Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Those who haven’t discovered Elizabeth George . . . should rush to read Playing for the Ashes.”—Us “The story begins with my father, actually, and the fact that I’m the one who’s answerable for his death. It was not my first crime, as you will see, but it is the one my mother couldn’t forgive.” Acclaimed author Elizabeth George reveals the even darker truth behind this startling confession in Playing for the Ashes, a rich tale of passion, murder, and love in which Inspector Thomas Lynley and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers once again find themselves embroiled in a case where nothing—and no one—is really what it seems. Intense, suspenseful, and brilliantly written, Playing for the Ashes is “a treasure” (Cosmopolitan).