In the Presence of the Enemy
by Elizabeth George

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Book Reviews of In the Presence of the Enemy

Book Review: "Not her best" is still better than anyone else's best
Summary: 5 Stars

Thumbnail plot sketch: A child is kidnapped. The child was the result of a week-long tryst years before, and the two parents have since both risen to prominence, but in very different ways. The mother (with whom the child lives) is a prominent and ambitious Tory politician. The father is the editor of a scandal sheet. The mother wants nothing to do with the father, and his paternity has never been publicly acknowledged.

When the child is kidnapped, the kidnapper insists that the father acknowledge the child or else the child will be murdered. The father is entirely willing to agree to the demand, but the mother is not - and believes that in fact the father himself is behind the kidnapping.

To relate much more of the plot would be to spoil it for the reader. But Lynley and Havers eventually get involved in the case, and there is the usual wonderful writing, complex plot, and rich characterizations that we always get in Elizabeth George's books.

I actually think this book is slightly weaker than some of George's other work, because to me the fundamental premises don't ring true. The mother's reasons for not wanting the father to acknowledge his paternity are unconvincing (to me, anyway), and the ultimate explanation for the crime has an implausible motive. Furthermore, as a frequent reader of crime novels I get very tired of the constant portrayal of all conservative politicians as hypocritical scoundrels. Some real life conservative politicians may well BE hypocritical scoundrels. But it has gotten to the point where you know immediately upon being introduced to the character, that (s)he will turn out to be a contemptible example of humanity.

That sounds like an awful lot of complaints for a five-star book, but George is just too talented, her writing too beautiful and too intelligent, to rate this anything but five stars. And please make sure you read it all the way to the end. If you can get through the last two paragraphs without tears, then you are heartless.

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