| Plot Summary of A Traitor To Memory |
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Bantam, Jul 2001, 26.95, 736 pp.
ISBN: 0553801279
He made his public debut at the age of six and a half and almost two decades later former child prodigy Gideon Davies remains internationally renowned for his music. One day just before a performance, the music vanished and Gideon could no longer even play a simple note. After a complete neurological work up that showed no physical cause, his doctors recommend a psychiatrist.
Following several intense sessions over the next few weeks, Gideon concludes that he suffers from repressed memories. He did not remember that he once had a sister Sonia who suffered from Down's Syndrome before being killed by her nanny when she was two. While Gideon struggles to adjust to his recollection, his mother who deserted the family years ago is murdered in front of the London home of a man who one lodged with the Davies family when Sonia still lived. DI Inspector Lynley and Constable Havers begin an investigation to keep the surviving Davies kin safe even though it means digging deep into a family's darkest secrets.
Elizabeth Gorge has written a monster sized, yet fascinating police procedural that allows numerous subplots to fully develop and characters to feel both real and complex. Unlike their usual appearance where Lynley and Havers play center court, Gideon is the star of A TRAITOR TO MEMORY. Although it takes a while for the meat of the plot to be served the soup and salad is as tasty as the delicious main course. Ms. George provides sub-genre fans with a psychological look at a family in crisis wrapped inside a strong police procedural that will bring the author much acclaim. Set aside a few days and enjoy.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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"Violinist Gideon Davies, 28, has suffered a total block in his solo concert career. A psychiatrist accepts him for treatment and instructs him to keep a journal about all he can remember from the past. Many levels of history -- about his father's first marriage and child, the murder of Gideon's retarded sister, his mother's desertion of the family, and his father's current pending marriage to a young, pregnant TV producer -- come into play. Other players from the past surface, and a 23-year-old American lodger (female) also complicates the present. Inspector Lynley and Constable Havers join the team who investigate the hit-and-run deaths of two women, which leads not only to the Davies family's long-kept secrets, but those of their own boss, Detective Supt. Malcolm Webberley, as well. Gideon Davies, the clear center of this story, is not a terribly likable protagonist, nor is the journal ploy an entirely convincing narrative device; also, the roles of Lynley and Havers (and by necessity, Helen, Deborah, and St. James) are correspondingly downplayed. But as compensation, black Detective Winston Nkata gets more playing time (George would do well to explore this personage further in future books), and the plot complications are characteristically bewildering."
David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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"Lynley and Havers are called in to solve the mystery of why a sixty-two year old woman is murdered by a hit and run driver. There are several suspects, most of them involved in a murder twenty years earlier when the victim's two year old baby was drowned in her bath. The child's nanny was tried, convicted and sentenced to twenty years jail, now she is out and top of the suspect list for this current murder.
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Penny, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of A Traitor To Memory |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
How difficult to spot villain?
- Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story:
- 1980's-1999
Spying/Terrorism Thriller
Yes
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 40%
Misc. Murder Plotlets
- "All in the family" murder
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
- feelings towards family/friends
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
General Crime (including known murderer)
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- musician
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric/Mental:
Yes
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- wealthy
Motive of antagonist
- power
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- England/UK
Style
Part of a series?
Yes
Person
- rotating 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths?
- 3-4
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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