Elizabeth George getting back to her best

After the two previous Lynley stories which I found really poor it is a pleasure to say that this book shows a return Ms George's old form. Lynley is sent up north on an "unofficial" mission to investigate a murder/suicide/accident, helped by Deborah and St James whilst Havers remains in London to find out what she can about the people involved. Nothing is quite what it seems and the job is more difficult than he had presumed. I wish that that Lynley's romance(?) with the awful Isabelle Ardery had been omitted but Haver's private life continues to entertain. Timothy Bentinck did a sterling job with the narration (once I had got over thinking it was David Archer speaking!)

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7 people found this helpful

Female voices/accents

This was the first Elizabeth George book I had bought as an audible and was somewhat taken aback by Barbara Havers having a Scottish accent, as I always thought that she was a Londoner. She is normally one of my favourite characters, but I found myself feeling glad that she was not in this one as much as is often the case, because it was irritating me! The narrator's voice was pleasant, but his "female voices" were generally poor. I enjoyed the book overall, but perhaps not one of her best.

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Intriguing plot beautifully narrated

An avid George fan, I found this unexpectedly one of her best novels. Tim Bentinck did a brilliant job bringing it all to life and faultlessly slipping between accents. Bravo! I loved that the author seemed to have finally moved into the 21st century too
Totally absorbed me every night for a few weeks...

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IS BARBARA HAVERS STILL A LONDONER?

What made the experience of listening to Believing the Lie the most enjoyable?

It is a complicated story with lots of interlacing characters.

What did you like best about this story?

The story is long and involved and takes George's usual slow but rewarding path through the twists and turns of the plot.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The reading was good except in one respect: the character of Barbara Havers, a streetwise Londoner, has suddenly developed an upper-class Scottish accent. Most disconcerting.

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Beautifully read and compelling story

Would you listen to Believing the Lie again? Why?

Yes, it is now a part of my audio library. I was very impressed by the narrator, and the story, thankfully, did not continue to dwell overmuch on Lynley's loss.

What does Tim Bentinck bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Tim Bentinck moved effortlessly from character to character, both male and female, in a sympathetic fashion.. However, I was not keen on the relocation of Haver's accent.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not really, it is rather long for a single sitting.

Any additional comments?

I was disappointed that Elizabeth George continues to produce rather depressing end themes to her latest works and I still haven't quite forgiven her for killing off Helen, some books ago. However she winds up this story leaving plenty of opportunity to reintroduce the closing subject should she write another Lynley/Havers novel.

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Barbara Havers

The story was spoilt for me by the narrator giving a Scottish accent to Babara Havers. Luckily she didn't feature much.

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Good overall

This is a good performance overall but unaccountably, inner-London Barbara Havers has developed a Scottish accent! And the accent of educated, British-Pakistani academic Azhar has become Greek or Southern European!

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Brilliant

I love Elizabeth George. She is so descriptive and her characters real. Slowly working my way through all her books. Great narrator too

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Wrong narrator

I am halfway through Part 1 of 3 downloads and am already considering giving the rest a miss. Tim Bentinck reads this as if he was reading an instruction manual - not monotonous by any means but precise, factual, unrelenting. And what was it with making a phone call sound like a phone call with the caller having a tinny in-the-distance voice? I was driving in traffic at the time and all I could hear was one side of the conversation. I have just finished listening to With No One as Witness which is the book preceding this one and was narrated by Diana Bishop. This was a much easier listen and the characters, even though they were the same ones, felt much more real. Sorry Tim, but I won't be listening to you again as much as I love the Inspector Lynley mysteries.

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One Major Problem

This story is up to the usual standard of Elizabeth George and her fans will not be disappointed except for one factor ..... Tim Bentick for some reason, (good with all the voices of the other characters) reads Barbara Havers WITH A SCOTTISH ACCENT! She came from South London for goodness sake, as did her family!

Apart from that grating factor otherwise very enjoyable and nice and long.

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3 people found this helpful