The Punishment She Deserves/ Elizabeth George/ 692 pgs

I've read George's Inspector Lynley series from the beginning. I'm not even sure what book # this is. This series has always been more than just a police procedural/mystery, though it is definitely that. As you can tell by the page count, George likes to dive into her characters. Each of them, and there are many, gets a POV and we are immersed into their lives and thoughts. The story here is that a deacon of a local church is accused of pedophilia. When he's brought into police custody, he commits suicide. Or does he? Inspector Lynley and his partner, Sergeant Havers are sent to investigate when it appears the first local investigation might not have been as thorough as possible. The mystery, however, takes a backseat here to an examination of motherhood from the perspective of three different women. The story was insightful and more of a saga than some of her other stories but I liked it all the same.