Something to Hide: A Lynley Novel

In bestseller George’s superlative 21st novel featuring Acting Det. Chief Supt. Thomas Lynley (after 2018’s The Punishment She Deserves), Lynley and his team, including Det. Sgt. Barbara Havers, look into a particularly sensitive murder case during a London summer “hot enough... to make an iguana sweat.” When an undercover officer who was investigating illegal Nigerian “medical services” offered at a women’s health clinic in Hackney is found in a coma in her flat, she’s taken to the hospital, where she dies. The autopsy reveals that a blow to her head fractured her skull. No one is in the clear as the case widens and the lies pile up. Everyone has something to hide, including the immigrant Bankole family forcing an arranged marriage on their 18-year-old son, Tanimola, and a horrific surgical procedure on their eight-year-old daughter, Simisola, in order to get a “good bride price.” Established fans will be glad to see Lynley’s lifelong friends, photographer Deborah St. James and her husband, Simon, lend support. Racism, sexism, class, blackmail, and cultures clash in explosive ways. This is a memorable addition to a series that has aged well and promises more. Agent: Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media Group. (Jan.)