Tales from the Towers: Literal intrigues

My good friend Mildred held a certain object enticingly before me:

"It's the new Elizabeth George," she told me, "we both think that she is a tad long-winded, but her language is so superb, her descriptions so detailed, I reserved this book for you and...take your time with it!"

Take my time with it, she said, as I looked at the book with dismay. How couldn't I take my time with it? It had 725 pages of small print and even I, who am a very fast reader, couldn't help but wonder when I'd be able to return Ms. George to Mildred?

So I started out on a trip which I called "Elisabeth revisited" As with her books which I had read before, I again had trouble figuring out who is who. Some authors are very considerate and offer an index at the beginning of the book showing names and their relationships, like, say "Alexander, the brother in law of the former Mrs. Gibbs, who then divorced her husband and married her next door neighbor, William"..

No, there was no index of names and relationships so I had to work my way through a labyrinth of guessing who is what to whom. And there were so many!

Descriptions were long and tedious but I tried to work through them as well, because here and there I catch a glimpse of Ms. George's English and very elusive humor and the trouble is worthwhile.

But yet, the book is hard work. I arrived to page 350 and think to myself: Well, here is where my criminal instinct takes over! I will just turn straight to page 450 and see how I get on from there. Good. 450, 451, 452, I lean back happily in my big and beautiful chair and go on reading as if nothing would have happened. 100 pages less and I am nearer to return the book to Mildred. But then suddenly I hit on a new name who did something intriguing and I have no idea who he is and why he did what he did! Will I have to go back 100 pages in order to find out, or shall I trust coincidence and my imagination to hit on the existing situation further on? 

It's a dilemma. I get up and fix myself a glass of warm milk with honey, a remedy which either stimulates my thinking process or - in most cases - puts me to sleep. It is clear to me that I will have to decide on further action with regards to Ms. George.

Fortified by my favorite drink, I get back to the book. I realize since this work is supposed to be a mystery, I have to start taking notice of clues and hints if I ever want to know who murdered a good-looking, sexy 18-year-old boy which is really a heinous crime! But Ms. George won't make it easy for me. Just at the conclusion of a chapter which should have ended with a dramatic revelation, she just leaves me hanging there and goes over to another tangent altogether. She again describes the scenery, the surf, the high waves of the stormy sea, the addiction of some of the book's heroes to surfing. I have no understanding for this addiction at all. Although being 'zodiacally' a fish, I would never attempt to storm the lowest little wave, and I've swallowed enough sea water here and there, believe me!

I go on with the book and I don't know really know how but I've arrived to page 600 and something. I still don't have a clue to what happened really, and there are still persons who come and go and I have no idea what they are doing there.

But I am stubborn especially in adversity, and I won't return the book to Mildred before I know why, how and where - and of course I also need details with regards to motive! A boy of 18, who was it who went crazy?

So, I finished reading the book, well.. in a certain manner. Please don't ask me about it. I really wouldn't know what to tell you!

Lucca