Another great mystery from P.D. James.

This one builds up speed as it gos , so give it time
A nice read

This novel had strong writing and an interesting setting on an English island. However, there were too many characters to keep track of and the storyline moved along too slowly for my liking. It had great potential, but left me somewhat disappointed.

this is probably my favorite from this author that i've read so far. i liked the setting - the lighthouse drew me in immediately (love them!) and i wish it had played more of a role than it did - or that more of the action had taken place there. i liked the idea of the isolated island and the peaceful surroundings and would like to visit such a place (minus the murder and mayhem, of course). i'd want to stay in the lighthouse, though. i like dagleish and his team and the careful and meticulous way they go about solving a crime. everything makes sense and there are no loose ends.

I needed a palate cleanser after a lot of vacation reading. PD James always provides that for me. I know the detectives well. I know the mystery will stay focused and keep me interested. I know it will be light, enjoyable, and help me prepare for another course. This one did not disappoint. On a remote island with a limited number of suspects, I had narrowed it down to two or three options. The why behind the murder was surprising, but plausible.

I found this latest installment in the Dalgliesh series rather cold and disjointed. James' usual skill at plotting is in evidence, but perhaps because I haven't read the two or three before this one, I found myself uninterested in the personal lives of most of the characters. The prose is always poetic in a particularly English reserved kind of way, but usually I find the people endearing, especially Adam and Kate. For some reason, in this book, I could not bring myself to care much what happened to their emotional lives.

The murder plot is laid out well, with a couple genuinely unexpected turns. (I was relieved, actually--there's a hint on the jacket flap of one of the twists that doesn't actually spoil anything. But I put it together with an off-hand comment early on that made me wonder if one of the old villains was going to come leaping out of the shadows three quarters of the way through, which would have pissed me off to no end. Fortunately, I was overthinking things and the twist was unexpected and entirely appropriate.)

I just never really cared about any of the suspects. Most of them were rather unsympathetic in one way or another. It's a perfectly well-written mystery, but I couldn't help but feel that it was missing that spark that makes you care emotionally about the fate of the characters instead of merely trying to solve the puzzle. As I've previously enjoyed many of James' novels, I was disappointed that this did not rise above the level of average.

Classic setup, a handful of people on a deserted island and a murder, but in James' hands, magnificent and moving. Once again, her characterizations rule the day. So sad there is only one full novel left in the series.

A brilliant novelist is found hanged from a lighthouse on an exclusive resort island off the Cornish coast. Is it suicide or murder? Well, this is an Adam Dalgliesh book, so that's not such a mystery. And actually I guessed the murderer's identity pretty early, unusual for me reading James. But still and all this is good example of her work.

It has all her typical accoutrements: Several suspects with strong and sympathetic motives, well established before any violence occurs; AD and his team resorting to numerous psychological techniques to draw out information they need; and glimpses into the detectives' own mental shadows. It's maybe a bit formulaic, and not the best of her novels I've read, but it was solidly enjoyable nonetheless.

It's a testament to P.D. James that she can give a brilliant realism to what on the surface would normally be classed as a very unlikely situation. Before you started reading, if you analysed the setup you'd be tempted to dismiss it as unbelieveable. However, in doing so, you'd be missing a treat. As you get into the novel, you are increasingly drawn into her world so that by the end, you end up thinking that in this and no other way could the book have been written.

In all honesty, you could level the same description at most of her books, but it's precisely why she remains among my favourite authors due to her imaginative settings and intelligent, realistic writing.

Long winded.

This is another British mystery. Like British mysteries, but this one ran a bit long. Will read her books again as this was first read by her.

Boring