Title : The Punishment She Deserves
Author : Elizabeth George
Narrators : Simon Vance
Genre : Mystery
Publisher : Penguin Audio
Listening Length : 22 hours 48 minutes
Rating : 5/5
Narrator Rating : 5/5
Ever want to get down on your knees and give thanks to the good Lord for creating a fabulous writer (and hence his/her fabulous books)? I kid you not 🙂 if there ever was such a time, it was when I finished this book. The Punishment She Deserves is that book – a perfect, magnificent mystery, and fully deserving of the 5/5 rating!
Young and altruistic Ian Druitt, Ludlow’s deacon, is accused of a heinous crime, and dies while in prison. The death is sudden and unexpected – and appears to be a suicide. Detective Chief Superintendent Isabelle Ardery and Seargent Detective Barbara Havers are dispatched to the scene, but while Ardery is well-satisfied to quickly wrap up the case, Havers goes sniffing around and finds numerous oddities and holes in the story. Ardery however overrides Havers’s objections and they return.
When Ardery’s unsatisfactory handling of the case, and her downward spiral into alcoholism comes to light, Sergeant Detective Barbara Havers is then dispatched a second time to Ludlow, this time with the dashing Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley. Havers now has full freedom to explore, and use her instincts to unravel this confounding mystery.
This is my first book by Elizabeth George but it certainly won’t be my last. I hope all her books are as good because “The Punishment She Deserves” sets a high bar. This book is detailed and meticulous and strewn with red herrings. George leads us on, revealing the truth little by little. Her characters are fabulously drawn. Havers and Lynley are an extremely likable pair, quirks and all. The book is almost 23 hours long, and they were 23 well spent hours!
Simon Vance gives voice, and he is just as fabulous as the book. Highly, highly recommended!
