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missbryden's review against another edition
3.0
Overall, kind of an interesting story about knowing or believing people's guilt and not having evidence for it, or in the case of the lawyer having to defend those who aren't innocent.
Reading notes:
Book 1 told from the start who is to die, end of book 1 (25% done) we’ve heard from all who presumably have reason to want her gone (and their backstories), she’s presumably on the way out. At first I thought Laud should be the one out, still privileged and annoying but so is Venetia and everyone, and Olivia and Ashe’s scene is quite gross. Author seems trying to keep up with young and current but author voice and audio narrator voice seem heavily tinged with age, yet what I can remember of first book was similar just as a contemporary book, as they continue to be, the references were then to the 60s. Still the details of settings, art, clothes everywhere (but clothes more about the women), and not just say in Dalgliesh's perspective. A Mrs. Carpenter wrote a letter which was a 70 minute chapter in the audio, including these kind of descriptions. Also you can see why it might have taken the priest to whom it was written some time to read it - Kate Miskin before she got to read it wondered why it was taking so long (when he disappeared for 10 or 15 minutes), but she was also anxious about why they had to spend so much time in the church, and why couldn't they just take it right off as evidence).
More from Dalgliesh in this one, we actually hear more of his thoughts and voice.
New Inspector to replace Daniel Aaron from the previous book [b:Original Sin|3815|Original Sin (Adam Dalgliesh, #9)|P.D. James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388704762l/3815._SY75_.jpg|895966] and has been with them only three months, although it should be about three years since Daniel left, at least according to how the previous book ended (the only one in which he appeared).
Piers Tarrant (new guy) is like a little Dalgliesh, at least in his interests. They're still mentioning Massingham in comparison even though he hasn't been in it for a few books.
More from Kate Miskin, some repetitive from previous books (but with three years between books it's understandable that readers might not remember), but her background ends up connecting to another character's story. Also her rumination on her background and experience is brought to the forefront by comparisons to Dalgliesh's and Tarrant's backgrounds. Dalgliesh seems concerned about her emotional experiences and suggests she might like to take some time for university education (which to his mind might be enjoyable) which makes her worry that he thinks she needs high class formal education to make her better and more equal in the police, that her urban unhappy working her way up through the police doesn't qualify her enough (add to this discussions with Piers on why he studied theology, and visits to a church are adding to the anxiety).
Nobody in these stories is really happy, and it seems if they are happy and settled feeling they don't get heard from much, like Sergeant Robbins, in this and the previous book. Kate responding to him after interviewing witnesses or suspects, "All right, Sergeant, we all know you're the humane face of policing, but don't lay it on too thick." and later in thought he "might have been recruited for the sole purpose of reassuring the timid or cynical that the Met was staffed by every mother's favourite son. He was a stalwart of his local Methodist church, a non-drinker and a non-smoker, and a part-time lay preacher. He was also one of the most sceptical officers Kate had ever worked with; his presumed optimism about the redeemability of human nature was combined with an apparent ability to expect the worst and to accept it with non-judgmental but uncompromising calm. Very few questions asked by Robbins were resented; very few lying answers went undetected." Roughly the same details were shared in Original Sin in Daniel Aaron's consideration of him. Seems like he's too untroubled and close to perfect to get more featured.
Reading notes:
Book 1 told from the start who is to die, end of book 1 (25% done) we’ve heard from all who presumably have reason to want her gone (and their backstories), she’s presumably on the way out. At first I thought Laud should be the one out, still privileged and annoying but so is Venetia and everyone, and Olivia and Ashe’s scene is quite gross. Author seems trying to keep up with young and current but author voice and audio narrator voice seem heavily tinged with age, yet what I can remember of first book was similar just as a contemporary book, as they continue to be, the references were then to the 60s. Still the details of settings, art, clothes everywhere (but clothes more about the women), and not just say in Dalgliesh's perspective. A Mrs. Carpenter wrote a letter which was a 70 minute chapter in the audio, including these kind of descriptions. Also you can see why it might have taken the priest to whom it was written some time to read it - Kate Miskin before she got to read it wondered why it was taking so long (when he disappeared for 10 or 15 minutes), but she was also anxious about why they had to spend so much time in the church, and why couldn't they just take it right off as evidence).
More from Dalgliesh in this one, we actually hear more of his thoughts and voice.
New Inspector to replace Daniel Aaron from the previous book [b:Original Sin|3815|Original Sin (Adam Dalgliesh, #9)|P.D. James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388704762l/3815._SY75_.jpg|895966] and has been with them only three months, although it should be about three years since Daniel left, at least according to how the previous book ended (the only one in which he appeared).
Piers Tarrant (new guy) is like a little Dalgliesh, at least in his interests. They're still mentioning Massingham in comparison even though he hasn't been in it for a few books.
More from Kate Miskin, some repetitive from previous books (but with three years between books it's understandable that readers might not remember), but her background ends up connecting to another character's story. Also her rumination on her background and experience is brought to the forefront by comparisons to Dalgliesh's and Tarrant's backgrounds. Dalgliesh seems concerned about her emotional experiences and suggests she might like to take some time for university education (which to his mind might be enjoyable) which makes her worry that he thinks she needs high class formal education to make her better and more equal in the police, that her urban unhappy working her way up through the police doesn't qualify her enough (add to this discussions with Piers on why he studied theology, and visits to a church are adding to the anxiety).
Nobody in these stories is really happy, and it seems if they are happy and settled feeling they don't get heard from much, like Sergeant Robbins, in this and the previous book. Kate responding to him after interviewing witnesses or suspects, "All right, Sergeant, we all know you're the humane face of policing, but don't lay it on too thick." and later in thought he "might have been recruited for the sole purpose of reassuring the timid or cynical that the Met was staffed by every mother's favourite son. He was a stalwart of his local Methodist church, a non-drinker and a non-smoker, and a part-time lay preacher. He was also one of the most sceptical officers Kate had ever worked with; his presumed optimism about the redeemability of human nature was combined with an apparent ability to expect the worst and to accept it with non-judgmental but uncompromising calm. Very few questions asked by Robbins were resented; very few lying answers went undetected." Roughly the same details were shared in Original Sin in Daniel Aaron's consideration of him. Seems like he's too untroubled and close to perfect to get more featured.
cjgmiranda220's review against another edition
3.0
I found this to be a good and complex mystery. I can honestly say I didn't see that coming. I have always thought that the stories by this author are too long, but I've just come to expect that when I read her books. I have to agree with others' reviews that the ending was not that great.
kcfromaustcrime's review against another edition
4.0
Venetia Aldridge QC, distinguished barrister, is found dead in her Middle Temple Chambers, stabbed once cleanly through the heart; sat in her chair; wearing a full wig covered in blood.
She had recently successfully defended Garry Ashe, accused of killing his aunt, and has been horrified by the announcement that Ashe and her troublesome daughter Octavia plan to marry. The current Head of Middle Temple Chambers is about to retire and Venetia believed she had a right to the position, despite just a few scant weeks of seniority. She was planning big disruptive changes in Chambers, and her best friend there was also her main rival for the job. Her lover, a prominent parliamentarian wanted to end their relationship. Dalgleish and his team firstly struggle to explain why the bizarre treatment of the body, and then to narrow the vast cast of possible suspects to get to the bottom of the death, until a second brutal killing suddenly reveals a lot of things that were carefully hidden away.
The book is broken into four distinct phases, "Book One - Counsel for the Defence", "Book Two - Death in Chambers", "Book Three - A Letter from the Dead" and finally "Book Four - The Reed Beds". This breaks the story up into those 4 distinct phases - the events leading up to the death of Venetia, the discovery of her body and the commencement of the investigation through to the resolution in two parts.
The characters in the story are artfully revealed, but in particular, the main character, the victim herself, is somebody that you come to know a lot about in the lead up to her death. There's a touch of the personal story of the investigators, less of Dalgleish and a little more about Kate Miskin and Piers Tarrant. The concentration, however, is mostly on how they work, and react to each other.
The location of the early parts of the book, in and around the Temple Chambers and the Old Bailey give a great sense of place - something vaguely archaic, cloistered and claustrophobic.
This is definitely a doorstopper of a book at 482 pages in the standard paperback, but there is no discernible padding in that. The only minor quibble is the same quibble that readers can sometimes get from James in that there's a vague feeling of class distinctions and people who are "quite right" and people who are "not quite right", based on where they come from. Kate Miskin, for example, came from Public Housing and she is constantly feeling that she has to compensate for that background.
A CERTAIN JUSTICE was involving from the start to the end, regardless of the size of the book. It is an old fashioned puzzle story, in the hands of an author who really knows how to crank out a good, deft, solid mystery. You really get the feeling you're in the hands of somebody who knows what they are doing.
She had recently successfully defended Garry Ashe, accused of killing his aunt, and has been horrified by the announcement that Ashe and her troublesome daughter Octavia plan to marry. The current Head of Middle Temple Chambers is about to retire and Venetia believed she had a right to the position, despite just a few scant weeks of seniority. She was planning big disruptive changes in Chambers, and her best friend there was also her main rival for the job. Her lover, a prominent parliamentarian wanted to end their relationship. Dalgleish and his team firstly struggle to explain why the bizarre treatment of the body, and then to narrow the vast cast of possible suspects to get to the bottom of the death, until a second brutal killing suddenly reveals a lot of things that were carefully hidden away.
The book is broken into four distinct phases, "Book One - Counsel for the Defence", "Book Two - Death in Chambers", "Book Three - A Letter from the Dead" and finally "Book Four - The Reed Beds". This breaks the story up into those 4 distinct phases - the events leading up to the death of Venetia, the discovery of her body and the commencement of the investigation through to the resolution in two parts.
The characters in the story are artfully revealed, but in particular, the main character, the victim herself, is somebody that you come to know a lot about in the lead up to her death. There's a touch of the personal story of the investigators, less of Dalgleish and a little more about Kate Miskin and Piers Tarrant. The concentration, however, is mostly on how they work, and react to each other.
The location of the early parts of the book, in and around the Temple Chambers and the Old Bailey give a great sense of place - something vaguely archaic, cloistered and claustrophobic.
This is definitely a doorstopper of a book at 482 pages in the standard paperback, but there is no discernible padding in that. The only minor quibble is the same quibble that readers can sometimes get from James in that there's a vague feeling of class distinctions and people who are "quite right" and people who are "not quite right", based on where they come from. Kate Miskin, for example, came from Public Housing and she is constantly feeling that she has to compensate for that background.
A CERTAIN JUSTICE was involving from the start to the end, regardless of the size of the book. It is an old fashioned puzzle story, in the hands of an author who really knows how to crank out a good, deft, solid mystery. You really get the feeling you're in the hands of somebody who knows what they are doing.
cimorene1558's review against another edition
3.0
I always tell myself not to reread this, because it's so nasty, and then I get caught up in rereading PD James and convince myself to read it again, and then I kick myself all over again, because although it's (as always) well-written and interesting, it is very full of depressingness and unpleasant people.
emilyisreading2024's review against another edition
4.0
For a good mystery, P.D. James is hard to beat and this is one of her best.
leevoncarbon's review against another edition
4.0
This was a murder mystery without any "dead spots", i.e. at no point in the 500+ pages did I start losing interest. Set up nicely with the introduction of a variety of characters who had possible motives for murder. The author also seemed to want us to ponder the tragic implications of children growing up unloved, as that was true of several characters. My second time to read this author and I will look forward to a third some day.
lea_sehr's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
michael5000's review against another edition
2.0
Terrific writing page to page, from a plot constructed by Rube Goldberg.
Pro-Tip for the murderously inclined: I don't think the police are really supposed to ignore your full confession, just because you utter it in the conditional mood.
Pro-Tip for the murderously inclined: I don't think the police are really supposed to ignore your full confession, just because you utter it in the conditional mood.