The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (TV Series) Deception on His Mind (2003) User Reviews

Great ending to the second season

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 24 December 2012]

When a man is found dead on the beach of Balford-le-nez, Barbara Havers (Sharon Small) offers to go there, since she has time off, and help out a friend investigating the murder. The victim is Hatham Kureshi, engaged to Shala Malik (Anjali Jay), whose father is a Pakistani businessman. It was an arranged marriage, and, in fact, Shala is pregnant by someone else, though she cannot tell her family.

Havers meets the family: Shala's brother Muneer (T.J. Ramini) is resentful that the victim was to take over the family business and not him, and that's why the marriage was arranged. A female friend of Shala's is pressuring her to take an apartment with her, and a young man in love with Shala is upset about the impending marriage. When it's learned that Hatham was gay and probably on the beach to meet a boyfriend, the situation really heats up. Due to a problem in the family of Lynley's new wife, Helen, Lynley (Nathaniel Parker) joins her in the investigation, back early from his honeymoon.

This is a very good episode and ends the second season with a real bang. The end scenes on the water are very tense.

Love the relationship between Lynley and Havers, and in this episode at least, Lynley doesn't lose his temper at her. Havers proves herself smart and determined to do the right thing, even if it means being reckless.

Really good, with everyone in top form.

Jumped the Shark

[AJ_Blanc · 7/10 · 20 May 2022]

The final episode for the second season/series was decent for the most part; Havers got to shine more than usual and Helen wasn't in it at all (I don't know if it's the actress or the writing, or both, but I don't think Helen's character fits well in the show). The 'racial tensions' were a bit heavy handed in parts, however the general plot was interesting enough.

Having said that, the final chase scene was completely ridiculous and took me out of the story. Are we really suppose to believe that the three highest ranked officers in the area got from the police station, onto a boat together(which wasn't a police craft for some reason), and caught up with a smaller/faster boat that probably had close to an hour head start? All this would take is one phone call to the coast guard, or even harbor patrol, and it would've been done by the time they got to the marina but no, we had to have a melodramatic chase scene and show how crazy the local DCI was... again. Also, what exploded on the boat's bridge when Havers shot that flare? There's no fuel line up there, and flares fired out of a gun or tube don't explode like that! The editing was very choppy in this scene as well, unlike the always choppy water there, and instead of achieving the intended level of suspense it just looked comical.

Since I'm watching this show about two decades after it was filmed I know all too well that Havers will still have her job going forward, but I have to imagine that even at the time it aired nobody was really worried about not seeing her again.

Balford le nez

[safenoe · 10/10 · 15 December 2016]

I'm a huge fan of Inspector Lynley, and for some reason I like it when the crime-fighting duo head off to track the murderer along the UK seaside or some lonely isolated place where everyone knows everyone if you know what I mean.

Here Lynley and Havers find themselves at the fictional Balford le nez, to solve the murder of a guy found dead near the beach. At first it's Havers solo, with Lynley on his honeymoon in Mexico, and we wish Lynley well on his marriage. And then Lynley turns up to surprise Havers where she's having breakfast at a B&B with her neighbor, who happens to be there. Lynley's honeymoon was cut short because of a family crisis - Helen's sister's husband ran out on her, "leaving a pile of debts". So good to see the crime fighting duo back together.

It's a huge shame that Inspector Lynley didn't last longer than 6 series. It deserved better, and it's a shame ratings propels shows like Geordie Shore (oh dear) for a million seasons, but quality like Inspector Lynley doesn't get the recognition it deserves.

It does not fall short, excellent

[jenfitz625 · 10/10 · 9 January 2005]

"Deception On His Mind" is perhaps the best Lynley episode yet, along with "A Suitable Vengeance". Simply put, this series is fabulous. The subject matters are bold and the casting is remarkable, every episode. I have fallen in love with Lynley and Havers on-screen. Actors Parker and Small (and in this episode, TJ Ramini, Emily Joyce, Demelza Randall, and Anjali Jay) are stand-outs. In regards to the other commenter's remarks: Of course the novels are going to offer more exposition and plot detail. The novels are 500-700 pages long, and the show is 90 minutes. The creators extract and dramatize the paramount key points from George's work, and the impeccable production quality certainly overrides any concern about small details that George fans might feel are missing. The element of suspense is sharply maintained. This is a fantastic BBC production.

A great end to Series two.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 24 April 2021]

Barbara is called in to help an old friend investigate the death of Nathan Kureshi, a young British Pakistani man, who's set to marry the beautiful daughter of a prominent businessman.

It's funny when you look back at TV from twenty years back, there was always a gay storyline, or an Asian marriage storyline, this one happens to cross the two.

An excellent end to the very good second series, we got to learn more about Lynley and Havers, and more so how much she cares for her dashing boss.

It's such a good storyline, it's almost complicated, but it's not overly heavy, you will be able to follow it, it finally explains Barbara's friendship with the young Hadiyyah.

The boat chase is a terrific scene, and the most dramatic moment of the show up until that point.

There are several racist outbursts, so anyone that's offended by racist language should avoid.

Excellent I thought, 9/10.

Maybe the worst one of the series

[chengiz · 5/10 · 23 August 2014]

I am a fan of the series but this one falls way short. Firstly, Havers's character in this is completely wrong. She is too diffident, too easily ruffled, too quickly taken to task (by Lynley as well as Barlow). And just how are we supposed to believe she is interested in someone who talks derogatorily of English women? It does not make any sense. Further, without giving any spoilers, there are unnecessary changes made to the narrative structure which not only violate "if it ain't broken don't fix it" but also stretch the viewer's credulity. In a similar vein, the action sequence at the end does not belong at all in the series. Even the directorial touch is wrong with the constant closeups of faces. It's as if they thought let's do one about the Pakistani community and the hell with everything else. Despite the pretty decent plot, this episode just does not belong in the Lynley canon.

Ludicrous

[peterff-34836 · 3/10 · 16 March 2021]

The "all action" final 10 minutes were preposterous. Totally unnecessary.

Lucky the North Sea was so calm.

Pity because the rest of it was quite good, although I got rather confused with all the characters.

Does not measure up to the Lynsey standards...

[canuckteach · 5/10 · 23 July 2020]

I concur that this episode was very weak. It seemed that the writers had it in for at least 2 groups: Ethnic Pakistanis and career-minded women.

The enterprising Pakistani family operating a business in a resort area is laden with villains: an insensitive Patriarch who is all about money; his son, who is a womanizing bully that rapes his sister; the sister who has no backbone whatsoever; the son's wife, who is a player of some skill; plus other unlikable types. The female Police chief of this seaside town seems 'out of her element' & does not get along with Sgt. Havers (Lynley's faithful assistant), dismissing her valid suggestions & ordering her to arrest people that will not be charged based on the evidence available (duh). Her grand finale involves a boat chase during which she abandons Lynley & a child in the ocean in order to chase the bad guy (turns out he AIN'T the murderer anyway). Yikes! Havers saves the day, at some personal cost.

Pass on this one.

It Falls Short

[olderfanca · 11 October 2004]

I was exposed to the Lynley series through the PBS series and was enchanted by its presentation. I decided to read the novel prior to viewing this program. This appears to have been a grave mistake. Elizabeth George's work is so thorough and rich. She builds the characters and their backgrounds with great care. This particular episode pales in comparison. Some of the casting is weak, especially the supporting cast. There appears to be little time spent (this was a bleak 90 minute episode, compared to Adam Dalgleish that go on for TWO 90 minute epys) on building these supporting characters so one could drink in their essences.

If the objective of this series is to 'replace' Inspector Morse, then it fails tremendously. The superficial approach in the main characters and their interfaces not only with each other but their paramours/friends, will keep this series from ever being at the level of the Morse series. It is a pale imitation, in my opinion. This could have been on the level of Morse (the novels indicate that this is so), but it falls short by hundreds of miles.

The fact that this particular episode deviates significantly from the main plot of the novel for the sake of cutting corners was quite disappointing. Why rush the production and skip over key points that form the characters? Other BBC productions have taken out the time, why not this one? The main characters are portrayed by good actors however; the secondary characters are weak and need beefing up.

Dont waste your time!

[davyd-02237 · 3/10 · 19 March 2021]

Not sure what the actual book is about but when the BBC put the cast together they somehow managed to employ NON "muslims" to play the parts of "muslims" - non of whom wear their normal attire. In addition, early on it because clear that the dead one is gay-which to followers of the Quaran would be "death". When one sees Emily Joyce in something one would expect a better quality - not a detective "hell bent" on bending every rule in the book to the benefit of her own career. Having lived in areas of high "ethnic origins" this is a poor attempt by the BBC to act out a story from the book. it fails! And you are supposed to believe that a "very white" Thomas Lynley has spent 2 weeks in Mexico to help in the investigation and he hasn't got an sun tan whatsoever!!!. The only saving grace for this one is Sharon Small has a larger than normal part to play