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With No One As Witness

by Elizabeth George

Elizabeth George has always been one of my favorite authors in the mystery field -
and her protagonist, Thomas Lynley, along with his working partner, Barbara Havers, call me back to re-read earlier books concerning cases I've since forgotten whenever I can squeeze in the time. However I must admit that even the best authors probably get tired of coming up with new plots for their characters over the years, and apparently Elizabeth George has either reached that point or is getting close to it in With No One As Witness. The story ends leaving the reader wondering if this will be the final work in the series, or whether she will somehow re-establish her protagonist (a la Martha Grimes) in still another novel. Whichever it is, you can be sure that Ms. George has given us a rich heritage with her writing, and her latest - With No One As Witness - can easily stand alone as a fine example of her work.

Adolescent boys are being horribly tortured and murdered by a serial killer. The setting is London, England, and New Scotland Yard is soon on the case, with Thomas Lynley acting as Superintendent in place of Malcolm Webberley, who is very slowly recovering from a vicious attack as well as heart failure. Webberley had also been a buffer for Lynley against the arrogance and political machinations of Assistant Commissioner David Hillier, who was now Lynley's boss.

Hillier seems to do everything he can to disrupt Lynley's detective work on the case. In his insistence for both results and placing himself in the most favorable political light, the AC brings in a reporter who is to be embedded in the case, and thus privy to everything the detectives uncover. One of Lynley's detective team, a black man newly promoted to sergeant is Winston Nikata, who has a criminal brother presently incarcerated – and it's one of the stories the reporter wants to make public against Nikata's and Lynley's wishes.

Colossus is an organization dedicated to the attempt of placing young men back into respectful society from the streets, dope, thievery, alcohol, prostitution and whatever else they've been into. Many boys are sent to them from Youthful Offenders – and more and more seem to come to a very bad end with the serial killer. The head of Colossus, Ulrike Ellis, is initially unaware that the murdered boys have any connection with her organization, since many simply fail to return and are quickly forgotten. When she's apprised of the strong connection by Lynley and Havers, she's quick to deny the possibility of Colossus harboring any suspect, even while she's currently infatuated with one of her counselors.

There are a plethora of suspects, and some lead us adroitly away from Colossus while others take us right back. Avoiding the charge of institutionalized racism becomes only one of the tactics used by Hillier to interfere with Lynley's meager progress, and other sub-plots include the pregnancy of Lady Helen, Lynley's wife, Winston Nikata's perusal of the stand-offish Yasmin and her male-needy son Daniel, along with Barbara Haver's trials with her neighbor, Taymullah Azhar and his daughter Hadiyyah.

As the list of murdered boys grows longer and the attacks of the serial killer accelerate, the killer also becomes aware of Lynley – and even contacts him personally to tell him what's in store… And naturally, it's when Lynley is most distracted by a personal catastrophe that the killer is able to get to him. The final pages of With No One As Witness bring the reader to the edge of the seat with horror, even when we know that it will all turn out reasonably well in the end!

Elizabeth George obviously knows her London well, even while living part-time in Huntington Beach, California. Ms. George' research is meticulous, as always, and her characters as real as you can establish a fictional creation with flesh and blood. Any lover of the contemporary
English mystery will not only be sure to have Elizabeth George's work in the library, but will revere this author as one of the finest examples of English mystery fiction ever written. Agatha Christie, eat your heart out, wherever you are!

Alan Paul Curtis

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