Elizabeth George
Encyclopedia
Susan Elizabeth George (born 26 February 1949) is an American
author
of mystery novels set in Great Britain
.
Eleven of her novels featuring her lead character Inspector Lynley have been adapted for television by the BBC as The Inspector Lynley Mysteries
.
, Ohio
to Robert Edwin and Anne (née Rivelle) George, the second of two children (she has an older brother Robert "Rob" George). Her mother was a nurse and her father a salesman for a conveyor company. The family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area
when she was eighteen months old. Her father wanted to get away from the Midwestern weather and to get her mother away from her mother's large extended Italian family.
She was a student of English
, receiving a teaching certificate from the University of California, Riverside
. While teaching English in the public school system, she completed a master's degree in counseling and psychology
.
George married Ira Jay Toibin in 1971 and they divorced in 1995.
; Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers
, Lynley's partner, grammar-school educated but from a very working-class background; Lady Helen Clyde, Lynley's girlfriend and later wife, of aristocratic birth as well; and Lynley's friends Simon and Deborah St. James, an upper-class man and his wife, daughter of his family's valet/butler.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of mystery novels set in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
.
Eleven of her novels featuring her lead character Inspector Lynley have been adapted for television by the BBC as The Inspector Lynley Mysteries
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries is a series of BBC television programmes about Detective Inspector Thomas "Tommy" Lynley, 8th Earl of Asherton of Scotland Yard and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers...
.
Biography
George was born in WarrenWarren, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 46,832 people, 19,288 households and 12,035 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,912.4 people per square mile . There were 21,279 housing units at an average density of 1,322.9 per square mile...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
to Robert Edwin and Anne (née Rivelle) George, the second of two children (she has an older brother Robert "Rob" George). Her mother was a nurse and her father a salesman for a conveyor company. The family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
when she was eighteen months old. Her father wanted to get away from the Midwestern weather and to get her mother away from her mother's large extended Italian family.
She was a student of English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
, receiving a teaching certificate from the University of California, Riverside
University of California, Riverside
The University of California, Riverside, commonly known as UCR or UC Riverside, is a public research university and one of the ten general campuses of the University of California system. UCR is consistently ranked as one of the most ethnically and economically diverse universities in the United...
. While teaching English in the public school system, she completed a master's degree in counseling and psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
.
George married Ira Jay Toibin in 1971 and they divorced in 1995.
Author
Her first published novel was A Great Deliverance in 1988, featuring Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley (aka Lord Asherton of noble birth) from Scotland YardScotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
; Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers
Barbara Havers
Barbara Havers is a fictional detective in The Inspector Lynley series created by American mystery author Elizabeth George. The character of Detective Sergeant Havers serves as a sidekick and foil to the lead character, Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley of Scotland Yard.Their relationship is a...
, Lynley's partner, grammar-school educated but from a very working-class background; Lady Helen Clyde, Lynley's girlfriend and later wife, of aristocratic birth as well; and Lynley's friends Simon and Deborah St. James, an upper-class man and his wife, daughter of his family's valet/butler.
Fiction: Inspector Lynley
- 1988: A Great Deliverance (ISBN 9780553278026)
- 1989: Payment in Blood (ISBN 9780553284362)
- 1990: Well-Schooled in MurderWell-Schooled in MurderWell-Schooled in Murder is a crime novel by Elizabeth George first published in 1990. Set in the late 1980s at an elite public school in the South of England founded in 1489, the book, which is a mystery novel in the tradition of the whodunnit, revolves around the strict yet unwritten code of...
(ISBN 9780553287349) - 1991: A Suitable Vengeance (ISBN 9780553295603)
- 1992: For the Sake of Elena (ISBN 9780553561272)
- 1992: Missing Joseph (ISBN 9780553566048)
- 1993: Playing for the Ashes (ISBN 9780553092622)
- 1996: In the Presence of the Enemy (ISBN 9780553092653)
- 1997: Deception on His Mind (ISBN 9780553102345)
- 1999: In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner (ISBN 9780553102352)
- 2001: A Traitor to Memory(ISBN 9780553801279)
- 2003: A Place of Hiding (ISBN 9780553801309)
- 2005: With No One as Witness (ISBN 9780060798451)
- 2006: What Came Before He Shot Her (ISBN 9780060545628)
- 2008: Careless in Red (ISBN 9780061160875)
- 2010: This Body of Death (ISBN 9780061160882)
Fiction-other
- 2001: The Evidence Exposed (ISBN 9780340750636; Short story collection UK)
- 2002: I, Richard (ISBN 9780553802580; short story collection
- 2004: A Moment on the Edge: 100 Years of Crime Stories by Women editor (ISBN 9780060588212)