Elizabeth George

Susan Elizabeth George (born February 26, 1949) is an American writer of mystery novels.

She is a great Anglophile and her best-known series of novels features Inspector Thomas Lynley of London's Metropolitan Police. The 22nd book in the series was published in September 2025. The first 11 were adapted for television by the BBC as earlier episodes of The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (2001). A later separate four-part series entitled Lynley, shown on BritBox and BBC One, began filming in 2024, starring Leo Suter and Sofia Barclay.

Early life Elizabeth George was born in Warren, Ohio, the second child of Anne (née Rivelle) and Robert Edwin George. She has an older brother, author Robert Rivelle George. Her mother was a nurse and her father a manager for a conveyor company. She recounts that her mother gave her an old Remington typewriter and she began writing at the age of 7.

She received an Associate of Arts in 1969 from Foothill Community College in Los Altos Hills, California, a Bachelor of Arts in 1970 from the University of California, Riverside, and a Master of Science in counseling and psychology in 1979 from the California State University, Fullerton, and later attended the University of California, Berkeley.

She received an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Cal State University Fullerton in 2004 and was awarded an honorary Masters in Fine Arts from the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts in 2010.

Career 1975-1987 She taught English in high schools in Orange County, California (Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, California), El Toro High School). When asked in an interview why she chose to create a titled hero, she spoke of the freedom of being a debut novelist, saying: "I could do anything, you see, because when I started I never thought it would be published."

George has taught creative writing seminars in the US, Canada and the UK.

Personal life George married Ira Jay Toibin in 1971 and they divorced in 1995. She has spoken of her struggle with depression, saying: "Happiness is an inside job - it takes a long time to learn that." to Whidbey Island, Washington.

Reception George has spoken of being a great Anglophile since her first visit to Britain in 1966, and of watching UK TV shows and reading books by UK novelists to "pick up the syntax of British speech." Critics have commented adversely on the length and complexity of her novels while acknowledging the satisfying nature of the read.

Awards

1988 - Agatha Award for Best First Novel, for A Great Deliverance (Winner) 1988 - Edgar Award (Nominated). 1989 - Anthony Award for Best Debut Novel 1990 - Grand Prix de Littérature Policière (France) for A Great Deliverance.

Works

Inspector Lynley 1988: A Great Deliverance 1989: Payment in Blood 1990: Well-Schooled in Murder 1991: A Suitable Vengeance 1992: For the Sake of Elena 1992: Missing Joseph 1993: Playing for the Ashes 1996: In the Presence of the Enemy 1997: Deception on His Mind 1999: In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner 2001: A Traitor to Memory 2003: A Place of Hiding 2005: With No One as Witness 2006: What Came Before He Shot Her 2008: Careless in Red 2010: This Body of Death 2012: Believing the Lie 2013: Just One Evil Act 2015: A Banquet of Consequences 2018: The Punishment She Deserves 2022: Something to Hide 2025: A Slowly Dying Cause

Whidbey Island Saga 2012: The Edge of Nowhere (The Edge of Nowhere: Saratoga Woods or The Edge of Nowhere 01: The Dog House) 2013: The Edge of the Water (The Edge of the Water: Saratoga Woods) 2015: The Edge of the Shadows 2016: The Edge of the Light

Short story collections 2001: The Evidence Exposed (; Short story collection UK) 2002: I, Richard (; short story collection) 2004: A Moment on the Edge: 100 Years of Crime Stories by Women (editor; )

Nonfiction 2004: Write Away 2020: Mastering the Process: From Idea to Novel