From Publishers Weekly
Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, eighth Earl of Asherton, is sent to Scotland to solve the death of playwright Joy Sinclair in what PW termed a "vividly characterized story of murder and espionage with elements of theatrical life, British class consciousness and love gone awry." Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
The much acclaimed author of A Great Deliverance delivers her challenging second novel--a literate, vastly detailed, and intricately characterized piece which progresses from a frigid Scottish manor house/hotel to a swarming, theatrical London. Scotland Yard's Thomas Lynley (series detective and Earl of Asherton), unexpectedly assigned to a gory stabbing murder, uncovers deeply hidden family secrets and various psychological convolutions among suspects, but allows personal jealously to color his choice of prime suspect. A bit mechanical in places, and slow-moving in others, but steadily absorbing and masterful overall. The upcoming author tour should boost demand --especially from readers of George's first.Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Review
"Satisfying indeed.  Novelist Elizabeth George...has another hit on her hands."


"A vivid cast of suspects, an appealing team of sleuths...a country-house setting that will put readers in mind of the best of Agatha Christie.  For fans of this type of puzzle, Payment in Blood is a must."
Cleveland

"A spectacular new voice in mystery writing...[George] invites comparison with both P.D. James and Ruth Rendell in the psychological interest of her characters and the intricacy and ingenuity of her plotting."


"Complex, rich, and accomplished enough to elbow the author between P.D. James and Ruth Rendell."



Review
"Satisfying indeed.  Novelist Elizabeth George...has another hit on her hands."


"A vivid cast of suspects, an appealing team of sleuths...a country-house setting that will put readers in mind of the best of Agatha Christie.  For fans of this type of puzzle, Payment in Blood is a must."
Cleveland

"A spectacular new voice in mystery writing...[George] invites comparison with both P.D. James and Ruth Rendell in the psychological interest of her characters and the intricacy and ingenuity of her plotting."


"Complex, rich, and accomplished enough to elbow the author between P.D. James and Ruth Rendell."



Book Description
The career of playwright Joy Sinclair comes to an abrupt end on an isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands when someone drives and eighteen-inch dirk through her neck. Called upon to investigate the case in a country where they have virtually no authority, aristocratic Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and his partner, Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, grapple for both a motive and a murderer. Emotions run deep in this highly charged drama, for the list of suspects soon includes Britain's foremost actress, its most successful theatrical producer, and the woman Lynley loves. He and Havers must tread carefully through the complicated terrain of human relationships, while they work to solve a case rooted in the darkest corners of the past and the unexplored regions of the human heart.


From the Publisher
"Satisfying indeed. Novelist Elizabeth George...has another hit on her hands."
"A vivid cast of suspects, an appealing team of sleuths...a country-house setting that will put readers in mind of the best of Agatha Christie. For fans of this type of puzzle, Payment in Blood is a must."
Cleveland"A spectacular new voice in mystery writing...[George] invites comparison with both P.D. James and Ruth Rendell in the psychological interest of her characters and the intricacy and ingenuity of her plotting."
"Complex, rich, and accomplished enough to elbow the author between P.D. James and Ruth Rendell."



From the Inside Flap
The career of playwright Joy Sinclair comes to an  abrupt end on an isolated estate in the Scottish  Highlands when someone drives and eighteen-inch  dirk through her neck. Called upon to investigate the  case in a country where they have virtually no authority, aristocratic Detective Inspector Thomas  Lynley and his partner, Detective Sergeant Barbara  Havers, grapple for both a motive and a murderer.  Emotions run deep in this highly charged drama, for  the list of suspects soon includes Britain's  foremost actress, its most successful theatrical  producer, and the woman Lynley loves. He and Havers must  tread carefully through the complicated terrain of  human relationships, while they work to solve a case rooted in the darkest corners of the past and the unexplored regions of the human  heart.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The career of playwrite Joy Sinclair comes to an abrupt end on an isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands when someone drives an eighteen-inch dirk through her neck. Called upon to investigate the case in a country where they have virtually no authority, aristocratic Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and his partner, Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, grapple for both a motive and a murderer. Emotions run deep in this highly charged drama, for the list of suspects soon includes Britain's foremost actress, its most successful theatrical producer, and the woman Lynley loves. He and Havers must tread carefully through the complicated terrain of human relationships, while they work to solve a case rooted in the darkest corners of the past and the unexplored regions of the human heart.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

Popular detective duo Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers, last spotted in In the Presence of the Enemy (LJ 2/1/96), find murder in a small Essex village.

AudioFile - Susan G. Baird

A myriad of Scottish, English and Welsh accents, as well as male and female voices, are masterfully handled by Davina Porter in this complex murder which takes place as a London theater company meets in a manor house. The distinction of the characters￯﾿ﾽ social classes and ages are central to the story as Inspector Lynley and Sergeant Havers are at odds on just this issue. Since George tends toward melodrama, the narrator thankfully tones down the pace so the story isn￯﾿ﾽt lost in emotional fury. The author￯﾿ﾽs use of atmosphere as a character is also well-rendered. George￯﾿ﾽs impressive following makes this title worth adding to all collections. S.G.B. ￯﾿ﾽAudioFile, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

Bestselling George, in a ninth outing, takes on race relations in the moribund Essex resort of Balford-le-Nez. Melancholic Sgt. Barbara Havers, convalescing after the violence of In the Presence of the Enemy (1996), repairs to this seaside town when her sympathetic Pakistani neighbor at home, Taymullah Azhar, is called to Balford-le-Nez to assist with a crisis—a "small family matter," he says, following the murder of an affluent immigrant about to marry into the even more affluent Maliks of Malik's Mustards & Assorted Accompaniments. Discovering that an old mate, the high-powered Emily "Beast" Barlow, is in charge of the case, Barbara volunteers her way into a liaison position when contentious Muhannad Malik, son of conservative corporate patriarch Akram, charges police prejudice and demands day-by-day accountability. Fired by a hotter English summer than any recently recorded, several plot ingredients simmer: daughter Sahlah Malik's Romeo-and- Juliet relationship with developer Theo Shaw, grandson of wealthy bigot Agatha Shaw; Sahlah's Juliet-and-Juliet relationship with a scheming shopgirl; and the Romeo-and-Romeo relationship of Haytham Querashi, Sahlah's murdered fiancé, with the boyfriend of his hired contractor. Though George manages to include a sea chase with her customary scenes of angst and accusation, she concludes the case with oddly scant reference to some important individuals—among others, Sahlah.

A vital issue is badly served by moralizing, predictable characterizing, Anglo-Saxon attitudizing (so much slang), and preoccupation with the weather (so much sweat). Ruth Rendell, in 1995's Simisola, explored the complexities of racial prejudice with less pretension and greater finesse.