P. D. James is unquestionably a great writer. And this was a very interesting book. My only problem with her stories is that there aren't enough clues, and as a result the resolution takes a lot of explanation because the reader needs to learn a lot of information. I am not very good at solving mysteries, even after spending most of my life reading them, but I like at least a fighting chance, and I don't feel I really get that with her books. Still, they are so beautifully written, with fabulous descriptions and metaphors that make you stop reading and savor them, that you have to read them!

It's unfortunate Commander Adam Dalgliesh doesn't have amusing personality quirks or foibles which would endear him to readers the way many of the most beloved fictional sleuths do. Well he does write poetry but unfortunately, that's not the sort of hobby most people can relate to, more's the pity. And even that unusual side of him wasn't especially relevant to Death of an Expert Witness.

This was my sixth P. D. James mystery about the illustrious and aloof commander who is a long time widower and still seems--in my opinion--to wear his grief almost as a persona. It wasn't bad but it wasn't as good as some I've read. It's most disappointing feature was it brought no development in the character of the mysterious Adam Dalgliesh. I'm beginning to think he's Ms. James' greatest mystery!

However, that said, her books are psychological challenges. They aren't your modern day graphic sexual thrillers. When you encounter a P. D. James mystery, expect to work. Unless you have a photographic memory, it's best to approach the first three chapters with paper and pen in hand. She introduces a plethora of characters, job titles and seeming minutia about each individual with a minimum of words. It's very easy to be lulled into thinking you have everything straight and finding you've overlooked something critical. I always do.

Reading up to section seven of Book 2 in Death of an Expert Witness, I recorded twenty primary characters--most of whom were suspects--not counting their immediate family members, who also played roles.

As usual, I didn't figure out whodunit. There are plenty of red herrings, well they seem to be so to me the reader, but seen from another perspective...

Will I read another? Oh yes!

This is the sixth in the Adam Dalgliesh detective series.

In this mystery the crime scene is the Hoggart Forensic Science Laboratory in East Anglia near Cambridge. Dr. Edwin Lorrimer a respected, intelligent and efficient scientist has been found bludgeoned to death in his own lab. Commander Dalgliesh is called in to help investigate the murder and for the second time we meet Inspector John Massingham who has come to assist him. What they find is a host of witnesses and suspects who all seem to have a motive for the crime.

They discover that Dr Lorrimer was bitter when he was passed over during the recent posting for the Directorship of the lab, was unsupportive and cold when dealing with his subordinates, and is generally respected for his work but not well liked by his colleagues.

The first part of the book presents the array of suspects. The numbers of people and their titles is daunting and at times is difficult to keep straight. The reader is in the middle of it all as a bystander, but unlike Dagleish and Massingham, is privileged to see the private as well as public lives of all those surrounding the mystery. In proceeding to solve the crime, Dalgliesh sometimes shares with us his rationale for proceeding the way he does, questioning and interviewing anyone who might be involved, proceeding logically and determinedly from one step to the next. He is patient, quiet and careful, skillful at eliciting information during the interviews by asking questions in a particular way, and often eliciting an additional clue to the mystery by this process. Dalgliesh notices small almost undetectable moments of confusion when a witness stumbles into saying something indiscrete or something they wish they had left unsaid. He gathers what may seem odd pieces of information and conjecture, not knowing which ones will click together in the end to form the completed puzzle. In this one, the difficulty is that so many have a motive but there is not one solid piece of incontrovertible physical evidence that links a suspect with the crime. Several clues are dropped judiciously as the drama unfolds, but which are the red herrings? There are lots of surprises, twists and turns and a good buildup of suspense and tension as the novel begins to march to its inevitable conclusion. As always, Dagleish whittles down the suspects and systematically and logically solves the puzzle.

James writing is full of details, whether it is a chapel, a solicitor’s office, the contents of a country cottage or a graveyard. For the most part this is enjoyable and adds to the story but sometimes it becomes overbearing.

I still feel thwarted in trying to know Adam Dalgliesh better. I want to know more of his back story, understand his personal thoughts that are unrelated to the mystery, and just get a sense of what makes him tick. I still find him a rather flat character and so this is a disappointment.

This is a well crafted murder mystery with a complex plot.
A good read.