Meh. I don't think I'm a P.D. James fan. But I am definitely going to try and read "Death Comes to Pemberly"

Very atmospheric, gripping crime story. My first PD James so some of the references to Dalglish's private life were lost on me but the story itself is well-written and a real page turner. I wasn't so convinced by the ending but enjoyed getting there.

I finished this book on Audible a couple of weeks back, and struggled to make sense of the attitudes towards pedophilia. This must be my fifth P.D. James over a couple of decades, and my gut feel was that the jarring feeling I got when I listened must be misplaced, and that the reviewers who have brought up the topic must be reading it wrong. I had misgivings, but I thought that it must be a case of the writer acknowledging that there is abuse in Holy Orders, and that the views of the characters who are priests are not the writers'. I missed that A.D.'s love interest shares those views.

I still find it unbelievable that a much-honoured writer could get away with the views expressed here, which come dangerously close to stating that at least some victims are asking for it. This review  is relevant as well.

I noted that P.D. James is not talking at all about the harm caused by false accusations of abuse, a topic that has been explored in a couple Danish and Swedish films.

It makes no sense that this book was published and seems to be generally highly thought of. I am hoping that I have understood this wrong.

My favorite of the Dalgliesh series. The Wind swept English Coast for a setting, A High Anglo-Catholic Seminary and murder at hand. Plus Dalgliesh meets someone who begins to work her way into the Interior Castle that has guarded his heart for so long.

A day or two ago there was another school shooting and a child died. So did the shooter who wounded others. My husband commented, as he does every time: Too bad the killer didn't start with himself.

I have never understood the need to save the life of a killer so that she or he can "face justice" and be punished rather than dying. Let the killer die and be done with it.

P.D. James is a good writer, perhaps a great one. I have loved other novels by her. This novel was seldom entertaining for me, but at least I never wanted to rewrite her sentences. The killer was so obvious and the revelations so tedious that I hoped until the last moment that I was wrong. The general sympathy shown by other characters to the child molester was abhorrent.  The book was too long. I found I didn't care much for anyone in it, not even Dalgliesh.

I still have to go back and read "Book Four" which is an afterward of 16 pages. Annoying, that.

No rating. Much soap opera, some ugly stuff, and certainly some baffling stretches of religious credibility. Well, I gave James a decent try, but I much prefer any mystery by Ellis Peters, or even a Nero Wolfe.

Anyone following my reviews will know that I have serious misgivings about the later James: the first handful of her Dalgleish mysteries were a brisk and enjoyable updating of the GA crime novel, but the later books are bloated and sluggish with a snobby, superior tone and very questionable values: we have insidious anti-Semitism in Original Sin, misogyny and classist attitudes everywhere, and now here she defends the indefensible with her kind old priest who is also a convicted paedophile.

Despite that, everyone except the 'baddie' who is murdered loves him, including Dalgleish himself and his new love interest so James makes it very clear that we as readers are supposed to side with them: as one character says 'He pleaded guilty to misbehaviour with two young boys. He didn't rape them, he didn't seduce them, he didn't physically hurt them' - so in James' world and that of the book, a bit of covert fondling and illegal touching of young boys is perfectly fine - he might not have 'physically' hurt them, but any psychological trauma from being assaulted by their priest is airily waved away.

To add to the message, the fellow priest who pushed for exposure and prosecution is demonised: 'a priest hounding a fellow-priest into prison? It would be disgraceful if anyone did it. Coming from him it's abominable. And Father John [the paedophile] - the gentlest, the kindest of men.' Er, no, Ms James, this isn't 'hounding' but reporting a crime that the church would rather have covered up. What is 'disgraceful' and 'abominable' are the ideas that the paedophile should be left to continue his predations among children.

Another quotation: 'Father John confessed to abusing some young boys in his choir. That's the word they used, but I doubt there was much real abuse.' And James clinches her support for her 'gentlest... kindest' of sexual offenders by offering up that old chestnut that while he may have illicitly fondled the first two boys, the others who came forward with evidence were just lying.

And just to make sure we know where we're supposed to stand, Dalgleish, a Commander at Scotland Yard, has more sympathy for the paedophile who served a three-year prison term than for the fellow-priest who exposed him: 'He [the whistle-blower] did what he saw as his duty and it caused him a lot of pain. Dalgleish privately thought that the greater pain had been suffered by Father John [the convicted paedophile].' I should add that this book was published in 2001.

Ms James has always made it clear that she has no time for all this namby-pamby PC rubbish and her high Tory sensibilities have in the past taken swipes at the disabled, the working class especially women, Jews, any woman less than 'ravishingly beautiful', but her skewed view of sexual assault on children is breathtaking.

Add to that a completely in-credible mode of committing suicide so a young ordinant lies down on the beach under a cliff ledge, pokes upwards with a branch of a tree and brings down a fall of sand which suffocates him; a motive for murder that makes no sense at all so Gregory has paid no attention to his son for twenty-five years but now he murders someone so that the seminary will be closer sooner than it would have been anyway in order for this son to inherit; but he kills another woman who knew he was married to the benefactor which is weird since his son can't inherit unless the marriage is acknowledged..., and the hilarious awkwardness of Dalgleish falling in love with the equally wooden and humourless (but ravishingly beautiful, natch) Emma who, would you credit it, teaches poetry at Cambridge - a match made in some kind of chilly, inhumane, fastidious, paedophile-loving heaven.

I wouldn't even mind (well, yeah, actually I would...) if this allegedly super-smart police team actually did some detecting but, as usual, there's not much activity on that front. And don't even get me started on the fact that a top Commander from Scotland Yard goes off at the bequest of a multi-millionaire arms dealer to check out his cremated son's suspicious death... and that once there, despite being personally close to some of the suspects, he's allowed to take over the investigation of the murders that then occur.

I just don't understand how these books have come to be so highly rated when their values are so reactionary, even offensive.

Death In Holy Orders is the 11th book in the Inspector Dalgliesh mystery series by P.D. James. It's the 4th I've read. The books are a joy to read, intelligent, thoughtful and excellent mysteries. Commander Adam Dalgliesh works for Scotland Yard, in charge of a prestigious murder team.

In this story, Dalgliesh is asked to go to a seminary near Norfolk to look into a previously closed death. A young ordinand had been found dead at the base of a cliff. The death is deemed to be death by accident. The young man's father wants Scotland Yard to investigate. Since Dalgliesh is about to go to the area on vacation so he agrees to look into the case. It also turns out that as a child, his father being a parson, that Dalgliesh spent time at St Anselms and it becomes somewhat a visit into his past.

The story starts in the past with the original discovery of the boy's body by Margaret Munroe, an elderly woman who works at St Anselms. This part of the story is told through the means of Margaret's diary. She ends it with a statement that the death concerns her and that it reminds her of something that occurred in her past. Margaret is discovered dead the day after this last entry.

So there are two deaths that Dalgliesh looks into, wondering if they are related? At the same time the Arch Bishop responsible for St Anselms is coming for a visit. He is most unlikeable and wants nothing more than to close the seminary. There are also other visitors to St Anselms and there are links between them all. Another death, this time a murder, brings all of Dalgliesh's team into the case; DI Piers Tarrant, DI Kate Miskin and DS Robbins.

Thus begins an interesting investigation as the team try to find clues to the murder and to see if the other deaths are in any way related. I love the way James presents the story, delving into the personalities, in a way that you feel you know them and presenting the investigation methodically and neatly. James has such a clear manner of presenting the story. I thought it would be too long but the pages turn quickly and the story holds your attention and keeps you moving along nicely. Don't expect much action, just a well-crafted, excellent mystery and just an excellent piece of fiction. (4 stars)

As expected, a rich and rewarding read.

here's a little story for you...

so a famous San Francisco lobbyist - a lively raconteur, a darling of the media, and an infamously debauched homosexual - was unfortunately on his deathbed. because this was a man who helped build the careers of many politicians, his hospital room was often inundanted by various famous local personages. one afternoon, as his final hours drew near, a respected and well-known priest came to see him. the lobbyist looked up, seemed rather surprised, and beckoned the good Father to come closer. grasping his hand, the lobbyist pulled him down towards his head, and whispered loudly for the priest and all the room to hear:

"Well thank you for coming to see me, Father. I always appreciate your visits. But, sadly, sex is the last the thing on my mind right now."

the true story above is also a completely spoiler-free clue to solving the mystery of Death in Holy Orders - delivered to you free of charge!

as far as the novel itself goes, this is yet another well-done James slow-burner featuring the inimitable Adam Dalgliesh - detective and poet extraordinaire. as this is one of the author's later entries in the series, the mystery itself is impressively dark, gothic in atmosphere, and rich in meaning. several of the characters and situations are quite haunting, in particular the central murder victim and the unnerving opening scene. PD James is one of the best!

I have just had a lot of fun reading all the reviews of this book. There are hundreds of them ranging from one to five stars. The overall figure comes out at 3.9 which I would agree with, though I am limited to giving it the closest I can.

To tell the truth just having Adam Dalgleish as the main character makes it a good read for me. I love the fact that he is intelligent, calm, organised, kind and that he thinks before he acts. He is the English version of Armand Gamache. You can always tell the characters you can trust in the story because they are the ones who like him the most.

Death in Holy Orders is quite a convoluted mystery with a string of murders, a huge number of red herrings and a religious setting. As usual with a P.D. James book there was a lot about the beautiful English countryside and much detailed description of people and places. I do not mind that - she does it so well.

There was a satisfying twist at the end and everything was rounded off nicely. I am grateful that I still have a number of this author's books yet to read.

My husband and I listened to DEATH IN HOLY ORDERS by P.D. James on CD during a cross-country road trip through Big Sky Country—Montana. Even though the speed limit in the wide open expanse is already high (80 mph in many areas), we found ourselves pressing the accelerator with increasing intensity as the plot thickened with sinister twists and turns. We’ll definitely accompany Commander Adam Dalgliesh on future investigations!