this author ( )

Have you ever read a murder mystery where you wanted almost every character to die, not just the victim(s), so that they would stop irritating you? I never thought that such an uninteresting mystery could be written by Elizabeth George, but I am sad to say that this book SUCKS.

The plot could not hold my interest. People I did not care about dropped off left and right, the mystery was "solved" with circumstantial evidence and conjecture, and there was very little detection involved. Reading about people taking drugs, I learned, is almost as tedious as watching people take drugs; why do drug users think they are so interesting and edgy? This book also proves that rich people can lead lives as boring as people with modest (or no) income.

But the worst part is the Melrose Place type romantic entanglements of the protagonists. Once again I had to suffer through the angst of star crossed lovers Simon and Deborah: "I DUV you, but...I have baggage!" "Omigawd, I DUV you, too, but I have baggage as well!" Continue ad nauseum--and 360 pages of nausea is painful indeed.

The sole light of this book was Lady Helen Clyde, who somehow managed to cut through all the bullshit cheerfully and gracefully. I wish I could be both so lighthearted while so caring. That bright point aside, this book remains an optional one in the otherwise fantastic Lynley series. ( )

In terms of when written, this is the 4th book of the Inspector Lynley series. Chronologically, however, it is the first, so I decided to read it first in my reread of the series. We are introduced to Inspector Lynley, also Lord Asherton, Simon St. James, Lady Helen, and Deborah. These four will appear over and over again in the rest of the series. I love these books because the murder mysteries are good - you don't know whodunit until the end - but the stories of the characters are just as good. There are 3 murders in this one with a motive that will surprise you in the end. I'll say no more! ( )

Award-winning author Elizabeth George gives us an early glimpse into the lives of Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, forensic scientist Simon Allcourt-St. James, and Lady Helen Clyde in a superlative mystery that is also a fascinating inquiry into the crimes of the heart. Lynley, the eighth earl of Asherton, has brought to Howenstow, his family home, the young woman he has asked to be his bride. But the savage murder of a local journalist is the catalyst for a lethal series of events that shatters the calm of a picturesque Cornwall village and embroils Lynley and St. James in a case far outside their jurisdiction—and a little too close to home. When a second death follows closely on the heels of the first, Lynley finds he can't help taking the investigation personally—because the evidence points to a killer within his own family.

I do like Elizabeth George's style, and her way with a mystery, but this novel epitomizes everything in her Lynley series I find the most irritating. This particular book is set before the first in the series, A Great Deliverance. Which means it's Lynley without Havers. Havers only has a very brief appearance here, more a cameo, late in the book, two appearances less than a page each and a couple of mentions.

That leaves us with Thomas Lynley, Lord Asherton, up to his family manor Howenstow in Cornwall for an "engagement weekend" to introduce his fiance Deborah Cotter to his family; Lady Helen and Simon St James accompany him. The subplots involving Deborah, Simon and Helen in the other books have been my least favorite feature. Too often coincidences stretching credibility had been used to involve them in the mystery and their emotional entanglements too much a soap opera. At least in this story, since they are central to the mystery, it seems far less a distraction. And George is at the top of her game here plot-wise. I do like her way with red herrings and feints--she certainly kept me guessing to the end with more than one twist or turn.

But yes, I miss Havers and her working class sensibilities scraping against Lynley's upper class crust. At times here, such as when George has people ignoring a near-rape as an unpleasantness to be smoothed over, or when Lynley bungles in securing a crime scene, I couldn't help but wonder what Havers would have made of that. Havers and Lynley compliment each other, both in professional and in a literary sense, and I do think her being missing bumps this installment down a notch. ( )

This is more a story of Lynley and his family and relationships than a story of Lynley and Havers. Havers only makes a quite brief appearance in the story and only really as a small part.

Lynley is bringing his bride-to-be to visit the family home and his mother but death makes an appearance and the bodies start to mount. His brother appears to be connected with much of it and Lynley also needs to deal with some of his own family issues at the same time.

I liked the story, the complicated relationships families have is clear but it was also clear that people cared for each other.

I look forward to reading more in this series. ( )