I first encountered Elizabeth George’s work through the videos of the Lynley series. My experience is that the movie version is never up to the quality of the book, so in this case I was quite hopeful as I turned to the books for the first time.
I was not disappointed. Elizabeth George presents character in a wonderful way, and presents excellent detail on a variety of persons who may be of interest to the reader. As always, I’m interested in the evidence presented, and whether it truly points to the person who turns out to be guilty. The ideal mystery, in my view, keeps me from being certain of the guilty party until the very end, but when the actual perpetrator is presented, makes me feel a bit foolish for not having realized it. Thus failure can come either in the form of an easily guessed solution or a solution that doesn’t make sense even after it’s presented.
In With No One As Witness, neither of these is a problem. There are multiple plausible suspects introduced through the earlier portion of the story, but the list is whittled down as the story progresses. The characters present detailed enough personalities that the reader can actually ask whether that person’s personality fits the profile for the crime.
I will definitely be reading more of these books, probably starting with the next one in the series, and then moving back toward the earlier volumes. I prefer the written word to video in any case. It’s nice to relax and watch a video, but I have never encountered a screen adaptation that really matches the experience of reading a good mystery.
