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 feature 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 to be shown on 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, 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 whilst acknowledging the satisfying nature of the read.

Awards

A Great Deliverance: Winner: Agatha Award for Best First Novel (1988); 1989 Anthony Award for Best Debut Novel (1989); Grand Prix de Littérature Policière (France).

Works

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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 <small>(The Edge of Nowhere: Saratoga Woods or The Edge of Nowhere 01: The Dog House)</small> ()
  • 2013: The Edge of the Water<small> (The Edge of the Water: Saratoga Woods)</small> ()
  • 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

References