[.ca] A Place of Hiding (ISBN 0375432272)

From Amazon.co.uk:
In this latest from bestseller Elizabeth George, A Place of Hiding, recuperating from a failed love affair, agrees to accompany her ne'er-do-well brother Cherokee to the Channel Islands to hand-deliver a set of architectural drawings to an expatriate millionaire whose plans to fund a museum commemorating the war-time exploits of his Guernsey neighbours comes a cropper after he's found dead under suspicious circumstances. George spins an intricate and lively plot that spotlights the efforts of series regulars Deborah and Simon St John to help Deborah's old friends free themselves; in the process, she introduces a fascinating cast of secondary characters, many of whom had much more obvious motives to wish Guy Brouard dead than the California siblings who seem tailor-made for a frame up. A fine addition to George's ouevre, this 13th outing in her popular series will delight her fans. --Jane Adams, Amazon.com

Great read:
I've read every one of George's novels and this one ranks with the best. Well developed characters, all with motive to kill. Though the book is lengthy, it by no means drags on. Ms. George writes with style and clarity and distinguishes herself from your run of the mill murder mystery writers where violence is the underlying theme.

What a disappointment!:
I am an avid E. George fan, but this book was such a disappointment! There were so many elements that are uncharacteristic of her usual clever, taut action and dialogue. The plot was slow and confusing (and boring). There were too many characters who didn't get enough development to seem relevant to the story. I frequently found my mind wandering..... I kept asking questions like: what would an upper-class professional like St. James be doing on a little bitty island, investigating a murder which, in the scheme of things, involves two feckless people he didn't know anything about? Judging from his character, why would he have had any interest in them, other than Deborah's unfathomable desire to help a friend she hadn't seen or had contact with in many years, and from a time she'd "rather forget?" There was no rational explanation of St. James' thought process on why he should take this on. Also, China suddenly has this apartment, with no explanation how she got it, or who's paying for it and why. One little sentence of integral explanation would have given this event more credibility. Why would anyone who had a crucial document to be hand-carried allow just anyone to deliver it? And did the River sibs really think they were going to get the $5000? Pretty naive... China's assumed guilt -- based on what? She obviously had no motive, and even if the islanders wanted a conviction to deflect interest away from them, it just didn't hang together. I am a long-time dedicated anglophile, and George is usually so good with the British vernacular, but this time she just seemed to have lost that ability altogether. The most noticeable failing was with Graham's dialogue. It seemed very self-conscious, and the action verb was nearly always put at the end of a sentence; i.e., "bit of a headache, I had..." and "I rang 'em, I did..." I felt this was way overused, and just didn't ring true. Quite a bit of the dialogue seemed superficial and affected. This book is so different from her other efforts, that I could hardly believe it was written by the same person. I just couldn't manage to finish it... What a shame, and I was so looking forward to reading it!

No more Deborah:
A Place of Hiding was, as always with Elizabeth George novels, intriguing. The plot was well developed and the pace exciting. The mystery kept me guessing until near the end. However, the sections with Deborah and St. James were extremely difficult to read. Deborah was developed here as a childish, whining, irresponsible and boring ninny. The mystery is how did she ever get Inspector Lynley and St. James to fall in love with her? She was immature and annoying: doing ridiculous things and whining when her husband took issue with her often dangerous actions. I loved the story, enjoyed so much about it but will never buy another George novel that has Deborah as anything more than a bit player.

Just what was the point here?:
I have read all of Elizabeth George's novels after watching the BBC series based on them. This one was a real dud as far as I was concerned. The plotting was thick and full of dead ends and the story populated by characters who never caught my imagination. And although the author does a pretty good interpretation of ordinary daily life in odd corners of Britain (in this case Guernsey) she still just misses making her characters believably British for me. Although Barbara Havers is the UK equivalent of "trailer park trash", she is without doubt the most successful of George's regulars and I think she is a truly memorable character. However, when it comes to rich, titled, aristocratic British men, I don't think she comes close to making them believable, sympathetic or attractive. I have always thought that Deborah and Simon had the potential to be George's most interesting characters because their personal backgrounds was fertile ground ripe for exploitation. However, this time, I just got annoyed. Sorry, but the way Simon is made to handle his disability, the way he blows it all out of proportion, Deborah's unwillingness to be open and honest with a man who adores her and the generally slovenly development of their characters in this story was just terribly, terribly disappointing. Also, I should think any reader who had not read the previous novels would have been wondering just what the hell was going on here with Deborah and Simon - too many allusions to the past makes this novel difficult to "stand alone". Sorry, I nearly gave up after the first 100 pages. The last 30 pages were a frantic attempt to dig out a believable conclusion (and it was credulous to say the least) and the most interesting character was a council house bully of an elder brother who clearly was nuts! Oh dear; what a disappointment - can't really recommend this and hope the author can do better next time.

Barbara, where are you?:
Worst novel of the lot. In this novel I was left wondering why Simon didn't uncerimoneously dump his tiresome twit of a wife (Deborah St. James). The novels about Barbara Havers are by far the best. I am waiting for a new one.