β Scribed by James, P. D.
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
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. . . .
In her latest Commander Adam Dalgliesh detective novel, James subtly deepens the complexities of his personality, making him an ever more credible protagonist. When two bodies are discovered with their throats slashed in a London church, Dalgleish is called upon to solve the case. One victim is Sir Paul Berowne, former Minister of the Crown; the other is a tramp accustomed to sleeping in the church vestibule. It seems that these deaths may be tied to those of two young women who have recently been employed in the Berowne household. Dalgleish feels an unusual empathy in this case; he had known Berowne and sensed several parallels in their lives. This sense of compassion is one of the things that distinguishes James's novels. In delving into what she calls "the fascination of character," she makes each actor in the drama memorable. The characters here read Trollope and Philip Larkin; they are knowledgeable about architecture and art. Yet James's civilized digressions do not detract from the suspense of the plot. She does not employ horrific details for shock effect, but her step-by-step description of procedural details, particularly those of forensic medicine, totally immerse readers in the investigation. Literate readers who have not yet made Adam Dalgliesh's acquaintance should rush to the bookstores for this one. 100,000 first printing; BOMC main selection; author tour. (November 1
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
βSuperbβ¦. A treat for mystery lovers, and a gift to all readers.β β USA Today
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βSplendidly suspenseful.β β The Washington Post Book World
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βA first-rate detective novel, but it goes beyond that fine achievement to another realmβ¦. An intricate, compassionate novel.β β _The Boston Globe
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"Her best and most ambitious tale to date.... The reigning mistress of murder.... A craftsman with a poet's vision, she not only detects evil but attempts to uncover the more elusive--and enduring--enigmas of the human psyche that lead to it." β _Time
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"Rich, multifaceted.... Involving and genuinely moving.... So ambitious and thematically challenging that it has few peers in its genre. A Taste for Death provides all the entertaining elements of a more conventional murder mystery, but James continually delivers that something extra.... James at her best, at the zenith of her writing career." β _Houston Chronicle
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"Literary grace of a high order and the ability to give full dimensions to both character, relationships and environment.... She writes with precision and elegance." β Los Angeles Times
"Ms. James is simply a wonderful writer." β _The New York Times Book Review
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"Rings of authenticity ... compelling.... The ability to haunt has earned P. D. James the title of 'queen of crime.' Long may she reign." β*Chicago Sun-Times
"James still delivers the pace and tensions of a mystery yarn better than any living writer." β*People
"A pleasure to read.... One avidly turns the pages." β _Cleveland Plain Dealer
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"The best of James' ten novels.... She has blended a whodunit and a fully realized modern novel." β _The New York Times Magazine
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"Marvelous." β _Newsweek
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"One reads a P. D. James novel in something like the same spirit that one reads a novel by Zola, Balzac, Thackeray, or Dickens." β The Christian Science Monitor
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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?
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