Adam Dalgliesh

P D James interview – on her career

Peter — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 18:47:22 +0000

A very interesting interview with P.D. James (age 90)!

Original Sin, by P.D. James

Peter — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 21:21:24 +0000

In Original Sin, PD James takes us into the world of modern publishing. It must be a world she knows something about, and that adds authenticity to the novel. The setting is Innocent House (great name!). Innocent House has been built to mimic a Venetian-style palazzo on the Thames. It houses England’s oldest independent book publisher, Peverell Press.

Now something serious is afoot in the old palace. Poison pen letters are circulating, rare illustrations are being lost, important proofs are being tampered with, and minor mischief abounds. Two of the press’ authors have died in less than twelve months. And when a recently fired senior editor’s murder is quickly followed by that of the new director who fired her, Adam Dalgliesh is called in with his Special Squad.

It soon becomes clear that there are plenty of motives and a multitude of suspects to consider in the case. Peverell Press is a scene full of rumors, betrayals, and intrigue. So there is much to keep the investigators busy – and to keep readers entertained.

P.D. James has written that, for her, “… one of the fascinations of detective fiction is the exploration of character under the revealing trauma of a murder enquiry.” In Original Sin, James very deftly explores a diversity of complex characters – the directors and those among the staff at Innocent House who are central to the plot, as well as several sharply delineated secondary characters – as they undergo the sagacious questioning of Dalgliesh and his team.

Original Sin is a wonderful, very entertaining and intelligent crime fiction drama about redress. Revenge, as we meet it in this book, is not at all sweet, nor does it relate much to “justice”. Written, as is always the case with books from the hand of P.D. James, in an impeccable and precise prose that is pure pleasure to read, this is a remarkable mystery. And, of course, Original Sin has a smart plot and is full of attention gripping detail as well. P.D. James is at her compelling best in this Adam Dalgliesh thriller. A must-read, if ever there was one!

Devices and Desires, by P.D. James

Peter — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:41:28 +0000

P.D. James always writes excellently, and this book is simply exceedingly well written. The prose is elegant, advanced, flowing and as always eminently readable.

Devices and Desires features Adam Dalgliesh and is set in Larksoken in Norfolk. It focuses on the lives of people in a small village community that lies in the shadow of a nuclear power station. James explores issues of community life and relationships – in particular the reactions of local people to the power station, and the workers – love, betrayal and the intricacies of the relationship between two siblings. Along the way we come across a nuclear protest organizer, a down-trodden artist and single parent, struggling with 4 children, and several other minor characters, who all have a significant part to play.

Slowly and meticulously P.D. James draws the reader into the story, and systematically she introduces the many characters that are relevant in this intriguing mystery. And our master detective, commander Adam Dalgliesh, remains for a long time a bystander on holiday at his late aunt’s cottage, while the local police are handling the case of “the Whistler” a mass murderer of young women in the community of Larksoken on the cost of Norfolk. When “the Whistler” claims his fifth victim, and Commander Dalgliesh is the one that finds the body of Hilary Robarts, he is drawn fully into the investigation.

The story in Devices and Desires is a dark one. Past events of a horrendous nature play a prominent part, and as the story progresses it becomes apparent that “the Whistler” is not the only murderer.

The mystery is elegantly solved, in a way that makes the seeming disparate pieces of James’ puzzle all fall into their places. Devices and Desires is a great mystery novel, but one of P.D. James darker ones – a book with much suffering and distress.

A Taste for Death, by P.D. James

Peter — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:46:56 +0000

Two bodies are discovered with their throats slashed in a London church. They lie in a welter of blood. One of the victims is a very prominent man: Sir Paul Berowne, former Minister of the Crown. The other victim, Harry Mack, is a tramp, a man accustomed to sleeping in the church vestibule.

Now Adam Dalgliesh and his detectives must find out why they were both killed like this. Was there a connection between the two men – unlikely as it may seem? Dalgliesh and his team, set up to investigate crimes of particular sensitivity, are faced with a case of extraordinary complexity as they discover the Berowne family’s veneer of prosperous gentility conceals ugly and dangerous secrets. It also seems the deaths may be tied to those of two young women who have recently been employed in the Berowne household.

A Taste for Death is gripping from start to finish. Dalgliesh is caught up in an investigation which has turned personal – he knew Berowne. There are many twists and turns in this complex investigation, as the detectives try to unravel the clues and evidence to point them to a ruthless and sadistic killer. And there are, of course, lots of clues that will lead you astray as well, but ultimately it comes down to one ruthless murderer.

This is a wonderful, complex mystery with a very good plot. It is also, in my opinion, the best book P. D. James had so far written. It has excellent characters, is very rich on the descriptive side and builds the story with great care, and the narrative is simply excellent. It is also very interesting in the way it develops the character of Adam Dalgliesh, and makes him an ever more credible protagonist. The ending of A Taste for Death is both poignant and surprising. If you haven’t read this one yet, so grab it and get going!

Death of an Expert Witness, by P. D. James

Peter — Sun, 02 May 2010 06:55:21 +0000

This mystery was published in 1977. It is an interesting book for a number of reasons, but one of them is that the murder that starts off the book, that of a young girl is not at all the focus of this book. Rather it is a quite different murder – that of Dr. Lorrimer, a very experienced expert witness and highly respected academic, who was found dead one morning in his lab, with his skull smashed in, which is the book’s real focus. The first murder actually serves a different purpose; to introduce readers to the staff of a forensic laboratory, the background of this mystery.

Commander Adam Dalgliesh and his associate Detective Investigator the Honorable John Massingham are called in to investigate the Lorrimer murder. Dr. Edwin Lorrimer was respected but not well-liked, and even hated by quite a few. He was not a pleasant man – he was bad-tempered, petty, smallish, bitter and vindictive – and he had insulted many people over the years. The suspects of this murder are all limited to the lab, but even so there are several possible suspects; almost too many motives and no physical evidence to go by.

Dalgliesh is left to use his deductive skills to find who among the suspects the killer is. Then the killer decides to claim a second victim Stella Mawson.

This is another very crafty mystery novel by P.D. James. The setting is memorable, the plot is complex, the characters are very alive and believable, and all elements of the tales are wowen together in a suspenseful fashion. Death of an Expert Witness is a very elegant mystery book, quite engaging and a pleasure to read.

Praise:

‘P. D. James is one of the national treasures of British fiction… Each new book gives pleasure not just for macabre crimes or ingenious solutions but its density of experience.’ –Malcolm Bradbury, Mail on Sunday

‘Unlike so many crime writers, James still has the power to move, fascinate and astonish.’ –Independent

The Black Tower, by P D James

Peter — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 01:55:28 +0000

The Black Tower has been cited as one of the best 100 greatest mystery novels of all time. In my opinion it is a great book, but actually more as a psychological novel or thriller than as a classical mystery book. For sure, it is the creepiest of P. D. James’s works. There are multiple murder victims, a very dense, strange and claustrophobic setting — an isolated nursing home on the Dorset coast — and lots of suspense.

Commander Adam Dalgliesh, having just recovered from a grave illness, receives an invitation to visit his old friend and mentor Father Baddely. Something is amiss and the ageing chaplain would like Dalgliesh’s advice. Dalgliesh decides that a visit to the countryside might give him time to relax and give thought to perhaps giving up his career at Scotland Yard. But when Dalgliesh arrives, he finds his old friend has died a few days earlier. And there is no rest, as there are a series of deaths at Troynton Grange, and with each death Dalgliesh is drawn inexorably back into his old life, solving murders.

In The Black Tower, Dalgliesh is more an observer of what is happening than usual. And when the solution comes to him, it is more his intuition than logical deductions that leads him to it.

The Black Tower is a strong novel, and very exciting, but also slightly different from most of the other Dalgliesh novels. The characters are not as well developed as we have become accustomed to, and the book is darker and gloomier than usual.

Splendid, macabre” – London Sunday Telegraph

“The Black Tower is a masterpiece.” – London Sunday Times

Shroud for a Nightingale, by P.D. James

Peter — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 23:16:42 +0000

The New York Times called Shroud for a Nightingale “mystery at its best.”

The fourth novel in the Adam Dalgliesh series, aptly titled Shroud for a Nightingale, P. D James shows readers, for the first time, a new side of her vast crime fiction writing abilities. This time she dives deeply into a complex and dark setting, the Nightingale House, and more fully than before develops the characters there. And it simply is a great pleasure to read the novel and see and feel the extent to which she succeeds in this venture. They are creatures of flesh and blood, with feelings and personal histories.

The novel is almost a horror story, albeit one cast in an unusually elegant prose, and with a mystery that is, of course, in the end solved by Adam Dalgliesh. But feeling of terror that is present all the way from the start of the novel, the horrors of deception and betrayal, long-buried secrets, repressed sexuality, a double murder, and the other black elements are not any less scaring because they are elegantly described. In a way, I would rather say it is the opposite.

The young women of Nightingale House are there to learn to nurse and comfort the suffering. But when one of the students plays patient in a demonstration of nursing skills, she is horribly, brutally killed. Another student dies equally mysteriously. It is up to Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard to unmask a killer who has decided to prescribe murder as the cure for all ills.

This very suspense-filled novel by P.D. James is elegantly plotted and poses a mystery that will keep you guessing until the end as to the truth of the deaths and the truth about the nurses, the doctors, the instructors at this very deadly hospital. The complex case also displays Adam Dalgliesh in a very interesting manner. Shroud for a Nightingale is a wonderful crime novel. A classic crime fiction novel, P.D. James at her very best; provocative and thrilling, full of clues and red herrings. And, when it is revealed, a story with a somewhat shocking murder motive.

Unnatural Causes, by P.D. James

Peter — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 22:32:55 +0000

This is a very complex mystery featuring Adam Dalgliesh. Unnatural Causes is a book some readers like a lot, and some readers think is one of the least interesting novels in the Adam Dalgliesh series. The reason, to my mind, is that the mystery this time is very complex. Some readers simply lose interest in the mystery before the solution is revealed.

A famous mystery writer, Maurice Seton, is found dead at the bottom of a dinghy, with both hands chopped off at the wrists. Seton had imagined many ugly murders, but his own was bad beyond his imaginative power. His horrible death scares his strange neighbors.

Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh had been looking forward to a quiet holiday at his Aunt Jane’s cottage on Monksmere Head, one of the furthest-flung spots on the remote Suffolk coast. He was hoping to enjoy the scenery, go for long walks, drink his tea in peace in front of the fireplace and listen to the sound of the fire. It was a well-earned break. However, the murder shattered the peace. Now it is instead up to Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh, with some help from his remarkable Aunt Jane, to discover who typed the writer’s death sentence before the plot takes another murderous turn.

I belong to the group of readers who doesn’t rank this mystery among the best in the series. What I enjoyed in this book was more the feeling of getting to know Adam Dalgliesh better – P.D. James lets us learn quite a bit about him in this book. Also, I enjoyed the writing style, the humor and all the odd and intriguing things going on in the strange community James has invented for this book. So to me Unnatural Causes does not rank among the best in the series but is still well worth reading.

“P.D. James scores with understated humor, stately yet unpretentious prose, psychological insights…plus, above all, fundamental warmth and wisdom in every line she writes.”–Kirkus Reviews

A Mind to Murder, by P.D. James

Peter — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 01:48:17 +0000

This is the second book in the series about Adam Dalgliesh. While it may be slightly lighter than some of the later novels in the series, it is still a great mystery.

When the administrative head of the Steen Psychiatric Clinic is found dead with a chisel in her heart, Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard is called in to investigate. In her hand, the murdered woman holds a wooden phallic symbol in her arms.

In order to unravel the mystery, Dalgliesh must analyze the deep-seated anxieties and thwarted desires of patients and staff alike to determine which of their unresolved conflicts resulted in murder. And there is much to find in this strange atmosphere of psychiatry, sex, and drugs.

A Mind to Murder is a great book, even by today’s standards. P.D. James was already at this time starting to write very craftmanlike. And her plots were already deep and intelligent. In this case the mystery is one where only one of a limited number of people could have committed the crime, and where movements and motives are essential. It is a very satisfying mystery, and, of course, excellent entertainment as well.

Cover Her Face, by P. D. James

Peter — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:58:27 +0000

This is the book that started it all. Cover Her Face is a marvel of a debut novel, and a much celebrated entry into the British mystery scene. It is a novel that in form has all the characteristics of the Golden Age mysteries of the 1920s and follows their conventions. There is an English country house, as well as a locked-room murder, and a final confrontation between all the suspects and detective Adam Dalgliesh at the very end.

Even so, it also has many of the characteristics of the later novel by P.D. James, such as scene descriptions in excruciating detail and an ingeniously developed plot.

The mystery is the murder of a headstrong, enigmatic and beautiful young housemaid, Sally Jupp. She is found strangled in her bed behind a bolted door. The brilliant Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard is tasked with finding her killer among a houseful of suspects, most of them with good reasons to want something bad to happen to her.

Even though Cover Her Face was written a long, long time ago, in the year 1962, it is still a fine book to read. It is a pure, delightful mystery with a timeless quality. Also, it is quite interesting to meet again Adam Dalgliesh in a somewhat embryonic form – not yet quite developed as a character, but still displaying some of the qualities that over time have delighters readers from all over the world. Cover Her Face is a very satisfying mystery and a most remarkable debut for one of the world’s finest authors!