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book_concierge's review against another edition
3.0
Audiobook performed by Penelope Dellaporta
3***
Book 4 in the Adam Dalgliesh mystery series has the detective investigating two deaths at a school of nursing, Nightingale House.
I really like how Dalgliesh is so methodical and contemplative. He never rushes to a conclusion, and carefully constructs and explores the possibilities before proclaiming a case is solved. This one took several turns I didn’t expect. I was sure I had the right person, and then I knew I was wrong. Okay, so it must be THAT one. Wrong again. I never guessed the actual culprit.
Penelope Dellaporta does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. There are a lot of characters, most of them women, and she is up to the task of differentiating them so that the listener always knows who is speaking.
3***
Book 4 in the Adam Dalgliesh mystery series has the detective investigating two deaths at a school of nursing, Nightingale House.
I really like how Dalgliesh is so methodical and contemplative. He never rushes to a conclusion, and carefully constructs and explores the possibilities before proclaiming a case is solved. This one took several turns I didn’t expect. I was sure I had the right person, and then I knew I was wrong. Okay, so it must be THAT one. Wrong again. I never guessed the actual culprit.
Penelope Dellaporta does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. There are a lot of characters, most of them women, and she is up to the task of differentiating them so that the listener always knows who is speaking.
marysec's review against another edition
3.0
Je lui donne 3.5.
Bien que le roman ait été publié en 1971, l'histoire semble se dérouler dans les années 50-60. Certains dialogues sont d'une époque révolue et pourrait heurter les lectrices et les lecteurs.. Soyez avertis!
Sinon, l'enquête policière est intéressante et l'énigme est préservée jusqu'à la fin.
Bref, un roman agréable à lire si l'on est capable d'accepter ses défauts.
Bien que le roman ait été publié en 1971, l'histoire semble se dérouler dans les années 50-60. Certains dialogues sont d'une époque révolue et pourrait heurter les lectrices et les lecteurs.. Soyez avertis!
Sinon, l'enquête policière est intéressante et l'énigme est préservée jusqu'à la fin.
Bref, un roman agréable à lire si l'on est capable d'accepter ses défauts.
alex_watkins's review against another edition
5.0
This was really good, I had never read one of the many Adam Dalgliesh mysteries, only P.D. James' miscellaneous books Children of Men and An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (which does have Dalgliesh come in later). It was not my stereotype of a mystery novel, which I'm not really sure what I have in mind, but is something that I feel like I wouldn't like. The book is very cerebral, setting up timelines and alibis, so much so that it was a bit hard to keep track. I loved the end though, very exciting, everything just came together so well. Her style is just English I love it. Also how do you say his last name exactly?
allisgaze's review against another edition
4.0
Old fashioned hospital setting with a technically complicated murder explained clearly and many of the characters are emotional young women.
missbryden's review against another edition
2.0
The story is interesting enough, including being a contemporary story to the 70s, but none of the characters are particularly likable - even Dalgliesh, there isn't much said about him to make him seem super nice, though not unlikeable. Too many gory details at times. This is the first story that was adapted in the 2021 series, and I still like the screen version better.
cimorene1558's review against another edition
3.0
I love the now so old fashioned nursing school details.
beatlestar's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
adamrshields's review against another edition
4.0
Summary: One mysterious death, and then another, among nurses-in-training, brings Adam Dalgliesh to the John Carpenter Hospital and the Nightingale House, where the nurses live and train.
I am continuing to work through the Adam Dalgliesh mystery series slowly. I am not sure how long PD James wrote the series, but the books I am working on how were written in the late 1960s. So far the books have been fairly out of time. You know they are in the 20th century, but no cell phones or computers exist. It is only at the very end that there is a cultural reference that dates the book. It matters to the story, so I will not reveal the reference, but I have appreciated the writing being somewhat out of time.
The series is less physiological than my current favorite mystery series, Inspector Gamache, but I am enjoying the very slow development of Dalgliesh as a character. Part of what I thought about with this book is that Dalgliesh's moral and ethical character is essential. Moral and ethical character matter in almost every role in life, but particularly with positions of authority and justice, the person filling those roles matters. One of the officers working for Dalgliesh is a prominent character in this book, and that officer does not have exemplary character for the job. The comparison between them is being set up for what I assume with be a plot point in a later book.
I have just started Karen Swallow Prior's new book, The Evangelical Imagination. As a literature professor, she is approaching the role of the imagination in helping to define the social imaginary (Charles Taylor's term) of what is possible. Simple fiction books like this series give the reader a sense of what is possible. Murder mysteries, in particular, may raise fears about how prevalent murder is or how easy it is to catch murderers. But they also build connections of how people come to big crimes through smaller inactions. How we think about the world is shaped by the type and quality of books we read (or TV, movies, web videos, video games, etc.)
I think there is a reason that PD James is such a well-known author and that this series has been recommended by so many and I think the Evangelical Imagination is giving some hints as to why this more than 50-year-old series has stayed in print.
I am continuing to work through the Adam Dalgliesh mystery series slowly. I am not sure how long PD James wrote the series, but the books I am working on how were written in the late 1960s. So far the books have been fairly out of time. You know they are in the 20th century, but no cell phones or computers exist. It is only at the very end that there is a cultural reference that dates the book. It matters to the story, so I will not reveal the reference, but I have appreciated the writing being somewhat out of time.
The series is less physiological than my current favorite mystery series, Inspector Gamache, but I am enjoying the very slow development of Dalgliesh as a character. Part of what I thought about with this book is that Dalgliesh's moral and ethical character is essential. Moral and ethical character matter in almost every role in life, but particularly with positions of authority and justice, the person filling those roles matters. One of the officers working for Dalgliesh is a prominent character in this book, and that officer does not have exemplary character for the job. The comparison between them is being set up for what I assume with be a plot point in a later book.
I have just started Karen Swallow Prior's new book, The Evangelical Imagination. As a literature professor, she is approaching the role of the imagination in helping to define the social imaginary (Charles Taylor's term) of what is possible. Simple fiction books like this series give the reader a sense of what is possible. Murder mysteries, in particular, may raise fears about how prevalent murder is or how easy it is to catch murderers. But they also build connections of how people come to big crimes through smaller inactions. How we think about the world is shaped by the type and quality of books we read (or TV, movies, web videos, video games, etc.)
I think there is a reason that PD James is such a well-known author and that this series has been recommended by so many and I think the Evangelical Imagination is giving some hints as to why this more than 50-year-old series has stayed in print.
marlisenicole's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5