Commander Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard has just published a new book of poems and has taken a brief respite from publicity on the remote Larksoken he...
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Mar 27, 2009
Jean
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My best friend Diane got me hooked on James, an English author with many, many writing accolades.
From Google Books: Featuring the famous Commander Adam Dalgliesh, Devices and Desires is a thrilling and insightfully crafted novel of fallible people caught in a net of secrets, ambitions, and schemes on a lonely stretch of Norfolk coastline.
Commander Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard has just published a new book of poems and has taken a brief respite from publicity on the remote L More...
From Google Books: Featuring the famous Commander Adam Dalgliesh, Devices and Desires is a thrilling and insightfully crafted novel of fallible people caught in a net of secrets, ambitions, and schemes on a lonely stretch of Norfolk coastline.
Commander Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard has just published a new book of poems and has taken a brief respite from publicity on the remote L More...
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Aug 01, 2011
This is so much more than a whodunnit.... It's just beautifully written - some great observations on human character, and really well structured. There is a dinner party near the beginning, and the book then follows each of the attendees in turn as they evolve from first simply the main characters in the book into the main suspects in a murder. This could have been a clumsy device, but somehow, PD James makes it work really well. I've not read any other Dalgliesh novels, but in this one he is no
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Mar 28, 2010
Surreysmum
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Jul 03, 2011
Migdalia
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Commander Adam Dalgliesh, goes to the remote Larksoken headland where his recently deceased aunt, Jane Dalgliesh, left him a converted windmill. He decides to visit the town in order to take a break, clear up paperwork regarding his aunt's estate, and figure out what he wants he wants to do with his aunt's old home. However and coincidentally, there's a serial killer on the loose, the Norfolk Whistler, and the local DI, who once worked with Dalgliesh briefly, decides he could use a little advic
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Jun 26, 2009
Murray
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I was introduced to James by Lyndsay, my British sister-in-law. I met her at university and introduced her to my cousin. She was quite brilliant and always led me to good reads and we both shared a fondness for mysteries. I soon after picked up a book called The Black Tower and found it impossibly obtuse and full of painstaking pretensions. The detective that populates her mysteries is a respected, published poet in his off hours so you get a lot of snoot. He is not Jim Chee from the Hillerm
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Dec 16, 2009
Alicia
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Great character development, lots of side-plots, philosophical discussions, wonderful descriptions on the land & geography. thoroughly engrossing as well as a fantastic mystery!
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Jan 26, 2012
Nancy
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The character of Adam Dalgliesh evolves from one novel to the next. The stories do not build on each other to any significant degree but the character development certainly does. In this story, Adam's beloved aunt has died, and he goes out to her estate, which he has inherited, to sort through not only his property, but through a host of decisions. While there, he unwillingly becomes involved in a murder by not only finding the body, but by becoming engaged in the investigation. His inherent i
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Jan 03, 2010
Debbie
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This is an Adam Dalgliesh mystery set in an imaginary setting on the north-east coast of Norfolk, complicated by the presence of a nuclear plant. The setting and the multitude of characters provide a delightful story with amny twists and turns. The story begins with a serial killer on the loose, the Whistler, who strangles women. He has killed 5. Dalgliesh is in the area to settle the estate(a windmill) that an aunt has left him. James is not an author that allows a quick read, the book is
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Aug 07, 2011
Tracy
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I really enjoyed this book.......I loved the setting.......the characters.......the storyline. Sometimes I actually felt like I was actually there.....I could smell the smells.......feel the breeze........hear the fire in the fireplace. The murder plotline in the story started out strong and then there were so many people who could have done it I was constantly changing my mind as to who it was. I was not surprised by who the killer was in the end and wished there could've been more to the endin
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Nov 14, 2009
Audrey
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Good old fashioned writing. It's a good enough story and the characters are mostly believable (meaning slightly overblown because who wants to read about everyday people, but not outrageous). I found myself a couple of times thinking "this is how books used to be...you could count on being suitably entertained". Scary but not full of horror, bad people doing bad things like you would expect in a murder mystery, etc. It's hard to describe except to say this was a comfortable book
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Sep 16, 2011
Marti
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PRactically speaking, it would probably be hard to find an area like this where so many people are plotting various actions against neighbors. I can believe that people are not all that happy about nuclear power plants in their neighborhood. Not only the police, but also a jealous suitor investigates his supposed girlfriend. Adam Dalgliesh is supposed to be having a holiday, but gets caught up in the intrigue. Several people die. What else is new? This is a little confusing, but then, tha
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Nov 18, 2011
Akika
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I really enjoy PD James. She writes very well. She recently (at the age of 92) wrote a sequel to Pride and Prejudice that involves Wickham's murder, which I'd like to read. This, however, is an older book that I found in a used bookshop the other day. It's one of the Adam Dalgliesh series, which is always good.
I have to say, however, I found this book disappointing. Dalgliesh, admittedly never the entire focus of the book, usually has a greater part in it. I didn't feel that that detra More...
I have to say, however, I found this book disappointing. Dalgliesh, admittedly never the entire focus of the book, usually has a greater part in it. I didn't feel that that detra More...
Mar 14, 2008
Nicole
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I really need to stop reading P.D. James. My understanding is that plenty of people love her, but this is the third book I've read and finished only out of a sense of duty. In a twist, her hero Adam Dalgleish (or however you spell that) is on the outside of a case looking in. I'm not sure whether this was just to do something new, or to give us fascinating insights on what it's like to be involved in a murder case when you're not the police, but I wasn't impressed. For a sensitive poet such
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Oct 03, 2010
Dagmar
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A kind of Agatha Christie style British mystery, but much longer. I had trouble keeping up with all the characters and lost interest and gave up half way through the book. I was also listening to this book, and it was told by a narrator with a heavy British accent which made listening more work and it made going back and reviewing clues more difficult, so I think this book must be better read in print. I'm sure it is a good book, if this is your style of book. Maybe I'll try it again someday
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Aug 02, 2010
Richard
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In her book TALKING ABOUT DETECTIVE FICTION, P.D. James wrote about setting as an important element in a detective story, and about how a visit the rugged windswept Norfolk coast was the inspiration for DEVICES AND DESIRES. Dalgliesh’s aunt has died and had left him a sizeable fortune including a converted windmill on a sparsely populated headland on the Norfolk coast. When he travels there (partly as a holiday and partly to deal with the new property) he finds himself tangentially involved in
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Jul 09, 2011
FittenTrim
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I had read a P.D. James mystery earlier this year and found it humdrum. Fine, but nothing to write home about. With this novel though, I really was drawn into the world. Her mysteries are still easy for me to solve (I've read almost Agatha Christie novel; I see the clues & motives even when they're hidden), but I didn't mind because this was a rich world with interesting characters whose individual desires fight against each other. Really good.
Grade: A
Grade: A
Sep 05, 2010
Wendy
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In this book, Adam Dalgliesh spends a holiday on the Norfolk coast, and quickly becomes involved in the investigation of some local murders. What starts out as a very straightforward police procedural quickly turns into an intricate examination of character, as we find out that most of the local residents, whether complicit in the murders or not, have hidden motives and reasons to lie to the police and to each other. In the end, the web of secrets is so complicated that even Dalgliesh doesn't un
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Apr 24, 2011
Lori
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So ... I don't particularly like murder mysteries, but I was seduced by some of PD James great prose. This book isn't memorably for its writing, but it is a finely drawn, believable and yet still taut murder mystery. It's manna for murder mystery fans and for readers like me that occasionally need to be drawn down the rabbit hole of the genre as an antidote to too much thinking.
Jan 02, 2009
Robyn
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I found this too crowded with characters which was maybe an attempt to convey a sense of place and community. But some of the characters seemed too much like types, and it was a bit gruesome for me, both in the sense of describing how characters died, and in actually describing the death of characters whom you've become attached to, rather than killing them off-scene.
Jan 01, 2011
Evan
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Well-done mystery, but would have been a much better book if it hadn't been a mystery. James eventually succumbs to the heavy conventions of this genre, which tend to stifle meaningful development of character in favor of presenting a host of suspicious characters before revealing "whodunnit." In the end, maybe whodunnit isn't that important after all.
Jul 17, 2009
Jocelyn
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An interesting cast of characters with complex motives. The setting is less interesting (another coastal community) and the main action takes place at a nuclear reactor facility that is not very convincingly drawn. The fate of two characters is totally unbelievable. Still, the book is well-written overall and it kept me engaged.
Sep 08, 2010
I think my favorite PD James so far. I think the setting and atmosphere in this one is the best and most effective. Also interesting because Adam is not the main detective. I love how she keeps so many balls up in the air that you can never figure it out before very close to the end. I love PD James
Mar 10, 2009
Libby
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I've only read a few P.D. James books and always come away amazed at her ability to create characters and to delve into the dark side that lurks in all of us. The only reason I didn't give this five stars is because of the rather auxiliary role played by Dalgliesh in solving the crime.
Apr 16, 2011
Jay
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This is the first PD James mystery I've read. I enjoyed the writing of this book, although the story itself was a bit out there. I did like the characters. I listened to this on audio and it was so-so, it was a bit confusing and it wasn't as compelling as other mysteries I've listened to. I'd be willing to try another.
Jan 04, 2011
Adrienne
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This is the second P.D. James novel I've read. Both offered well-developed characters, complicated circumstances, and extremely elegant prose. However, both failed to offer the reader the opportunity to unravel the mystery. James presents a plethora of likely suspects; however, critical facts about the murder are left out until the details of the murder are revealed. In Devises and Desires, the solution seemed to come out of nowhere - that was a little disappointing to me. I thoroughly enjoy rea
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Jul 07, 2009
Ginny
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Adam Dalgliesch is off duty, going to his aunt's cottage to close it up and settle her estate. There has been a series of murders. The same night that the killer is caught, there is a copycat murder. Only a few people new the details. Who was the murderer and what was the motive? Spoiler: It was the least likely, weakest person.
Dec 10, 2009
Margie
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I think this was one of the first P.D. James books I read. It's good, but a bit different from some of her other Adam Dalgleish stories because A.D. is only a minor character. Not my favorite of hers, but even her worst is pretty darn good.
Dec 30, 2011
Beth
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While I mostly enjoyed the story, I found the writing itself distracting. It seemed overwrought and overambitious--too many clumsy metaphors and cliché similes and character descriptions that contradicted themselves.
Jan 25, 2010
Karen
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Didn't grab me the way other Dalgliesh mysteries have. The nuclear power plot felt terribly dated, and James' own preferences and prejudices seemed very pressing somehow. I found her authorial presence irritating and smug.
Sep 05, 2011
Tim
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Devices and Desires created an elaborate setting and cast of characters but it disappointed me in the end. I wanted more Dagleish (this was not his mystery to solve) and its resolution was not satisfying at all.
