false 52614430 1798222 4162673 0571242448 9780571242443 1058 321 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4162673.The_Private_Patient 344522 3.71 18957 2091 3 2 false Sat Apr 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 05:58:36 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 19 07:07:38 -0700 2009
I have to credit James, almost ninety, with continuing to write competent police procedural books which peep into the lives of her suspects, criminals and detectives. And yet, I found several aspects that grated on me: the intruding concern for plot summations at various points of the story (more for the writer it seeemed, than for the reader), dialogue that seemed to be introduced for the sole purpose of providing information to the reader, the endless parade of characters and their physical descriptions - some essential to the central story, others connected with the private lives of the police personnel.

Sex seems a taboo subject for James, and hence several close relationships carry on without any indication that sex is part of the equation: Candace-Westhall and Annabel Skelton, Rhoda and Robin, Collinsby and Lucy,Chandler-Powell and Helena, even Commander Dalglish and his betrothed Emma. Decorum is also maintained in the descriptions of how people seat themselves before conducting any serious business, the taking of tea as a ritual that must be described even when a murder had just taken place, and the logistics of Dalglish's squad's operation during each member's personal down-time.

The story veered off from a whodunit to a howdunit with an epilogue on how-it-was-possible-to-do-it. The coincidences (a murder victim meeting a witness in London during the terrorist bombings, the same day she was supposed to be in the country signing a will - how realistic is that?) and the last minute introduction of characters who made significant contributions to the plot, gave me the impression that James was struggling to conclude her plot and called in the cavalry.

James is particularly keen to settle her squad in the end - marry them off, promote or retire them - perhaps, sending us a gentle hint that this is probably her last Dalglish book.
]]>