Payment in Blood

By: Elizabeth George

Narrated by: Derek Jacobi

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Inspector Thomas Lynley travels to Scotland to solve the untimely demise of a renowned playwright in the second novel of the #1 New York Times bestselling Inspector Lynley series.

Don’t miss the upcoming BritBox streaming series Lynley!

“George writes like Agatha Christie at the top of her game. . . . A joy.” —Washington Post Book World

The career of playwright 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.©1995 Elizabeth George; (P)1995 Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, A Division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Satisfying indeed. Novelist Elizabeth George...has another hit on her hands."—Washington Post

"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."—Plain Dealer, 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."—Los Angeles Times

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

good book, but....

The book was good, but I found this to be the exception on audible- the recording was poor, so for the 1st time I was disappointed.

Good story, poor recording

This recording sounded like it was recorded from an old radio show. It was garbled and at times hard to understand. It was not Derek Jacobi, the reader, who was at fault. It was the technical side.

praise with reservations

Well-read but the quality of the recording is not good - I would probably have been happier had I heeded the warning about the quality and waited for an unabridged version with higher quality recording.

Poor Production value

This book sounds like it was recorded from a radio,,, a very old radio. I kept waiting for Edward R Murrow to interupt with War news

Bad recording quality

Any additional comments?

I cannot really say anything about the story since I could not bear to listen to it for longer than 10 minutes. The quality of the recording is bad, as if it was poorly digitized from an old tape. Admittedly English is not my mother tongue, but I never had any problems understanding audiobooks; and with this one I couldn't catch half of what the narrator says!
And for some reason return does not work. My first bad experience with you, Audible :(