The Vespertine

Starred review from August 12, 2013
This riveting tale of love, passion, and betrayal, the 18th Inspector Lynley novel from bestseller George (after 2012’s Believing the Lie), spotlights Det. Sgt. Barbara Havers. Taymullah Azhar, a science professor who’s a friend and neighbor of Havers in North London, is devastated to come home one day and discover that his nine-year-old daughter, Hadiyyah, and most of her possessions are gone. Hadiyyah’s mother, Angelina Upman, to whom Azhar was never married, has decamped to Italy with the girl. A grateful Azhar accepts Havers’s offer to act as a private detective, though her superiors resist her request for a leave of absence. Months later, when kidnappers take Hadiyyah from Angelina in an Italian marketplace, Lynley travels to Lucca, Tuscany, to look into the matter. Havers later goes AWOL to Lucca, where she seizes the initiative in the case and risks her career to persuade Scotland Yard to get involved. Fully realized Italian characters, from a lover whose face cannot hide his emotions to the charming Chief Insp. Salvatore Lo Bianco, add to the rich ensemble cast. Series fans will enjoy following Lynley and Havers on their first investigation outside the U.K., while newcomers will be just as enthralled. Agent: Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media Group.