BOOK REVIEW 
A change of pace for George fans
by DAVID HANNAH Bee Reviewer

"What Came Before He Shot Her," by Elizabeth George; 2006 HarperCollinsPublishers ($26.95)

I am a big fan of Elizabeth George novels. Usually George writes a book every two years, but she is worth waiting for.

George writes best-selling British thrillers with her Inspector Thomas Lynley. In George's previous book "With No One As Witness" she killed one of her main characters. Fans of George's Inspector Lynley series were stunned by the brutal slaying of the Scotland Yard detective's pregnant wife. I had heard George was going to do this, but I was shocked when I got to the end and discovered it was Lynley's wife. Another shocking detail about the killing: a 12-year-old boy was the perpetrator.

George's new novel, "What Came Before He Shot Her," is her first backstory. Instead of being a whodunit, this story is a whydunit. What George does so deftly is present a story about what circumstances led a young boy to commit such a heinous act, although Lynley himself is conspicuously absent.

This book tells a tale about three siblings named Campbell and how they deal with a mother who has been institutionalized and a father who has been murdered. Fifteen-year-old Ness, 1-year-old Joel and 7-year-old Toby are being cared for by their grandmother. When the grandmother can't deal with them anymore, she drops them off at their twice-divorced fortysomething Aunt Kendra Osborne's home. Kendra is not prepared to care for a child, much less three of them. She does the best she can under the circumstances. Ness is a wild child, Toby has some mental problems and Joel struggles to stay on the right path in life.

The crux of the story deals with Joel. George does an admirable job with characterization. She makes you feel for these children. You will want them to turn out all right regardless of the turmoil in their lives.

When a local gang begins to harass Joel and his younger brother, the reader begins to form a mental picture how things begin to deteriorate for Joel. He is the type of person that Toby leans on and depends on for suppor t.

The book ends with a violent act and Joel being charged with the crime. His future is not clear and this question remains unanswered: Will Joel reveal the name of his partner-in-crime? The reader is left with the feeling that Joel may return in the next book. This book is adult reading at its best because it paints a vivid picture of a child at risk and the dangerous situations he can encounter in lif e.