I was really disappointed in this book. I was bored the entire time, and never got invested in any of the characters. I remember very little about this book other than constantly checking the number of pages left, and wishing it would be over faster. I rarely ever skim books, but I just couldn't handle much of this one, so I would skim pages at a time.
I tried one other book by P.D. James too, and felt the same way. Ugh.

To say that P.D. James' Inspector Adam Dalgliesh series of stories are crime novels, mysteries or police procedurals is to do her work a disservice. Yes, the books in the series are all of those three, whodunits of the Golden Age of mystery, but James' product is so much more.

The stories provide, along with suspense, in-depth character studies of many of the main characters in each book. The studies provide interest and insight to the reader while helping to build up the suspense as to who the likely perpetrator(s) is.

These are not quick reads, but stories to savor. The individual titles can be read as standalones.

A good one. Not exactly edge-of-your-seat, by a long shot, but interesting enough. Lots of characters, lots to follow, and the story kind of came together a bit quickly at the very end.

This is the best P.D. James I've read so far. The mystery dove-tailed beautifully at the end. It was emotionally and intellectually satisfying and I turned off the light and went to bed satisfied.

Twenty minutes later, I was unable to sleep because the denouement was really bothering me. I was annoyed at Aaron for his choice. And then I started wondering if I was being unfair by comparing him to Miskin. I started thinking about all their conversations. If Miskin had been more sympathetic, would he have made the same choice? Or was it shaped by his background and guilt in disappointing his family? There are no easy answers here. I sympathized with Aaron's choice at the time he made it and another author would have convinced me that it was the right one -- but P.D. James doesn't give you conclusions, she gives you questions.

She's definitely an amazingly talented writer, and I admire how her books raise these questions. I think that at another point in my life, where things are not in such a state of flux, I will appreciate her more. Right now, unfortunately, I want a story that ends with a big solid full stop, everything back in their allotted place.

I knew P.D. James was a little old-fashioned in her writing, and more slow of pace than most of the crime novelists I more frequently read, but this was an incredibly long slog, and ultimately very disappointing.

The story focusses on several deaths (murders and apparent suicides) within the staff and associates of a London publishing house. There were over a hundred pages of description and over-wordy slow exposition at the start of the novel before anything actually happens and Dalgliesh becomes involved. The police procedural side of the novel is plodding and linear - merely a series of long interviews with dull over-described prissy women and pompous men. I lost track of what was happening as I lost interest in what was happening, and the denouement - with an underdeveloped character key and some historical grievances which didn't ring true for me - was just chucked at the final few chapters (by which point I had lost the will to live myself, so had some sympathy with the suicides within the plot!)”

"The stink rolled out to meet them like an evil wraith, the familiar human smell of vomit, not strong but so unexpected that Mandy instinctively recoiled. Over Miss Etienne's shoulder her eyes took in at once a small room with an uncarpeted wooden floor, a square table to the right of the door and a single high window. Under the window was a divan bed and on the bed sprawled a woman.

"It had needed no smell to tell Mandy she was looking at death. She didn't scream; she had never screamed from fear or shock; but a giant fist mailed in ice clutched and squeezed her heart and stomach and she began shivering as violently as a child lifted from an icy sea. Neither of them spoke but, with Mandy close behind Miss Etienne, they moved with quiet almost imperceptible steps closer to the bed.

"....

"Mandy whispered as reverently as if she were in church: 'Who is she?'

"Miss Etienne's voice was calm. 'Sonia Clements. One of our senior editors.'

"'Was I going to work for her?'

"Mandy knew the question was irrelevant as soon as she asked it, but Miss Etienne replied: 'For part of the time, yes, but not for long. She was leaving at the end of the month.'

"She picked up the envelope, seeming to weigh it in her hands. Mandy thought, She wants to open it but not in front of me. After a few seconds Miss Etienne said: 'Addressed to the coroner. It's obvious enough what's happened here even without this. I'm sorry you've had this shock, Miss Price. It was inconsiderate of her. If people wish to kill themselves they should do so in their own homes.'" pg. 12-13

Enquête bien ficelée mais un peu longue (probablement comme dans la réalité!)

Innocent House, a somewhat faded Georgian home sitting next to the Thames, houses Peverell Press, a publishing house that has a long history in London but with a reputation, that like the architecture, has become somewhat worn around the edges. After several generations the majority ownership has passed down to the descendents of two families and a power struggle for dominance has begun but then the heir apparent who seems to have won the top spot is found dead. Was it suicide, an unlikely accident or murder? As the question is pursued by Adam Dalgliesh and his subordinate detectives of Scotland Yard another death takes place and the mystery intensifies. This is a classic mystery novel without the excitement of car chases, gratuitous violence or even sexual pandering but it is a novel that holds the reader’s attention until the missing motive is finally revealed at the end. The plot is well conceived, the characters are well developed and P.D. James’ facility with the English language is amazing. I find her a joy to read simply because her language is so richly complex and yet flows so naturally, however, I didn’t find this story line as enthralling as her novel: “The Children of Men” and I do question why this novel is sub-titled: “An Adam Dalgliesh Mystery”. Yes, Commander Dalgliesh is a character in the novel but he seems to be a minor character…almost an after thought. He doesn’t even solve the mystery.

I have read this one before, but so long ago I did not remember. I listened to the audio version this time. Great experience. I think when I read I vary my pacing--reading faster (and sloppily) when there's a lot of tension, reading slower (and carelessly) when it is meditative. When you listen you don't do that--or at least I don't. So it's a different experience of the book. It seemed much weightier here. It's interesting how much time and energy is spend developing characters who play important roles but are neither suspects nor the source of crucial clues. They are just people caught in the general situation. I think that is something I really value--gives the book a lot of texture.

I raced through this and am prepared to forgive the denouement, which was irritating and implausible. A common criticism of P D James is that she spends pages and pages on descriptions and secondary characters, but I like her style; really I'm more interested in her characterisations and settings than I am in finding out whodunnit (which is just as well given my reaction to the ending). I think she writes well, she is able to get under the skin of her characters and there was a real poignancy to a couple of them. There was a surprising lack of Adam Dalgliesh in this instalment - I guess there is more in other books in the series. A pleasing and involving read (bar the ending) - narratively straightforward, not in the least tricksy, but none the worse for that.

I am giving this book 4 stars primarily because we don't do halves (and maybe it should be 3 1/2) but on the other hand, I have a feeling that I'll be thinking about this book for awhile. I'm not sure where James is going with this; I'm not sure I trust her completely, which makes the murderer and the response of one of the Murder Squad, suspect, even outside of the story. Isn't that interesting? I was surprised to discover that I had not read this one before. I had a beautiful "new" copy of it on my shelf, and as I am now reading James in order, it was a pleasant surprise to have a virgin reading. Other than the difficulties I mention above, I think it might be my favorite thus far. She definitely is a writer that improves with each book. Her comments on the publishing industry, and how agents and authors work, were quite interesting and I kept thinking I ought to quote her in my monograph if I ever get the thing written. Anyway, I think, if I have time, I will look for some criticism of this book.

When sorrows come, they come not single spies,
But in battalions."

(Shakespeare, Hamlet Act IV, scene 5)

This is the passage from Hamlet that comes to mind very early on in this particularly accomplished crime novel.

P.D. James takes us into literary circles, but this time without resorting to classical quotations, although a few biblical or Anglican liturgical reminiscences shine through.

Unlike her younger colleague Elizabeth George, who tends perhaps more towards psychological introspection, Baroness James delivers a meticulously and professionally chiselled criminal plot in the vein of A Taste for Death.

Adam Dalgliesh's team has been now joined by Inspector Daniel Aaron, a detective who is struggling with his own questions, and Kate Miskin, always professional and now more sure of herself.

The plot and the police investigation are well handled, professional and balanced. Just when the investigation inevitably stalls - and how could it not, with no convincing motive or clues, as everyone around the victim had reasons, opportunity and means of killing - AD, with his finely honed intuition, gathers the evidence that leads to a well handled but dramatic and thought provoking denouement.