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A review by laurapk
Shroud for a Nightingale by P.D. James
2.0
I admit, part of my problem may have come from the fact that I read it as an Audiobook.
The book had its interesting parts, but I had a hard time keeping up with the characters. Too many names introduced too quickly. Some characters were easier to remember and identify, half were not.
I didn't connect at all with the main protagonist. I don't know anything about his history and had a hard time understanding his actions. We spent little time with him and a little more with the nurses. I give it to the author: the victims were well fleshed out. Their living counterparts...not so much. It's a pity, because the novel took its time describing places and people (the pace is so different from a modern mystery). I honestly don't understand why we spent so much time with Ms. Beale the inspector. She wasn't the POV character for long, she wasn't a substitute for the reader...I'd have rather spent more time inside the Superintendent's head.
The book had its interesting parts, but I had a hard time keeping up with the characters. Too many names introduced too quickly. Some characters were easier to remember and identify, half were not.
I didn't connect at all with the main protagonist. I don't know anything about his history and had a hard time understanding his actions. We spent little time with him and a little more with the nurses. I give it to the author: the victims were well fleshed out. Their living counterparts...not so much. It's a pity, because the novel took its time describing places and people (the pace is so different from a modern mystery). I honestly don't understand why we spent so much time with Ms. Beale the inspector. She wasn't the POV character for long, she wasn't a substitute for the reader...I'd have rather spent more time inside the Superintendent's head.