I've read this before, seen it on tv, and it held up to yet another reading. I've always been interested in the way James teases out the effects of nasty things people do or say to each other as well as of death in suspicious circumstances.

Here she takes time to create her characters and to lead us into understanding the tensions within this small, isolated community, disrupted from its usual quiet routines by external pressures from the church hierarchy and a group of weekend visitors.

And Dalgleish is always Dalgleish, overlaid forever for me by the actor, Roy Strong.

I found this one unusual in that I was fairly sure about the identity of the murderer relatively early in the narrative. As always, James weaves a multitude of complications involving family, ancestry inheritance, incestry, etc. Dalgliesh is moving slowly towards a major change in his life which will play out over several novels.

Ik vond het boek wat langdradig. Ook bevat het boek iets te veel personages. Daardoor kon ik soms moeilijk uit elkaar houden wie wie was. Vanwege die redenen heb ik het twee sterren gegeven. Het plot zit uiteindelijk wel goed in elkaar. Lang wist ik ook niet wie de dader was. Toch duurde het mij allemaal te lang.

Goodreads needs another rating between "I hated it" and "It was ok". I can't at all recommend this book, but I don't wish it destroyed either. (And yes, there are some books I wish destroyed!)

I would like to be able to say I liked Death in Holy Orders because I've seen Masterpiece Theatre productions of PD James' work on PBS and thought them really good. I really like her Dalgliesh character, and I love a convoluted mystery.

**spoiler alert**

But, though the book has a total of 4 murders to solve, it also included a few plot-holes, too many unsympathetic characters, weak theology (for a work about a religious college) and an emotionally removed MC who, even when he does get upset, James can't bring us into his head and into the story so that we feel what he feels. And what I especially didn't care for in this book was that the wrap-up is given in a letter of confession from the killer. Oh, the police had solved the case, but with the letter any emotional involvement we the reader had is seriously diluted.

Other quibbles: the first death is a purported mystery from page 3, but it turns out to be perfectly straightforward. Until the letter, the reader is never absolutely sure it couldn't have been someone else. Death #4 is just left hanging; we never find out if it was a murder, if it tied into the other deaths, or even exactly what happened when the person was killed. And (on a personal note), I think James' writing style has problems.

This is one of those whodunnits. The only difference among this category of books is the way each author unfolds the story. This book here concentrates more on painting the atmosphere, more on describing the characters. Personally, I feel that more attention has been bestowed on this part. The story could have been condensed a bit.
The story opens with the death of a person. Was it a suicide, an accident, or murder? Till the end, a really satisfying, explicit, answer has not been provided.
Then occur three more deaths. The readers are invited to peer over the shoulder of the detective page after page of questions and answers. It needs some patience and determination on the part of the reader if he is accustomed to fast-paced thrillers.
One personal remark regarding the style of the writing. (Can’t be helped, I am forced to make it.) While talking, the characters make a statement and then end it with a question, as if to stress the meaning. This goes on and on page after page, till it gets on your nerves; the sensitive reader may end up with a migraine.
Thus: It was not difficult, was it? The answer is simple, is it not? There is no other way, is there? And so on and so on – hundreds and hundreds of them.
A bit of a headache. Is it not?
Conclusion: Staunch fans may like it. Fresh readers may not. Will they?

Classic style crime. Quite wordy at times, lots of characters to keep track of, but it kept me enthralled. It was spoiled by the appallingly casual attitude of some characters to historical child abuse cases, treating the perpetrator as victim because of the criminal proceedings taken against him. Only from 2001 but shows how attitudes have changed already - I don't think it would get published today without extensive edits.

How will you rate a mystery/crime fiction written beautifully but CLEARLY lacking in the motive for crime!!
It is written with such a sharp eye for detail that it felt like reading a novel of manners drenched in blood!

The narration is full,complete to perfection leaving nothing to imagination.

My MAJOR grievance the LACK of the motive for the murder(s)made me dislike (hate is too strong a word) it after I finished. It did not make sense!
And due to it , it felt like a waste of time .Grrrr...

Though despite my grumblings,it does offers vivid imagery of the bleak east coat ,of the small theological college with all prevailing silence unnerving at times, but otherwise providing repose from the charivari of town, beautiful and realistic characterisation (scored full here) and some lines worth reproducing-

"I can imitate you but I can't hope to emulate you"

"Unwelcome words gained in intensity if softly spoken"

Special Mention - I was intrigued by Dalgliesh.He did not speak more then two paragraphs in whole book but a poet and an intellectual, he seemed different. Though again for my irritation he took too long to solve the crime and that too without zest,charm or even wit. Hopes he gets better in the next.

My VERDICT
Leave it, if you are a veteran reader of detective fiction and looks for a taut plot with a crisp climax.
You may read if you like nuanced portrayal of cast,settings and situations in a narrative immersed in nature's symbolism.

I enjoyed this more than the only other Dalgliesh murder I've read. I'm sure it's because I was prepared for P.D. James's style, the personal, private tragedies that all her characters are invested with, the slow peeling away of the many layers, the precise detail, the surprising observations on humans, all sad. I don't think I'll ever enjoy her as much as I like the pure escapism of the Golden Age writers (and she name checked Marsh, Sayers, Allingham and Christie in this book), but I admire her plotting and how she manages to stagger her interviews and witnesses throughout the narrative yet doesn't seem like she's holding back.

Note to self: the novel Raphael read was Trollope's Barchester Towers.

On the plus side, the story was complex and quite well constructed. I didn't guess who 'dunnit' until it came out about two thirds of the way through that someone had a huge motive for commiting a string of murders, the rest of the book being about how Commander Dalgleish goes about proving it.

However I had two major issues with the book. Firstly there is a indefensible defence of a paedophile whose life has been ruined by the vendetta a certain character had against him, with the intention of getting him convicted - which apparently involved finding dubious characters willing to perjure themselves in court and lie that he had seriously assaulted them. However, the fact that he had in reality "only" fondled choirboys is presented as relatively minor and something that should not have counted against him.

Secondly the entire motive for the murderer doesn't make a grain of sense. This person had no regard for the person he was benefiting by committing the murders as he made perfectly clear on a number of occasions. That being so, why murder anyone?

Other than that, the characters are mostly cardboard cutouts. I liked the old priest, Father Martin, but Dalgleish himself is a nothing really, which is a problem given his importance as the protagonist investigating the crimes. And his team are poorly sketched. So all in all, I can only give this a 2 star rating.

Every time I finish a P.D. James Adam Dalgliesh mystery, I marvel that there is really no way that she could top it. And then I read the next one. This one was simply masterful.

I think I must be the only person in the western world who hadn't read the work of PD James. What a fantastic writer and she's written so many books. I look forward to working my way through her stories.

In which Dalgliesh's shut-down life comes to a crossroads.