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The Private Patient (Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries)

P.D. James

The Private Patient (Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries) P.D. James Amazon Price: $15.57
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Cheverell Manor is a lovely old house in deepest Dorset, now a private clinic belonging to the famous plastic surgeon George Chandler-Powell. When investigative journalist Rhoda Gradwyn arrived there one late autumn afternoon, scheduled to have a disfiguring and long-standing facial scar removed, she had every expectation of a successful operation and a pleasant week recuperating.

Two days later she was dead, the victim of murder.

To Commander Adam Dalgliesh, who with his team is called in to investigate the case, the mystery at first seems absolute. Few things about it make sense. Yet as the detectives begin probing the lives and backgrounds of those connected with the dead woman—the surgeon, members of the manor staff, close acquaintances—suspects multiply all too rapidly. New confusions arise, including strange historical overtones of madness and a lynching 350 years in the past. Then there is a second murder, and Dalgliesh finds himself confronted by issues even more challenging than innocence or guilt.

P. D. James has gained an enviable reputation for creating detective stories of uncommon depth and intricacy, combined with the sort of humanity and perceptiveness found only in the finest novelists. The Private Patient ranks among her very best.

Damage Control (Joanna Brady Mysteries, Book 13)

J. A. Jance

Damage Control (Joanna Brady Mysteries, Book 13) J. A. Jance Amazon Price: $17.13
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By: William Morrow
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

On a beautiful sunny day in the Coronado National Monument, an elderly couple's car goes off the side of a mountain and into oblivion. The terrain is so rocky that a helicopter must be flown in to retrieve the bodies, and to make matters worse, a thunder-storm is looming on the horizon. Hours later and miles away, the subsiding rain reveals gruesome evidence: two trash bags containing human remains.

It's just another day in the life of Cochise County sheriff Joanna Brady.

Back at home, Joanna has a newborn baby, a teenage daughter, a writer husband, and a difficult mother to deal with. But in the field, it turns out that she has much more on her hands. The remains are those of a handicapped woman who had wandered away from a care facility with a suspicious track record. Another resident, with whom the woman may have been involved, has also been reported missing.

Meanwhile, a note is found in the glove compartment of the car lying twisted down the mountainside, stating that its occupants intended to take their own lives. Yet a contradictory autopsy report surfaces, and when the deceased's two daughters show up to feud over their inheritance, Joanna knows there is more to this case than just a suicide pact.

And she will go all out to find the truth—no matter where it leads.

The Lighthouse (Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series #13)

P. D. James

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 96 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

P.D James came down from a higher league. 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

No one currently writing can match her. She is in there with Dashiell Hammet.
I read "The Lighthouse", then bought a copy for a gift.

John Culleton
Rowse Reviews

Editorial Review:

A secure and secluded retreat for the rich and powerful becomes the setting for an unsettling series of murders.

Combe Island off the Cornish coast is a restful haven for the elite. But when one of its distinguished visitors is found hanging from the island’s famous lighthouse in what appears to have been a murder, the peace is shattered. Commander Adam Dalgliesh is called in to handle the sensitive case, but at a difficult time for him and his depleted team. He is uncertain about his future with his girlfriend Emma Lavenham; his principle detective Kate Miskin is going through an emotional crisis; and the ambitious Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith is not happy about having a female boss. After a second brutal killing, the whole investigation is jeopardized, and Dalgliesh is faced with a danger even more insidious than murder.

A Taste for Death (Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries, No. 7)

P.D. James

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Life Is A Mystery Worth Solving 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Here is one of the best mysteries I have had the pleasure to read. Though I still have a few remaining works of Ms. James on my list, this book has a resonance that few authors manage to achieve. The characters and the themes blend to create a work that is greater than the sum of its parts. At its heart, this is the story of a man who after achieving everything for which he has sought finds himself curiously unsatisfied with both life and the rewards of his efforts. Accordingly, solving the mystery not only means finding out who did the deed, but why our victim was distraught and unsatisfied despite tremendous achievements. Readers of this author will immediately recognize that her protagonist struggles with related issues and the pages of this book are devoted to the creation of several like-minded characters who each add their perspective to what is in reality an attempt to solve the mystery of life itself; where can one find true happiness and satisfaction?

I believe that the special quality of this book is found in its characters; I should think that the mix is so broad that any reader can find at least one with whom to identify. It does no harm to the mystery to remark that though the victims could not be further apart in terms of social standing and achievement, the author teaches that we are all ultimately equals in death. The author also manages to keep multiple story threads open and believable--this is far more difficult a task than it sounds. Until I encountered P.D. James, I found mysteries to be much like old episodes of Star Trek--if the character who transports to the surface is not one of the regular cast you instantly know that the character has but moments to live. Likewise, too many mystery novelists betray the story early in the book or else they create characters that are incapable of stirring the emotions of the reader--flaws thankfully avoided by P.D. James.

The best fiction encourages one to think about one's own life; it encourages and suggests how we may better ourselves and the world in which we live. This book leaves its reader a better person for having encountered the story; if not, it is not the reader who is without excuse.

Highly Recommended.

Editorial Review:

When the quiet Little Vestry of St. Matthew's Church becomes the blood-soaked scene of a double murder, Scotland Yard Commander Adam Dalgliesh faces an intriguing conundrum: How did an upper-crust Minister come to lie, slit throat to slit throat, next to a neighborhood derelict of the lowest order? Challenged with the investigation of a crime that appears to have endless motives, Dalgliesh explores the sinister web spun around a half-burnt diary and a violet-eyed widow who is pregnant and full of malice--all the while hoping to fill the gap of logic that joined these two disparate men in bright red death. . . .


From the Paperback edition.

A Mind to Murder (Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries, No. 2)

P. D. James

A Mind to Murder (Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries, No. 2) P. D. James Amazon Price: $11.20
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Dalgliesh Becomes a Memorable Detective 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

In Cover Her Face, the first book in this distinguished series, Adam Dalgliesh plays second fiddle to an intricate plot. In A Mind to Murder, the book revolves around the questioning mind of A.D. and he begins to come to life as an interesting character. The plot isn't nearly as intricate as in Cover Her Face, but the twists and turns are more entertainingly told.

Even physicians have to follow the administrative rules. When the administrator of the Steen Psychiatric Clinic starts counting the patient numbers, watching the expense accounts and insisting on proper paperwork, even the physicians find themselves annoyed and wanting her gone. But no one wanted her dead. Or did they? The circumstances of the murder seem to point inside the clinic. The method of death is a particularly strange one, seemingly appropriate for a psychiatric clinic.

The story has a certain anachronistic charm as it reflects practices and circumstances that have changed since 1963. The references to LSD as an analytic tool are particularly humorous in light of the drug's later uses (or misuses).

Editorial Review:

When the administrative head of the Steen Psychiatric Clinic is found dead with a chisel in her heart, Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard is called in to investigate. Dalgliesh must analyze the deep-seated anxieties and thwarted desires of patients and staff alike to determine which of their unresolved conflicts resulted in murder.

With "discernment, depth, and craftsmanship," wrote the Chicago Daily News, A Mind to Murder "is a superbly satisfying mystery."

Cover Her Face (Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries, No. 1)

P.D. James

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

The start of a wonderful saga 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is the first book in the series that has made PD James the first name in British mysteries. It sets the tone for the books that will follow and you will be eager to see Adam Dalgliesh develop into Scotland Yard's ace detective. So I would recommend that you start your adventures with Adam here at the beginning.

The first P. D. James book 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I must confess to never really being a P. D. James fan. Several years ago I began to read one of her books (can't remember which one) and found it so dull that I put it down and didn't read another of her works for many years. Figuring that her first book might be a bit more easily read I picked it up, and enjoyed it very much. It's rather the typical English murder mystery that was being published in the '50s and '60s, when this one was written. It involves a murder at the home of relatively wealthy folks, with a locked door mystery, and abundant suspects. The ending was the usual "gather all the suspects into one room and have the detective unravel the crime scenario for them". Even though it is typical, she did put a bit of her own spin on the tale, and that's probably what made it stand out at the time of publishing. There's really nothing in it to make one think that this writer was a great new talent, but it is enjoyable none the less.

Editorial Review:

When a sly and sensuous young woman who had used her body and her brains to climb the social ladder is murdered by someone who had clearly decided that the wages of sin should be death, it falls to Inspector Adam Dalgliesh to find out who the killer is. **MASS MARKET PAPER**

Death of an Expert Witness (Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series #6)

P. D. James

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Lacked A Punch 3 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I find P.D. James' stories adapt better to television than they do novels. She is a fine writer and I admire the heck out of her ability to render a story's setting as important (and usually moreso) than any of the characters who inhabit the spaces of her creations. However, in this novel, as in the three others I've read, I felt slightly bored because it was as if the settings, being so lovingly, artfully described, overpowered the events and cried out for adaptation to the screen, and simply failed when confined to the single dimension of the flat page. James is a better screen writer than a novelist. She tells a fine story and tells it with imagination, but I can't help but confess, I find her books a little slow moving and dull. Here I wanted to find out more about the crime lab and its experiments. I also wanted to follow the life of the young girl who is the featured character at the very start, but alas, she drifts into the background soon after the opening pages, and we don't encounter her again except as a prop at the very end. I think Death of an Expert Witness needed a few more sub-plots and deviations from the main story. It was too little mystery and too much verbiage. Sorry...

Editorial Review:

An evil-tempered forensic scientist is put to death, putting many of his colleagues out of misery. Commander Adam Dalgliesh must exhume the secrets of Dr. Lorrimer's laboratory in order to lay bare the murderous motive hidden in one human heart.

Death of an Expert Witness led Newsweek to crown P. D. James "the new queen of crime."

Justice Denied (J. P. Beaumont Mysteries)

J. A. Jance

Justice Denied (J. P. Beaumont Mysteries) J. A. Jance Amazon Price: $9.99
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 30 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

First and Last 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is the first J. A. Jance novel I have read, and it will certainly be the last. I found it sophomoric, banal, and positively boring. The characters were shallow, with a very poor attempt to bestow them with wit and humor. Please, enough with the assinine acronyms!

Editorial Review:

The murder of an ex-drug dealer ex-con—gunned down on his mother's doorstep—seems just another turf war fatality. Why then has Seattle homicide investigator J.P. Beaumont been instructed to keep this assignment hush-hush? Meanwhile, Beau's lover and fellow cop, Mel Soames, is involved in her own confidential investigation. Registered sex offenders from all over Washington State are dying at an alarming rate—and not all due to natural causes.

A metropolis the size of Seattle holds its fair share of brutal crime, corruption, and dirty little secrets. But when the separate trails they're following begin to shockingly intertwine, Beau and Mel realize that they have stumbled onto something bigger and more frightening than they anticipated—a deadly conspiracy that's leading them to lofty places they should not enter . . . and may not be allowed to leave alive.

The Children of Men

P.D. James

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 103 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Perspective in Children of Men 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

P. D. James' novel, Children of Men is quite different from the film in that the action is, particularly in the first section (Omega), very internal and driven from the point of view of Theo, the protagonist. The chapters alternate from first person to third person. The reader is thus more or less experiencing the action from Theo's perspective. In the novel, the narrative is very internal. In the film, although the viewer shares Theo's perspective in a number of ways, the narrative is more external. I recommend reading the novel and viewing the film, as different experiences. The film is an action film but the novel, although less so, is very taut. James is a strong stylist and the book is a good read.

Editorial Review:

Told with P. D. James's trademark suspense, insightful characterization, and riveting storytelling, The Children of Men is a story of a world with no children and no future.

The human race has become infertile, and the last generation to be born is now adult. Civilization itself is crumbling as suicide and despair become commonplace. Oxford historian Theodore Faron, apathetic toward a future without a future, spends most of his time reminiscing. Then he is approached by Julian, a bright, attractive woman who wants him to help get her an audience with his cousin, the powerful Warden of England. She and her band of unlikely revolutionaries may just awaken his desire to live . . . and they may also hold the key to survival for the human race.

Taking the Fifth

J.A. Jance

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

ANOTHER GREAT ADDITION TO THIS AUTHOR'S WORK 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

I feel that the fans of J.P. Beaumont will love this one. It is so typical J.A. Jance. I enjoyed every page of this one. Another reviewer has done a wonderful job of outlining the plot, so I will not repeat what is obvious. Jance's character developement (this author's strongest skill) holds very true to form with this work and we learn more and more of her detective Beaumont. We also get a look at the drug culture in that part of the country (Seattle of course) and some of the alternative life styles found their. This work has some fascinating twists (no spoilers here) and as one reviewer points out, just when you have things figured out, you get the rug pulled from under you. Of course, the book will be much better for those who have read the preceeding books dealing with this seattle Cop, but the book is also able to stand on it's own and is simply a good read. Recommend this one highly.

Editorial Review:

Top ten New York Times bestselling author J.A. Jance brings another stunning novel of passion, violence, and dreams turned deadly, featuring Seattle Homicide Detective J.P. Beaumont.

There are many bizarre and terrible ways to die. Seattle Homicide Detective J.P. Beaumont thought he had seen them all—until he saw this body, its wounds, and the murder weapon: an elegant woman's shoe, its stiletto heel gruesomely caked with blood. The evidence is shocking and unsettling, even for a man who prowls the shadows for a living, for it suggests that savagery is not the exclusive domain of the predatory male. And the scent of a stylish killer is pulling Beaumont into a world of drugs, corruption, and murder to view close-up a cinematic dream at its most nightmarish...and lethal.


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