I have been reading the Adam Dalgliesh books alongside one of my book groups and this is the seventh, published in 1986. I was surprised to realise there was almost a decade between the previous book, “Death of an Expert Witness,” (1977) and this one. She had written a Cordelia Gray novel, but still, it is quite a gap. “A Taste for Death,” is often considered one of her best novels and received awards, as well as being nominated for others. It does come across as literary crime, with a very character driven and detailed storyline.

The book begins with an elderly woman, accompanied by a young boy, who discovers the bodies of Sir Paul Berowne, a Minister of the Crown, and a tramp, named Harry Mack, in the vestry of a St Matthews Church. Berowne was an acquaintance of Dalgliesh and, although they had only met a couple of times, it makes the crime a little more personal. Dalgliesh, along with DCI John Massingham and DI Kate Miskin, begin to unravel the reasons why a respected, wealthy man, like Berowne, was found murdered, sleeping in a church.

This has a good cast of characters, possible suspects, and motives. I particularly liked Mrs Wharton, who appears at the very beginning of the book, alongside the young, roguish, Darren. I also enjoyed Kate Miskin, and her changing, sometimes difficult, relationship with Massingham. At times, James gets a little bogged down in detail, and description, but, overall, this is a really excellent addition to the series and well as, in places, being truly poignant.

Certainly different from other detective books I have read so far: heavy emphasis on detailed characterization (including of marginal characters), atmosphere and setting; works well as a period piece. Unfortunately, the actual solving of the crime is less well accomplished. It’s also remarkable that, whenever sensitive topics such as gender, class, racism are discussed, she approaches them quite level headedly, with surprising objectivity. Some passages could definitely be labelled anti-woke. The author should have tried to write non-genre novels, but maybe those would not have sold so well.

This is the book where P.D. James and I started to part company. I found it overlong and quite boring on my first read. Now, reading it again 20-plus years later, it hasn't improved.

This book started the period of longer James novels, if memory serves. Length has, for the most part IMO, only allowed self-indulgence in the presentation of the characters' inner dialogues. I just don't find most of them interesting. Almost to a person, they're chilly, uptight yet inwardly tortured snobs of one kind or another (social, literary, intellectual). This includes most of her detectives. Not that they were different in the earlier, shorter novels, but there was less of it on the page as the proportion of plot to character angst had to be higher. This book, in particular, has barely a sympathetic character, as they're either unlikeable, completely bland, or pathetic. The victim remains a cipher as far as I'm concerned. The suspects are a horrible lot, and worse yet, they're boring. The book moves at a glacial pace. I struggled through, but by the end I just didn't care.

In addition to the above, the book is relentlessly downbeat. Nobody gets an even break. The last straw was how  she even took one character's faith away. Was that necessary? I put this book down feeling glum.

I'm giving two stars because P.D. James at least knows how to write good prose. Some of the later novels were better even though long, because their settings and plots were more interesting. Don'gt let my review put you off from reading Devices and Desires, The Murder Room, or The Lighthouse.

Couldn't even read this on the plane with no other books on me. I watched soccer on the tv instead. SOCCER was the better option, folks. Frankly finding it hard to understand why this woman is considered such an amazing mystery writer. The fourth time they reentered the church and the light coming through the windows was given four paragraphs I knew this wasn't for me.

If your tired of fast-moving easy reading mystery's, maybe something with more detail and supporting prose is what you should try next. This is nothing special as far as the plot and the twists that have been and will continue to be the basis of most mystery novels. What makes this one exceptional is the prose that if you allow it to give you a vision and feelings that a lot of modern-day authors skip over for more of a shock and awe approach. Slow down enjoy this experience and even though the payoff is probably the same the journey will be in your mind long after you are through.

DNF

At some point, I completely lost track of what this book is about. Cliches about the British upper classes abound.

My favorite of all her books. This was my second time. I know the story well, so it wasn't about figuring anything out. I just love her language.

This is another fine installment in the series. Just past halfway, I made a note that good novels are built upon conflict. This is a novel where the conflict happens to involve an investigation for murder. Normally, one would just call it a murder mystery and move on. I happen to be one who thinks this series is some sort of hybrid between a traditional murder mystery and a traditional novel.

In this, the family of the murdered man sees little reason to cooperate with Dalgliesh and his squad. If lying to the police is necessary to prevent a family scandal, then lying they will do. But which are lies? It's the old conundrum of separating the truth tellers from the liars - which are which? The last 100 pages or so turned into a bit of a thriller. I'm not sure now exactly why I thought I knew who was the perpetrator. I was right - a rarity. The thriller aspect added an extra element.

The writing is better than most murder mysteries. That isn't intended to disparage other authors of the genre - there is some very fine writing in other mysteries, too. It's that James' writing appeals to me in a way that most others do not. I'm sure I've observed this in prior reviews of books of the series as well as remarking upon the good characterization. This was another 4-star read for me.

Finis 1-15-23.
Loooong book ! Around 500 pages.
My friend Golda loved this author and I found this paperback nearby so finally read my first book by her.
Plenty of description .. good sense of English life .. including the politics.
Interesting mystery to solve .. but a bit too involved for this reader.
My favorite characters were both women: the author Ms. Gentle and Kate Miskin (senior police, only female on Adam Dalgliesh’s special crime investigation team).
By the end I got a glimmer of why this author is so well liked.
I would have preferred more editing .. it was a bit of an exhausting read for me.

An eminently human book, perfect. Listened on audio, read by Penelope Dellaporta. Also perfect.

Love this book just packed with all the twists and turns that you expect from a murder thriller. It's probably one of my favourite in the series. A must read for any murder/thriller fan

Quite a bit too long. I enjoyed it but sometimes I read 3 pages to find it could have been written in 1.