Che belli questi gialli scritti prima dei cellulari, di internet e dei droni quando un assassino poteva sparire senza timore di telecamere di sorveglianza o gps e gli investigatori e i poliziotti spulciavano archivi, facevano ricerche in biblioteca, si fermavano ad una cabina per telefonare in centrale e usavano più la testa della tecnologia.

This has a feel of being a civilized, repressed British mystery novel, but was written in 1994, which dates itself as modern-ish. I enjoyed how the mood of the plot feels like the action is taking place in the 1960s, but this is probably because of the age of the author when she was writing this.

Location is London, protagonist detective is Adam Dalgliesh, who drifts through his investigation in a depressed, dispirited way, yet everyone around him worships him instantly. Apparently he has a history of heroism that everyone knows about and first time readers like myself are just supposed to shut up and get onboard.

Deaths and pranks keep occurring inside a small publishing company that is housed in an old mansion situated on the Thames. Not-a-spoiler, none of the killings or hijinks were committed by the boatman.

Our list of suspects ranges in the usual number less than ten. But while I gave an extra star for a culprit who was in the story the whole time, i.e. not a character introduced at the last chapter, the motive WAS introduced in the last chapter, which feels a little high-handed and I was not impressed. There WERE slight hints about motive, I suppose, in the antisemitic encounters and memories from one of the inspectors...All characters have at least one flaw that brings doubt upon them.

However, I’m tempted to remove a star, because I was disappointed by the amounts of casual misogyny throughout. It somewhat feels like the author was pointing out these moments on purpose, as if to say: look how these women are putting each other down, aren’t they petty. But at the same time, there are internal issues too, as if the women themselves are the problem but not the patriarchal socio-economic system that pits them against each other, causing them to scrabble for supporting roles. Yes yes blah blah blah I’m so smrrt and enlightening

This is the ninth in the Adam Dalgliesh books and is one of my favourites, so far. This is probably helped by the fact it is set in a publishing firm – anything at all bookish and I am immediately on board. It also begins well, with young shorthand typist, Mandy Price, setting out for an interview at Peverell Press. The interview is interrupted by the discovery of a body, but, showing a degree of nonchalance which impressed me greatly, Mandy still agrees to take her typing test…

Sadly, the discovery of what appears to be a suicide, is only the beginning of the troubles for Peverell Press. There is dispute among the partners about the direction of the firm and the desire of Gerald Etienne, who has taken the senior role, to sell off the magnificent, riverside building, that the publisher’s inhabit. In addition, there is a mischief maker on the premises, who is causing trouble.

Of course, the trouble soon involves murder and Dalgliesh is brought in to investigate. I enjoyed the setting, characters and the plot of this novel. As always, James was a little indulgent in exploring the back story of every character and tends to offer overly detailed descriptions of every scene. Still, mostly, this worked well and there was a good cast of characters and possible motives.

This is the James book that I came closest to disliking. It really is okay. The reason why is because the ending does not make sense; it isn't fully believable in the terms of one character, a character that James, for once, did not do a good job on. If you have never read P. D. James before, don't start with this one. Start with The Murder Room or A Certain Justice.

Very enjoyable.

לסקירה מפורטת בעברית, קישור לבלוג שלי -

https://sivi-the-avid-reader.com/orig...

Can't recall ever reading an author who, at least in this title, spent as much time displaying her ability at exhausting scene description. Would that at least half as much effort had been put into weaving a credible mystery. I kept thinking that perhaps there were clues in these detailings but, alas, they proved to be little more than adding fat to the book, serving no purpose other than slowing down progress and, eventually, becoming most annoying.

P. D. James fue una de las escritoras que tenían una base de fans bien importante, era una mujer inteligente que dominaba varios géneros pero que sin dudas lo policíaco siempre fue su fuerte. Aquí nos entrega una nueva aventura de su detective/poeta Adam Dalgliesh (la número nueve en su saga). Personalmente nunca había leído nada con este personaje así que tal vez influya en mi reseña, por lo tanto que siéntanse libres de comentar abajo. Por mientras, aquí mis dos centavos.

Es una novela con una estructura complicada pero bien resuelta, va de personaje en personaje y salta de espacios con gran agilidad para ir tejiendo el misterio (muy en el estilo de La piedra lunar de Wilkie Collins). El argumento es bueno, el presidente de una importante editorial aparece muerto en circunstancias bien extrañas y tenemos un montón de personajes que nos hacen dudar de su inocencia.

El argumento se desarrolla muy bien, por momentos tiene escenas muy cinematográficas, la imágenes que describe las reproduces a la perfección en la cabeza, los escenarios están ahí y te sientes a las orillas del Támesis entre la neblina. Pero, tiene sus puntos flacos, el más molesto son las últimas páginas. Toda esa estructura y misterio que va creando termina siendo acelerado al final, por medio de diálogos súper tele noveleros se descubre todo y el motivo resulta poco convincente. Y por último, los personajes, es una obra coral, no podría decir que exista un protagonista total, eso no es malo, lo que si es que no hay gran empatía con alguno, vaya ni su detective/poeta, el cual le falta mucho para ser igual de memorable de un Sherlock Holmes,

Vale la pena si quieres entretenerte un rato o si ya eres familiar con el personaje o la autora. Es un libro perfecto para leerlo en un viaje largo.

Mas reseñas en: http://rubengarciaautor.home.blog

A murder has taken place in the offices of the Peverell Press, a venerable London publishing house located in a dramatic mock-Venetian palace on the Thames. The victim is Gerard Etienne, the brilliant but ruthless new managing director, who had vowed to restore the firm's fortunes. Etienne was clearly a man with enemies—a discarded mistress, a rejected and humiliated author, and rebellious colleagues, one of who apparently killed herself a short time earlier. Yet Etienne's death, which occurred under bizarre circumstances, is for Dalgliesh only the beginning of the mystery, as he desperately pursues the search for a killer prepared to strike and strike again.

4* An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (Cordelia Gray, #1)
4* The Skull Beneath The Skin (Cordelia Gray, #2)
4* Innocent Blood
3* The Children of Men
TR Death in Pemberley

Adam Dalgliesh series:
4* Cover Her Face (Adam Dalgliesh, #1)
4* A Mind to Murder (Adam Dalgliesh, #2)
4* Unnatural Causes (Adam Dalgliesh, #3)
5* Shroud for a Nightingale (Adam Dalgliesh, #4)
5* The Black Tower (Adam Dalgliesh, #5)
5* Death of an Expert Witness (Adam Dalgliesh, #6)
5* A Taste for Death (Adam Dalgliesh, #7)
3* Devices and Desires (Adam Dalgliesh, #8)
3* Original Sin (Adam Dalgliesh, #9)
5* A Certain Justice (Adam Dalgliesh, #10)
4* Death in Holy Orders (Adam Dalgliesh, #11)
4* The Murder Room (Adam Dalgliesh, #12)
3* The Lighthouse (Adam Dalgliesh, #13)
3* The Private Patient (Adam Dalgliesh, #14)

I liked other books by P.D. James but this one disappointed me: was it perhaps just a draft? did she run out of time to revise it? The characters aren't developed fully, there are too many loose ends, and the reader doesn't get a chance to solve the puzzle because s/he isn't able to discover the facts on his/her own. Worst of all: there is a not-so-subtle anti-Semitic undercurrent to the novel. Yikes.

I've read several books by PD James and like her "hero," Adam Dalgleish, but this book was dull, boring and overlong. It was 487 pages and it took until 150 before the first murder happened. So much of the book was descriptions of scenery; Innocent House, the publishing firm; the characters' homes, etc. I couldn't wait for the end, which felt rushed to me.

I can see why people might think this book meanders too much about things unrelated to the plot. Ms. James goes into exhaustive detail about every character who takes a part in her story, and that can be tedious to read. In this case, though, I rather enjoyed it, and felt it gave depth and authenticity to the story. The mystery was properly absorbing and difficult to unravel (at least for me). I'll admit that I was a little uncomfortable with the part Daniel plays in the resolution of the mystery. In some ways, it seems Ms. James is trying to imply that Daniel cannot separate his religion from his profession--that because he's Jewish, he has to react the way he does. It had the potential to seem antisemitic or perhaps just anti-religion (especially since Ms. James is so eager to tell us about every other character's atheism), but because his reaction was also completely understandable, I was mostly OK with it. All in all, not my favorite Dalgliesh mystery, but still very involving.