Book 5 of the Inspector Lynley Mysteries
Lynley and Havers are sent to Cambridge where a young female student was found murdered. The young woman had been on her morning run without her usual companions (her stepmother and dog) when she was ambushed and killed.
Barbara Havers is called back because her mother, who is suffering from dementia, is not dealing well with her ‘sitter’, the next door neighbour. Havers has found a home where 2 other women live, and the lady who runs it Mrs Flo is wonderful. However, when she takes her mother there, Mrs Havers is very sure she doesn’t want to stay there. So Havers has to ask the neighbour to look after her mum again to get back to Cambridge.
Lynley visits Lady Helen Clyde, who is at her sister’s in Cambridge. Helen’s sister Penelope has recently had a third child and seems to suffer from post-partum depression or something akin. Penelope’s husband has not been home in days. Lynley tries to convince Helen of his love (once again) and his intentions.
While this is all happening in their personal lives, in their professional life Lynley and Havers have to solve the young woman’s murder. They discover that the victim was Elena Weaver, the daughter of one of the professors in Cambridge.
Elena, who was deaf, was raised as a hearing person – and this seems to be key to the investigation. One of the other professors had referred her to the DeaStu – an organisation for Deaf students. One of the men she’d been seeing from DeaStu becomes one of the first suspects…
I enjoyed this book, Elena was an interesting character, her parents seemed to be a********s, as they forbade her to learn to sign as a child. The ongoing saga of Tommy and Helen’s will-they-will-they-not love story is a bit exasperating because Helen keeps dragging her feet (and it’s clear she wants to be with him). All in all though, a good read! On to the next of the series!
Read for The 52 Book Club Reading Challenge 2026
Prompt 39: A book that cost you nothing
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
