What Came Before He Shot Her

The police never suspected a serial killer was at large until they found the fourth murdered boy -- the first white victim -- his body draped over a tomb in a London graveyard. Suddenly a series of crimes and a potential public relations disaster have Scotland Yard on the defensive, scrambling to apprehend a maniac while avoiding accusations of racism.

Detective Superintendent Thomas Lynley, distracted by concerns for his pregnant wife, has been assigned to the investigation, along with his disgraced partner, Barbara Havers, who's fighting for her professional future. Winston Nkata -- deservedly, if hastily, promoted to detective sergeant -- is the black face who will speak to the media. But none of them can imagine the tenacity and ingenuity of the killer they seek . . . and no one is prepared for the savage, shocking instant when everything will change forever.

He found the body on the forty-third day of his walk . . .

Devastated by the senseless murder of his wife, Detective Superintendent Thomas Lynley retreated to Cornwall, where he has spent six solitary weeks hiking the bleak and rugged coastline. But no matter how far he walks, the painful memories do not diminish.

Then, at the base of a cliff near a town better known for its surfing than its intrigue, Lynley discovers the body of a young man who has fallen to his death. First a witness, then a suspect when the hand of a killer is revealed, Lynley remains, above all, a policeman willing to aid the gruff head of an understaffed local constabulary in her investigation. But the secrets in this community run dark and deep—and Lynley must somehow find a way to let go of the past long enough to solve a most devious and dreadful crime.

New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth George is back with a spellbinding tale of mystery and murder featuring Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley.

On compassionate leave after the murder of his wife, Thomas Lynley is called back to Scotland Yard when the body of a woman is found stabbed and abandoned in an isolated London cemetery. His former team doesn't trust the leadership of their new department chief, Isabelle Ardery, whose management style seems to rub everyone the wrong way. In fact, Lynley may be the sole person who can see beneath his superior officer's hard-as-nails exterior to a hidden-and possibly attractive-vulnerability.

While Lynley works in London, his former colleagues Barbara Havers and Winston Nkata follow the murder trail south to the New Forest. There they discover a beautiful and strange place where animals roam free, the long-lost art of thatching is very much alive, and outsiders are not entirely welcome. What they don't know is that more than one dark secret lurks among the trees, and that their investigation will lead them to an outcome that is both tragic and shocking.

A multilayered jigsaw puzzle of a story skillfully structured to keep readers guessing until the very end, This Body of Death is a magnificent achievement from a writer at the peak of her powers.