The Monday Mysteries Book Group met earlier this week to discuss our latest book, A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George. I thought this would be an interesting book to discuss since so many of us were already familiar with Inspector Lynley and Sgt. Havers from the Mystery series on PBS. In fact, one group member is a big fan of the show and never realized that it was based on the George novels.

You know the saying that the movie is NEVER as good as the book? Well, that was true once again. Yes, the actors portraying the characters were good but everyone agreed that these were not the Lynley and Havers in the book. OUR Inspector Lynley was a blonde, 'golden boy', not the tall, dark and handsome guy on the television screen. The TV Havers IS a bit messy and down trodden but nothing like the overweight, nasty and extremely unattractive woman that Elizabeth George introduced us to. And, the story line was different than the novel in many ways -- even the reason for the murder was sanitized for TV!! The novel introduced us to many wonderful secondary characters that were quirky and humorous and ultimately left on the cutting room floor.

All in all, the group enjoyed the book and will read more Elizabeth George to follow the exploits of these mismatched and entertaining detectives.

Please join us for our next book discussion on Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon on August 27 at 12:00 p.m. You can pick up your copy of the book at the Circulation desk.