From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. This riveting tale of love, passion, and betrayal, the 18th Inspector Lynley novel from bestseller George (after 2012&'s Believing the Lie), spotlights Det. Sgt. Barbara Havers. Taymullah Azhar, a science professor who&'s a friend and neighbor of Havers in North London, is devastated to come home one day and discover that his nine-year-old daughter, Hadiyyah, and most of her possessions are gone. Hadiyyah&'s mother, Angelina Upman, to whom Azhar was never married, has decamped to Italy with the girl. A grateful Azhar accepts Havers&'s offer to act as a private detective, though her superiors resist her request for a leave of absence. Months later, when kidnappers take Hadiyyah from Angelina in an Italian marketplace, Lynley travels to Lucca, Tuscany, to look into the matter. Havers later goes AWOL to Lucca, where she seizes the initiative in the case and risks her career to persuade Scotland Yard to get involved. Fully realized Italian characters, from a lover whose face cannot hide his emotions to the charming Chief Insp. Salvatore Lo Bianco, add to the rich ensemble cast. Series fans will enjoy following Lynley and Havers on their first investigation outside the U.K., while newcomers will be just as enthralled. Agent: Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media Group. (Oct.)
From Booklist
As her devoted readers know, George’s D.I. Lynley procedurals are more about characters than crime. This entry is certainly no different, but, unlike the most recent books, which center on a distraught Lynley, recovering from his wife’s murder, the focus is on Lynley’s partner (and polar opposite), D.S. Barbara Havers. It begins when Taymullah Azhar, Barbara’s neighbor, asks for help in finding his beloved daughter, Hadiyyah, with whom his wife has absconded. So begins a sprawling investigation that careens from England to Italy and back again, as cops in both countries investigate child abduction and murder, ending with Azhar looking very like a killer. Through it all, volatile, unkempt, vulnerable Barbara is so invested in Azhar that she loses sight of everything and everyone else. Unfortunately, her stubborn loyalty does not come across as entirely rational this time, but readers who’ve grown attached to the obstinate, outspoken cop over the course of the series will surely forgive her for being blinded by affection. The tale is both overlong and occasionally overwrought, but series fans will not be inclined to put it down unfinished. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Not among the best in George’s long-running and consistently popular series, but still certain to draw many requests among public-library readers. --Stephanie Zvirin
See all Editorial Reviews