Judith L. (jlautner) reviewed on 4/10/2014 + 105 more book reviews

Another winding journey for our heroes - D. I. Thomas Lynley, Deborah and Simon St. James, and D.S. Barbara Havers. Lynley is called in for a private discussion with his superior, Sir David Hillier, during which he is introduced to Hillier's friend Bernard Fairclough. Fairclough had an unusual request: his nephew Ian, who worked for him, had died in an accident in his boathouse. The coroner had determined that it was an accident, but Fairclough wanted to be absolutely certain because of succession issues in the firm. The request was confidential, and even Lynley's immediate superior, Isabelle Ardery, was not to know.

Thus, with considerable misgiving, Lynley enlisted the help of his friends Simon and Deborah St. James and the three of them set out for Cumbria, scene of the accident, post-haste.

In Lake Windemere (in Cumbria), Lynley met with Fairclough and the two took a look at the accident scene. It was dark and the previous investigators had not looked for the stones that got loose, causing the accident. Lynley knew eventually he would need to find a way to bring in lights and get in the water to find the stones. His friend Simon was a forensic expert and would assist.

In the next several days Lynley and his "team" did their best to appear to be just visitors while they met members of the family and extended characters. While they worked forensically they also investigated motive. A wide range of interesting persons, including a reporter for a scandal sheet, came into the picture. And we don't just get a tiny bit of their stories, because this is Elizabeth George. What I love about her work is that it is messy the way real life is. And I tend to get attached to at least one or two of the new characters, while remaining attached to Lynley and especially DS Havers.

Thus we have 677 lovely pages of life, of lives, twisting and turning every which way, with many events having nothing to do with the original accident. One of the lives was more secretive than the rest, and ultimately I believe this is the reason for the title.

One thing I found odd is that this book was published in 2012 yet I wonder about one of the online searches that is integral to the story: DS Havers is set on the hunt for a certain person who originally came from Argentina. She finds many web pages written in Spanish. Much time is spent finding a translator. Yet for many years it has been possible to translate web pages with the click of a button. Not perfect but certainly better than plowing through with an English-Spanish dictionary. I suspect that George does not do as much searching as I do, but what about her editors? It's a curiosity. Not a biggie, certainly, but odd.

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