Reviews

Missing Joseph by Elizabeth George

dutchtineke's review

3.0

to be reviewed

shrub2006's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

katharina252's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

lilias's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

novel_nomad's review

4.0

Once again Elizabeth George writes a compelling mystery but allowing the focus to shift from Lynley to Deborah as she struggles with her desire to have a child and her infertility. Her concerns become a larger question of parenting, the rights of the parent, and the grief at the loss of a child. It was wonderful to sink back in Lynley's world but I do hope the next installment show more of Lynley and Havers.

kendallinge's review

tense slow-paced

2.0

msmandrake's review

3.0

3.5 As a notoriously nitpicky reader I had to decide that if I was going to read this series I was going to have to just do it and let things go that might bother me. So I'm glad to read other reviews that point out that Deborah is severely irritating. And enough with Helen's come 'ere/go away treatment of Lynley, and his soppiness about her and the lack of Havers who I thought was overdone at first but has grown on me, and the fact that the ending of this book was more frustrating than satisfying, and just say I thought the twist was pretty good and overall I enjoyed this and will read the next one.

ncrabb's review against another edition

3.0

Deborah St. James is troubled. She feels as if she’s losing the best of her marriage. The issue is among the most personal of them all. Her husband, Simon, is interested in adopting a child. Deborah is deeply concerned that she couldn’t love an adopted child in the way she could love one to which she had given birth. It is that reflective troubled Deborah we see as the book opens; she’s paying a visit to an art museum, and a particular painting of the virgin Mary and an infant Jesus captures her interest. She is soon joined by another gentleman who, like her, seems troubled in soul. He pointed out to her that Joseph is missing from the painting and sadly marveled that such is often the case with paintings of Mary and Jesus.

A few short days later, Simon and Deborah are vacationing in a small village when they learn that the vicar has apparently been accidentally poisoned. A single mom and her daughter, relative newcomers to the village, are questioned, since the woman gave him something to eat and since she is an expert on plants. The inquest ruled that the poisoning was accidental, but Simon and Deborah aren’t so sure. They call in their long-time friend, inspector Tommy Lindley, to help them slog through the facts and determine whether the vicar was poisoned or murdered, as they fear.

This is classic Elizabeth George even though this is one of the earlier books in the acclaimed series. These books aren’t short, but I’ve never yet been disappointed by one. Like the other books in this series, this title has several subplots that keep it interesting.

nonna7's review against another edition

4.0

Deborah and Simon St James go on a short winter holiday to try to salvage their battered marriage. Deborah has had six miscarriages and has been told to not even try to get pregnant for a year in order for her body to heal. She desperately wants to have a child, HER child as she thinks of it. Simon, on the other hand, is happy to consider adoption, but she refuses to think about it. They decide to go on holiday to a remote town in Lancashire where Robin Sage is the local priest. Deborah had met him at an art gallery when she came in out of the rain. She finds herself drawn to him and his kindness. However, when they get there they discover that he has died. The verdict is an accident, but they involve him eating dinner at the home of a woman who works as a caretaker at an estate. She fed him hemlock instead of wild parsnips, a mistake. But was it? Lynley and Havers are both on vacation. Havers is trying to get her mother's house ready to sell while Lynley was supposed to go to Corfu with Helen, but they had a falling in. Their relationship is a prickly one. He loves her and wants to marry her. She loves him but is unsure of what she wants. So when St James calls Lynley for help on his own time he accepts gratefully. Soon he becomes totally engrossed in the case and things begin to come together. George is such an outstanding writer. Her books are both absorbing and thoughtful. This has to be one of the best in the series in my opinion, but there hasn't been one I haven't enjoyed.

falconerreader's review against another edition

2.0

I feel bad giving an Elizabeth George book such a low rating. It's quite good, but I hated several aspects of the storyline itself. Deborah's blindness about insisting on being miserable over not being able to conceive, the awful assault scene...the story itself is interesting, but as I re-read, I remembered that this was the one book I really didn't enjoy because I was so irritated with some of the characters.