The Black Tower

Rating:
Summary: James delves into the creepy--and succeeds
Review: "The Black Tower" is arguably the creepiest of P. D. James's works! In addition to having the highest number of murder victims, the novel has a claustrophobic setting--an isolated nursing home on the Dorset coast--that lends itself well to a level of suspense bordering on terror.

H. R. F. Keating has cited "The Black Tower" as one of the 100 greatest mystery novels of all time. (James's "A Taste for Death" is also on the list.) Interestingly enough, although the element of mystery builds throughout "The Black Tower," its resolution is not as satisfying as in some other works by P. D. James. The reason may be that the motive for the multiple murders does not seem to be as well integrated into the heart of the novel when compared to "Shroud for a Nightingale" and "Original Sin," to name novels that both preceded and followed "The Black Tower."

Still, the remarkable characters and, yes, the element of creepiness make "The Black Tower" a terrific read. The setting is atmospheric and plays a large role in generating the tension that pervades the novel. Bonus: Fans of both detective series in the P. D. James canon will be gratified by the teasing references to Cordelia Gray in this Dalgliesh novel.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best
Review: Adam Dalgliesh, recovering from his illness, paid a dutiful visit to Father Badderly at Tonyton Village. He found himself to be an unwilling spectator to four deaths. In spite of his determination not to be involved, his detective instincts and skeptism were soon searching for the link and reasons behind the four seemingly straightforward deaths.

I find this book to be one of P D James¡¦ best. The conclusion to the story was simply impressive. As in all her books, this book is best not to be read in a hurry, it is beautiful to digest it slowly. The beauty of it all is that it will make you hold your breathe even when you are turning the pages slowly, a most unusual feature for a thriller as exciting as this.

Rating:
Summary: Suspense maybe rather than mystery.
Review: Another James puzzler with twists in the telling as well as the tale. Like that of "Unsuitable Job for a Woman" this book's plot is not a simple and straightforward murder mystery. In fact, for a good portion of the book one wonders if in fact there is a mystery, let alone a murder, except that, this being a James' Dalgleish there must be. Dalgleish has been in hospital for suspected leukemia ~ thank goodness a misdiagnosis! ~ and, asked, plans to visit his father's old curate in Dorset during his convalescence. Father Michael Badderly is priest in residence at Toynton Grange, a small (and getting smaller) home for terminally ill patients. There are a number of varyingly sinister characters living in and around the Grange, and it is in the interplay of these people that the story unfolds. Suffice it to say that, by the end, Dalgleish's intuition is proven again, he rescinds his decision to leave the Force, and the evil ~ if not the foolish ~ are punished.

Rating:
Summary: A mystery novel about mysterious murders in Dorset, England.
Review: Being the first of the P.D. James novels I have read, I was taken at once by the depth each character in this mystery. The psychological aspects of The Black Tower delve deeply into the human soul. The true culprit of the murders remains masterly hidden until the end, but it was disappointing to not be able to figure the mystery out myself. Throughout the novel, clues are dropped that point to almost every character and although some lead to dead ends, Commander Adam Dalgliesh traces them to the end. It was nice to have a conclusion that was both exciting and tied up all the loose ends. I give this book three stars because of the length of time it seemed to take to get to the conclusion.

Rating:
Summary: Good Solid Mystery
Review: Commander Adam Dalgliesh is recovering from a severe illness when he receives an invitation to visit his old friend and mentor Father Baddely. Deciding that a visit to the countryside might give him time to relax and give thought to perhaps giving up his career at Scotland Yard. But there is no rest, as there are a series of deaths at Troynton Grange, and with each death Dalgliesh is drawn inexorably back into his old life, solving murders.
'The Black Tower' is a little less in classical Agatha Christie style as 'The Skull Beneath The Skin', the other PD James novel I have read. The setting for 'The Black Tower' is in a local sanitorium for patients with long-term illness, which provides a suitable sense of dread and decay. James peoples it with several interesting characters. A fine effort.

Rating:
Summary: predictable but readable
Review: I enjoy reading mysteries so that I can be surprised by the characters' actions or motives. This novel has very few surprises. Yet, because PD James is such an excellent writer, I enjoyed the novel because of the detective. His thoughts were interesting and surprising. I wish the action had been too.

Rating:
Summary: Gothic!
Review: P.D. James is reknowned for her ability to combine the psychological novel with the classic murder mystery--but now and then her emphasis on psychology so overshadows her plot that it becomes hard to describe the work as a murder mystery per se. Such is the case with THE BLACK TOWER, a profoundly bleak novel set in an isolated home for "the young disabled," a euphemistic term for victims of slowly progressing but ultimately fatal muscular disease.

The story begins when Inspector Dalgliesh, himself recovering from both a serious illness and a crisis of confidence, is invited to Toynton Grange by the home's elderly chaplin; something is amiss, and the chaplin would welcome Dalgliesh's advice. But when Dalgliesh arrives, he finds his old friend has died a few days earlier. With little to go on except his own suspicion, Dalgliesh slowly, grudingly begins to investigate... and finds one suspicious death after another.

The premise is a classic set up, but in this novel James places Dalgliesh more as an observer of the inevitable than as a detective, and when the solution arrives it does so more by intuition and assumption than by logical deduction. But if this element is weak, the overall novel is very strong: moody to the point of despair, and peopled with painfully pitiful characters, THE DARK TOWER is perhaps one of James' more memorable novels in terms of style alone. Flawed, yes; recommended nonetheless. But be forewarned: you may need prescription medication to escape the sense of depression the novel creates.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Crime Novel
Review: Reading this book you will never feel that it is going too slow or even too fast.The tempo is perfect and until the very end,the suspense and agony are being hold to maximum levels...

Rating:
Summary: P. D. James's creepiest yet
Review: The bodies of the murder victims keep piling up in this whodunit set in a nursing home on the coast of Dorset. The isolation lends to the aura of incipient terror that hovers over the scene, and more layers to the bottomless depths of Commander Adam Dalgliesh's character are revealed.
One of James's best.