Bestselling George, in a ninth outing, takes on race relations in the moribund Essex resort of Balford-le-Nez. Melancholic Sgt. Barbara Havers, convalescing after the violence of In the Presence of the Enemy (1996), repairs to this seaside town when her sympathetic Pakistani neighbor at home, Taymullah Azhar, is called to Balford-le-Nez to assist with a crisis--a ""small family matter,"" he says, following the murder of an affluent immigrant about to marry into the even more affluent Maliks of Malik's Mustards & Assorted Accompaniments. Discovering that an old mate, the high-powered Emily ""Beast"" Barlow, is in charge of the case, Barbara volunteers her way into a liaison position when contentious Muhannad Malik, son of conservative corporate patriarch Akram, charges police prejudice and demands day-by-day accountability. Fired by a hotter English summer than any recently recorded, several plot ingredients simmer: daughter Sahlah Malik's Romeo-and-Juliet relationship with developer Theo Shaw, grandson of wealthy bigot Agatha Shaw; Sahlah's Juliet-and-Juliet relationship with a scheming shopgirl; and the Romeo-and-Romeo relationship of Haytham Querashi, Sahlah's murdered fiancâ, with the boyfriend of his hired contractor. Though George manages to include a sea chase with her customary scenes of angst and accusation, she concludes the case with oddly scant reference to some important individuals--among others, Sahlah. A vital issue is badly served by moralizing, predictable characterizing, Anglo-Saxon attitudizing (so much slang), and preoccupation with the weather (so much sweat). Ruth Rendell, in 1995's Simisola, explored the complexities of racial prejudice with less pretension and greater finesse. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

YA‘Detective Barbara Havers is now on her own. Her partner, the glamorous Lord Lynley, and the even more glamorous Lady Helen are off on their honeymoon and the decidedly less-than-glamorous Havers is to recuperate from extensive wounds suffered in their previous case. She declines an invitation by her neighbor and good friend, eight-year-old Hadiyyah, to join her and her somewhat remote professorial father on a trip to the seaside. Somewhat to her chagrin, however, Havers finds herself worrying about the ostensibly naive father as she hears disturbing news of murder and racial unrest in the same coastal town. She goes to Balford only to land in the middle of a tangled web woven around the murder of the fiancé of the young daughter of a wealthy Pakistani business man. The plot is well developed, the red herrings many and varied, and the social commentary on the racial unease in England is well handled. Havers emerges as a more sympathetic character here, and readers get the feeling she is beginning to "get a life." YAs will enjoy the engrossing mystery with deft characterizations.‘Susan H. Woodcock, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Popular detective duo Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers, last spotted in In the Presence of the Enemy (LJ 2/1/96), find murder in a small Essex village. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

It's a little too long, but this rich, engrossing novel portrays a contemporary England that's culturally complex and simmering with tension. The star is moody police sergeant Barbara Havers, who's on leave from New Scotland Yard to recuperate from injuries suffered in In the Presence of the Enemy (1996) while Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and Helen Clyde honeymoon. When her neighbors, microbiologist Taymullah Azhar and his endearing young daughter, Hadiyyah, leave London to visit his family in Balford-le-Nez on the Essex coast, Havers follows them‘out of boredom, curiosity and a little suspicion. She's also concerned for Hadiyyah, aware of riots that followed the recent murder of a Pakistani immigrant in Balford. In Balford, Chief Detective Inspector Emily Barlow asks Havers to help investigate the crime that sparked those riots. The murdered man, Haytham Querashi, was engaged to the daughter of Azhar's wealthy uncle, the sister of a hot-headed Muslim activist named Muhannad. Although the killing has racial overtones, other motives arise‘love, jealousy, sexuality, religion, greed. Smuggling, burglary and other crimes also come to light. Hidden in the plot are subtle clues to the solution, which hinges on Muslim law and tradition. Havers astutely identifies the murderer but risks her career when she countermands orders from the ambitious, bigoted Barlow during a heart-stopping boat chase in the North Sea. This is an unusually elaborate and intricate mystery, but George keeps an unrelenting grip on her readers as the police constantly shift their focus among a dozen well-drawn suspects. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

George doesn't disappoint with her latest mystery, which offers more than 600 pages in which fans may luxuriate as well as an impressive close-up of New Scotland Yard Sergeant Barbara Havers, the most down-to-earth of the author's regular ensemble. Fearing for the safety of her Pakistani neighbors, in particular, sweet 10-year-old Hadiyyah, the chunky, self-deprecating Barbara impulsively follows the father and daughter to a seaside town where a racial conflict resulting from the death of a member of the Pakistani community is brewing. She's pleased when she's tagged by her former classmate, DCI Barlow, as community-police liaison--until she discovers that Hadiyyah's taciturn father, Taymullah, isn't in town just for vacation. Don't think you'll easily flush out the villain here. There are many, both Pakistani and white, with greed, racism, duplicity, and sexual high jinks tightly twisted through the plot. Still, George manipulates the giant cast and manifold subplots with her usual aplomb, at the same time giving the outwardly unsentimental Barbara ample opportunity to show her heart, her courage, and her strength of character. You needn't have read George's previous books to relish this intelligent, finely nuanced performance. --Stephanie Zvirin