From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives

The Black Tower
by
Start date
May 1, 2020
Finish date
May 31, 2020
Discussion
Group Challenges
Why we're reading this
The 5th book in our PD James/ Adam Dalgliesh challenge.

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Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 166 topics — 7,784 comments total
+ Group Challenges
* Sept 25: The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) by Agatha Christie
By Susan · 14 posts · 16 views
last updated Sep 02, 2025 12:08AM
* Sept 25: The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) - SPOILER Thread
By Susan · 4 posts · 12 views
last updated Sep 01, 2025 04:16PM

What Members Thought

Julie Durnell
3.5 stars for the wonderful writing and intricate plotting, but oh my there are so many characters!
Shabbeer Hassan
Dec 29, 2019 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: whodunit, 2019, brit-lit
As the year comes to an end, I returned to one of my favourite gentleman detectives, Adam Dalgliesh. PD James paints a vivid picture of a remote coastal town where Adam finds himself one foggy morning in search of meeting an old friend, who he finds to be dead. What follows then is a cat and mouse game between Adam the sleuth, his convalescing self hell-bent on leaving the Yard and the crafty villain who preys more on people's psyche than their wallets.

The plot is made more memorable by James'
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Jan C
Maybe ★★★ 1\2.

Adam Dalgliesh learns a little something about false diagnoses. Then he goes to visit a friend who apparently died just before he arrives. The friend was working as a counselor/priest at a nursing home (?) for quadriplegics at a converted estate. But the bodies keep falling and they all appear to be natural causes. There were too many for natural causes to have killed them all.

All this while Adam is considering leaving the Met.

This was okay but as I was listening to this today, I
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Abbey
#5 Adam Dalgleish, rural Dorset; professional as amateur sleuth. The death of an old friend involves Adam in the peculiar goings on at a home for disabled young adults, and introduces him to some very interesting, and odd characters.

Another darkly philosophical visit with this superbly realized, quite unusual sleuth, as he wanders around the countryside convalescing after severe illness, and trying to get his life back on track. Resonates with pain and darknesses of many kinds, on several level
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Katie
Sep 03, 2014 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: mystery, fiction
I need to re- read this one!
Robin
Aug 13, 2008 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Patti
Oct 30, 2010 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Barbara
Jul 09, 2011 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Susan in NC
Sep 19, 2011 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Pat
Sep 20, 2011 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
KLS
Mar 19, 2012 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Cathy Beyers
Mar 03, 2015 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Karen M
Apr 22, 2017 marked it as library-wish-list  ·  review of another edition
Reema
Oct 15, 2018 rated it liked it  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: read-audio
Diane
Feb 09, 2020 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Daniele
Mar 16, 2021 marked it as read-next  ·  review of another edition
Sarah
Oct 21, 2022 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Sarah
Feb 09, 2023 rated it it was amazing
Nico
May 18, 2023 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Lekeshua
Aug 13, 2023 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Christine
Oct 18, 2023 rated it it was ok  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: hrf-keating
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