Description /Buy link takes you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.
Inspector Lynley is the protagonist in a series of novels written by Elizabeth George – the American author. The first novel featuring Inspector Lynley titled A Great Deliverance was released in 1988. The series of books are classified as mystery thrillers.
The eight Earl of Ashton, Inspector Lynley is paired up with Scotland Yard’s Detective Barbara Havers. The book series analyzes the tensions brought up in trying to unravel murder mysteries, juxtaposed with the clashes regarding class, gender, and personality. Lynley is a peer of the realm, and dapper male, while his partner Havers comes from a working class background, is female and untidy.
Get notified when Elizabeth George releases a new book at BookNotification.com.
Order of Inspector Lynley Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Great Deliverance | 1988 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Payment in Blood | 1989 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Well-Schooled in Murder | 1989 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | A Suitable Vengeance | 1991 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | For the Sake of Elena | 1992 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | Missing Joseph | 1992 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | Playing for the Ashes | 1994 | Description / Buy | |
| 8 | In the Presence of the Enemy | 1996 | Description / Buy | |
| 9 | Deception on His Mind | 1997 | Description / Buy | |
| 10 | In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner | 1999 | Description / Buy | |
| 11 | A Traitor to Memory | 2001 | Description / Buy | |
| 12 | A Place of Hiding | 2003 | Description / Buy | |
| 13 | With No One as Witness | 2005 | Description / Buy | |
| 14 | What Came Before He Shot Her | 2006 | Description / Buy | |
| 15 | Careless in Red | 2008 | Description / Buy | |
| 16 | This Body of Death | 2010 | Description / Buy | |
| 17 | Believing the Lie | 2012 | Description / Buy | |
| 18 | Just One Evil Act | 2013 | Description / Buy | |
| 19 | A Banquet of Consequences | 2015 | Description / Buy | |
| 20 | The Punishment She Deserves | 2018 | Description / Buy | |
| 21 | Something to Hide | 2022 | Description / Buy |
The first novel in the series, A Great Deliverance begins with the pairing up of Lynley and Havers who are trying to solve a murder in Keldale that seems intertwined with old secrets and legends. As they traverse the old streets and alleyways of the ancient town, they find earth-shattering discoveries that could destroy the tranquility of the English countryside.
All of these are contrasted perfectly with the clash of personality and class between the two main characters that struggle to separate their lives from their work. What follows is a display of the remarkable narration skills of Elizabeth George that won her the Anthony Award and the Agatha Award for Best First Novel in 1988.
INSPECTOR LYNLEY AWARDS:
The Inspector Lynley series, particularly the first book A Great Deliverance received multiple awards. When it came out, A Great Deliverance won the Anthony Award for Best First Novel in 1989, the Agatha Award for Best First Novel in 1988 and a nomination for an Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1988.
INSPECTOR LYNLEY BOOKS INTO MOVIES:
The Inspector Lynley series of books have been adapted into a Crime Drama – the Inspector Lynley Mysteries by the BBC. The series aired between March 2001 and June 2008 and broadcast twenty-three episodes over six seasons. Nathaniel Parker plays the protagonist Detective Inspector Thomas Tommy Lynley the eighth Earl of Asherton while Sharon Small plays Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers. After BBC announced in 2007 that it would no longer produce the Inspector Lynley Mysteries, there was fan uproar and a petition to save the series. All six seasons have since been released on DVD.
BEST INSPECTOR LYNLEY BOOKS:
As the clear fan favorite and winner of numerous awards, A Great Deliverance is deemed the best novel of the Inspector Lynley series of books. Lynley and Havers navigate through a labyrinth of appalling crimes and scandals that reverberate through 300 years of revelations and legend. The earth-shattering revelations in the investigation of the murder of a man by her daughter Roberta Teys, coupled with how it affects the lives of the protagonists make this one of the best works of crime fiction ever by Elizabeth George.
Well Schooled in Murder is the third book of the Inspector Lynley series and as usual Elizabeth George does not disappoint. After Mathew Whately, a thirteen-year-old boy mysteriously disappears from West Sussex school, Inspector Lynley is called in to solve the mystery. As Lynley, Havers and forensic scientist Simon Allcourt-St. James frantically search for the child and later for a child killer, they suspect that the cloistered walls of the old school may harbor something extraordinarily evil. However, as they try to unravel the inner workings of this secretive society, their investigation is opening up old personal emotional wounds that threaten to blind them from another impending murder.
Another incredible book in the Inspector Lynley series is In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner that has some of the most bizarre of openings. A theatrical producer commits suicide just after a night of his supposedly greatest achievement. After that a motorcyclist is found lying in the center of an ancient henge – stabbed to death and a young woman is clubbed to death while camping on the Derbyshire moors. Inspector Lynley is assigned the case of finding the murderer and of determining if the murders are related. However, his recently demoted partner Constable Havers insists on working the case with him. What gives?
OTHER BOOK SERIES YOU MAY LIKE:
Many fans of the Inspector Lynley series of novels will also like the “Duncan Kincaid & Gemma James” series by Deborah Crombie. These books are light detective series that incorporate the politics and personal struggles between Gemma James, a sergeant, and Duncan Kincaid his Scotland Yard superintendent. If you liked the Inspector Lynley series, you might also like the “Richard Jury” mystery series by Martha Grimes. Richard Jury is Scotland Yard Detective initially a chief inspector and later promoted to superintendent working with a British aristocrat Melrose Plant who has recently given up all his titles.
What Is The Next Book in The Inspector Lynley Series?
There doesn't seem to be an upcoming book in The Inspector Lynley Series. The newest book is Something to Hide and was released on January, 10th 2022.
How is this series still going? How is this series still this good? The next book comes out nearly 30 years from the last one and Lynley is still an interesting read. It’s kind of amazing.
A Banquet of Consequences was one of the best books in the series in a long period and a return to what made the series great. I should warn any potential readers that each book is LONG, 500+ pages, and they are an investment of your time. That said, it can be quite rewarding and a good use of your reading time.