Just one evil act, by Elizabeth George

Having been devoted to this series from its inception, and loving the Barbara Havers character, this should have been a really enjoyable book.  But it is way too long, or perhaps should have been two books as there’s an obvious break in the middle which could have well been a cliff-hanger for a future title – think of the profits.  It badly needed an editor.  It is a miracle that Havers still has a job at the end, and I missed Deborah and Simon.  Tommy has a new, continued love interest but otherwise is a minor character.    And after describing how terribly awful Havers looks – chopped off hair (see previous book), stretched out t-shirts with inappropriate logos, and general unattractiveness, George is at pains to describe her remarkable blue eyes and great smile with gleaming white teeth (and she smokes two packs a day?).   I think she’s setting her up with the new and well-drawn character, Salvatore, the Italian counterpart to Tommy.  Havers’ neighbor and friend (to whom she is attracted to), Taymullah Azhar, has lost his daughter when her mother disappears with her. They never married and he has no legal rights as he is not named as the father.  Eventually, mother and daughter are found in Italy, where much of the action takes place.  Havers to the rescue.  The continued use of Italian dialog at important plot points is just plain annoying to those who have only middle school Latin to fall back on for translation.  The device on which the plot eventually turns is very contrived.  A bit of a mess.  2.2 pounds and 736 pp.  Hard to read for many reasons!!