Elizabeth George

Susan Elizabeth George (born February 26, 1949) is an American writer of mystery novels.

She is best known for a series of novels featuring Inspector Thomas Lynley. The 21st book in the series was published in January 2022. The first 11 were adapted for television by the BBC as earlier episodes of ''The Inspector Lynley Mysteries''. A separate four-part series entitled '' Lynley'' to be shown on BBC One began filming in 2024, starring Leo Suter and Sofia Barclay.

Biography

Early life

Elizabeth George was born in Warren, Ohio, the second child of Robert Edwin and Anne (née Rivelle) George. She has an older brother, author Robert Rivelle George. Her mother was a nurse, and her father a manager for a conveyor company. The family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area when she was 18 months old. She has described the family as "quite poor" and with little formal education, but recounts that her mother gave her an old Remington typewriter, and she began writing at the age of 7. She says: "I have always felt compelled to write. When I began reading the '' Little Golden Books'' as a 7-year-old, I knew that I wanted to write one, too. I wrote tiny stories like that in the beginning." She names ''Anne of Green Gables'' as one of the literary influences of her childhood.

She studied at Foothill Community College (now Foothill College) in California, and at the University of California, Riverside, where she received a BA in 1970. While teaching English in the public school system, she completed a master's degree in counseling and psychology. She received an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Cal State University Fullerton in 2004 and was awarded an honorary Masters in Fine Arts from the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts in 2010.

Literary career

George taught English in the public school system for 13 years, writing three crime novels before being accepted for publication. The critical and commercial success of her first published novel, '' A Great Deliverance'' (1988), allowed her to give up teaching and become a full-time writer.

The novel introduces the upper-class Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley of Scotland Yard (in private life, the Earl of Asherton) and his working-class partner Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers. When asked in interview why she chose to create a titled hero, she spoke of the freedom of being a debut novelist, saying: "I could do anything, you see, because when I started I never thought it would be published."

Since 1988 George has published 20 more Inspector Lynley mysteries, four young adult novels in the Whidbey Island series, three collections of short stories and two self-help books for writers. She names the author John Fowles as her main literary influence.

She established the Elizabeth George Foundation, a grant for unpublished and emerging writers, in 1997.

George has taught creative writing seminars in the US, Canada and the UK.

Personal life

George married Ira Jay Toibin in 1971 and they divorced in 1995. George is currently married to retired firefighter Tom McCabe. She has spoken of her struggle with depression, saying: "Happiness is an inside job - it takes a long time to learn that."

Reception

George has spoken of being a great Anglophile since her first visit to Britain in 1966, and of watching UK TV shows and reading books by UK novelists to "pick up the syntax of British speech." She has been praised for the authenticity of her portrayal of "the nuances, class system, language, humour and habits of the British," although not all critics have been in agreement. ''The Times'' crime critic Marcel Berlins has described her as: "an exasperating writer, (who) insists on perpetuating a police procedure that hasn’t existed for decades, is not good on social mores and her dialogue often reveals a tin ear." Critics have commented adversely on the length and complexity of her novels whilst acknowledging the satisfying nature of the read.

Awards

''A Great Deliverance:'' Winner: Agatha Award for Best First Novel (1988); 1989 Anthony Award for Best Debut Novel (1989); Grand Prix de Littérature Policière (France). Nominated: Edgar Award in 1988.

Bibliography

Inspector Lynley

* 1988: '' A Great Deliverance'' ()
* 1989: '' Payment in Blood'' ()
* 1990: '' Well-Schooled in Murder'' ()
* 1991: '' A Suitable Vengeance'' ()
* 1992: '' For the Sake of Elena'' ()
* 1992: '' Missing Joseph'' ()
* 1993: '' Playing for the Ashes'' ()
* 1996: '' In the Presence of the Enemy'' ()
* 1997: '' Deception on His Mind'' ()
* 1999: '' In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner'' ()
* 2001: '' A Traitor to Memory'' ()
* 2003: '' A Place of Hiding'' ()
* 2005: '' With No One as Witness'' ()
* 2006: '' What Came Before He Shot Her'' ()
* 2008: '' Careless in Red'' ()
* 2010: '' This Body of Death'' ()
* 2012: '' Believing the Lie'' ()
* 2013: '' Just One Evil Act'' ()
* 2015: '' A Banquet of Consequences'' ()
* 2018: ''The Punishment She Deserves'' ()
* 2022: ''Something to Hide'' ()
* 2025: ''A Slowly Dying Cause''

Whidbey Island Saga

* 2012: ''The Edge of Nowhere'' (''The Edge of Nowhere: Saratoga Woods'' or ''The Edge of Nowhere 01: The Dog House'') ()
* 2013: ''The Edge of the Water'' (''The Edge of the Water: Saratoga Woods'') ()
* 2015: ''The Edge of the Shadows'' ()
* 2016: ''The Edge of the Light'' ()

Short story collections

* 2001: '' The Evidence Exposed'' (; Short story collection UK)
* 2002: '' I, Richard'' (; short story collection)
* 2004: '' A Moment on the Edge: 100 Years of Crime Stories by Women'' (editor; )

Nonfiction

* 2004: '' Write Away'' ()
* 2020: ''Mastering the Process: From Idea to Novel''

References

External

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Elizabeth George
at Goodreads

{{DEFAULTSORT:George, Elizabeth
1949 births
20th-century American novelists
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American novelists
21st-century American women writers
Agatha Award winners
American mystery writers
American thriller writers
American women novelists
Anthony Award winners
Living people
Novelists from Ohio
People from Warren, Ohio
University of California, Riverside alumni
American women mystery writers
American women thriller writers
Writers from San Francisco