Disappointing. I didn't finish it, I couldn't be bothered to plow through and was quite annoyed that I'd wasted so much time to get half way through when it became clear that the plot was being stretched way beyond reasonable limits. I admit, I don't often read crime books any more, but on the basis of the other Elizabeth George books I've read, and the Inspector Lynley TV series, I figured this was worth a go. Especially because my mum reckoned the TV episode that followed the plot of this book was one of the best.
To be quite honest, the plot could have been quite fantastic. In fact, much of the book was fantastic. The problem was with the fact that the book had been seriously bulked out by the inclusion of the ramblings of a prodigy violinist who had lost his memory and possibly had something to do with the violent hit and run that killed his mother--a mother he had not seen since he went on tour aged 8 with his father and returned to find the house wiped clean of both her presence and that of his murdered little sister. Fair enough to include some from the perspective of the possible killer, but really, over half the chapters filled with his ramblings? It just got tedious and boring, and detracted from what could have been a fantastic plot, and quite an original and intriguing one too. Instead, the book dragged. It was almost as though Elizabeth George had two ideas and decided to just combine them into one book, but ended up giving neither the attention or interest value they deserved.
In short, a disappointing book that I couldn't bring myself to finish. Perhaps if you were to skip out all the chapters dealing with the whinings of a musically talented brat it might be a good read.
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