A Banquet of Consequences

 

A Banquet of Consequences by Elizabeth George  

 

Ms. George,  in this once again far too long novel, sets up a tragic family situation in which a young man’s suicide triggers a series of sordid, unimaginable horrors from the past. One problem is that the characters in this family from hell seem so perverted, twisted, unsavory, and sex driven that I could not help thinking that the world would be a better place if they were all eliminated instead of just one of them.

Even though this is billed as a Lynley novel, Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley is stuck  with doing minor London legwork and dealing with the always impatient upper echelon as represented by Detective Superintendent Isabelle Ardery.  The real main characters are DS Barbara Havers and DS Winston Ngata who move and shake the plot  in the Dorset countryside where most of the real action occurs. Both of them are as different from Lynley as night and day, but his absence as a driving force may disappoint some readers.

The plot is, as usual in detective novels, complex, is full of twists right down to the last pages. Ms. George has done her research on poison and Agatha Christie would be proud of her. What excites me less is that there are a few too many coincidences driving the story. This starts with Barbara Havers accidental contact in London with the murder victim and her entourage and then the assignment of the case to Lynley's team. The discovery of records hidden in the boot of the murdered woman’s car, that surely would have been searched long before Barbara finds them, is another example.  She also finds them because of some strange procedural decisions.  Why are Barbara and Winston staying in the murder victim's home for instance?  And how could it be reasonable for Barbara to use the victim’s car to go to an interview?  To top it off she then finds a valuable document trove in the boot when the car has a convenient flat tire.  In another lucky discovery, she finds a third tract on a tape recorder by accidently pressing a button rather than through knowledgeable detection.  

Although by the ending all the characters appear to have reaped their full “Banquet of Consequences,”  there is a kind of sordidness about the whole affair.  “You’re only as sick as your secrets,” says one character and this family is clearly right at death’s door.  

Jim De Young  7/9/22