My Readers Guide to a Slowly Dying Cause includes my Quick Take, a character list, spoilers and the ending explained. Can you give Lynley #22 a try if you’re a newbie to this series or behind, like me? Let’s discuss it all!
Readers Guide to a Slowly Dying Cause
Table of Contents:
Jen’s Quick Take on A Slowly Dying Cause
Character List for A Slowly Dying Cause
Spoilers and the Ending Explained (if you don’t make it to the end!)
Jen’s Quick Take on A Slowly Dying Cause
- A Slowly Dying Cause is book #22 in the Inspector Lynley series. A Great Deliverance, book one in this series came out way back in 1988.
- These books are police procedurals, featuring DI Thomas Lynley and DS Barbara Havers.
- Their odd couple pairing is one of the best parts of the series. He’s titled, rich, handsome and posh. She’s middle class, frumpy, blunt, and a bit chaotic.
- Can you read this as a standalone? Yes, definitely. I didn’t know the history of the relationship between Daidre and Thomas Lynley, but it didn’t bother me.
- I have read and loved over half of the series but stopped in the early 2000s.
- After my 10 year hiatus, these books seem (to me) too long and too weighted down with backstory. Lynley’s estate needs a new roof!
- A Slowly Dying cause is 656 pages, which makes it only the 8th longest book in the series. The longest is A Traitor to Memory, weighing in at a hefty 1009 pages.
- I did want to see through the book, so I did. A character list is below. Spoilers are included in case you can’t make it either!
- Publication date: September 16, 2025 by Viking. Thanks to the publisher for the advance copy for review.
Character List for A Slowly Dying Cause
The Lobbs and their friends and family
- Michael Lobb (55): majority owner of a tin and pewter company in Cornwall.
- Maiden “Maidie” Kittow: Lobb’s first wife
- Merritt Lobb: Michael and Maidie’s son
- Bonnie: Merritt’s wife
- Sojourn: Merritt’s son
- Gloriana: Maidie and Michael’s daughter; owns a vintage clothing shop.
- Kayla Steyn Lobb (36): Michael’s current wife; they met when she was nineteen.
- Willen Steyn: Kayla’s brother
- Sebastian Lobb: Michael’s brother; owns 40% of Lobbs’ Tin and Pewter
- Anthony Grange: Maidie’s new boyfriend
- Cressida Mott King: shop owner near Gloriana’s shop
- Nate Jacobs: art teacher
- Jessica McBride: Nate’s girlfriend
The Udy family
- Bran Udy: worker at Lobbs; father of Daidre, Gwyn, and Goron
- Daidre Trahair: former girlfriend of Lynley. A zoo veterinarian he meets in book 15. She also appears in books 18-22.
- Gwynder “Gwyn“: Goron’s twin sister
- Goron Udy: Gwyn’s twin; works at Lobbs T & P
Goron, Daidre and Gwyn were put into foster care as children
- Geoffrey Henshaw: works at Cornwall EcoMining; wants so buy Lobbs T & P
Police and their friends and family
- DI Beatrice “Bea” Hannaford: Cornwall police
- Superintendant Phoebe Lang: Bea’s superior
- DI Thomas Lynley
- DS Barbara Havers
- Ray: Bea’s ex-husband
- Pete: Bea and Pete’s son
Spoilers and The Ending Explained for A Slowly Dying Cause
While Kayla comes across as a sweet young widow who loved her much older husband, she’s the obvious suspect. She claimed she had no idea where her husband’s will was or what might be in it. (That was what got me (and Maidie) suspicious!) Kayla wants nothing more than to head to South Africa to be reunited with her family. But none of this is true!
Kayla was cheating on Michael with his brother, Sebastian.
So Kayla manipulated poor naive Goron (her husband’s employee) to murder Michael. She did this by suggesting to Goron that her husband was terribly abusive and that she was going to have to leave Michael and go to her family in South Africa.
Panicked by the suggestion that he might never see Kayla again, and thinking he was saving her from a monster, Goron killed Michael.
This made NO sense to me. (And reminded me of Pamela Smart, that teacher in New Hampshire who manipulated her student into killing her husband back in 1990.) Did Kayla not think that Goron would explain to the police why he did it?
Of course, Michael had made a new will that left everything to Kayla. Meaning she now owned 60% of the company and Sebastian owned the other 40%. So they could sell the company, screw over Gloriana and Merritt, and go off into the sunset together. A tale as old as time!
Did you read this, and if so, what did you think of it? Have you read other Elizabeth George books!
I’ve read and enjoyed all of the Lynley books and always eagerly await the next. However, I found this last one trying. Lynley and Havers didn’t appear until about a third of the way into the story, and then only briefly. Then about half way in they became more involved. I got tired of all the descriptions and backstories and diversions. Gloriana, Nate, Jesse – not necessary. The basic story was interesting, re the who done it and why and how, but the whole thing could have been a lot shorter. More Havers and Lynley, less peripherals.
I agree. It started off so long and so slow and I was drifting off there until Havers showed up. I feel that in 35 years, our attention spans have shortened and you have to WORK to keep me interested in a book over 400 pages.
All the Lynley books were much better than this one. I shall not read any more, if she writes them. I was looking forward to the book but was seriously disappointed.
I did not find this was a long book. I’ve recently read Last Audsley’s secret by Braddon, and Rob Roy by Walter Scott. I’m 75 and find long books no problem. I read this Elizabeth George book in two days, whilst also decorating our hall and front room!
I’m with you! And I think this book on audio would have put me to sleep but I suppose you were sanding and painting and moving furniture 🙂
Linley and Havers first appeared 18% of the way into the story. The back story was, I agree, tediously long with unnecessary characters, as you say.
It’s the first book of hers I have read in a while. Her books have run long for some time. Do you think there are other recent good ones I should try?
I prefer to read a series in order. I think all the Lyndley books are superior to this one.
Recent series I have read include Cadfael by Ellis Peters, íkman by Barbara Nadel, Erlader books by Indridason, Joe Picker books by C. J. Box, Reacher books by Lee Child (not those written jointly with his brother).
Thanks! Yes, I agree that the Reacher books took an unfortunate turn.
This book didn’t make sense to me! Why did Kayla stay with her husband and in the dreary cottage so long and why was she acting excited to have sex with him constantly if she didn’t love him/feel attracted to him? And if she was a selfish and bad person, why did she spend all that time with Jen and her MIL and cooking for people and starting the Culture Club? She could have left years earlier and gone back to her family, which was financially much better off it seemed. The passages with Michael obsessing over her were very disturbing. I like Lynley and Havers but this book was very long and with lots of stuff about unpleasant characters. The Robert Galbraith book The Running Grave was extremely long like this one, but it made sense and was great. Many of the Havers & Lynley books have been great so I’ll keep reading them but this one just didn’t make sense to me.
I agree. For the money? Am I remembering correctly that her family was not well off? And also agree that this was waaaaaay too long for me.
Am I the only person to be struck by the fact that neither the police nor the lawyers seem to know that in the UK a marriage automatically annuls any previous will unless it specifies it was made in the knowledge of an impending marriage?
For more than half the book it is assumed that the earlier will is still in force.
Being neither British nor a lawyer I did not know this! Thanks for the info and I guess the author’s research had a missing piece!
I’ve read almost all the Elizabeth George books and for the most part enjoyed them but this one is awful. Really unbelievable characters with silly names – if I hadn’t paid for this book I’d have tossed it pretty quickly. Now I’m going to throw it out even though I have paid for it – I just don’t care who killed this awful man, I’d have done it myself if I’d been there at the time. Time to hang up the typewriter Elizabeth? And what’s the point of those really unlikely names?? I
Hi Sue,
I stopped reading in the early 2000s so glad to hear that there are others I missed that are better!
I guess I’m late to the discussion, but I just listened to the book. Since I listened to this book, it was even more confusing than if I read them. I kept going back to try to relisten and figure out the many characters. I’ve read them all in order and mostly liked all of them. This one I agree with all of you, there were too superfluous side characters, too many side stories, and it’s too long. I love Lynley and Barbara, it’s like meeting up with old friends after a long time. But I agree too, why weren’t they introduced earlier in the story? So I’m still going to give it a go if she writes another book, but I haven’t quite forgiven her for killing off Helen and the book after that where she tries to convince us why she did it!
Hahaha I’m still holding a grudge about Helen too! I only stick around for Barbara 🙂