Rating: 
Summary: Dalgliesh looks on
Review: Some vacation ... Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh drives to his aunts in Suffolk with hope of rest and reflection on his own life. Soon he finds himself in the middle of it, with local inspector Reckless investigating the murder (or natural causes?) of a Maurice Seton, floating on a dinghy alone with his hands cut off, possibly by his aunt's hatchet. From here the mystery starts, and continues from a literary circle, to a strip tease artist. The conclusion was a shocker for me, although looking back, the clues and the character development fit! For the American birdwatcher, like myself, there is also delight in aunt Jane's identification of the curlew sandpiper, versus Adam's dunlin.
Rating: 
Summary: PD's worst is still better than most
Review: Sooner or later it happens to many writers (and filmakers, too): the urge to turn the creative gaze back in on itself. Fortunately for us murder mystery afficianados, P D James got this out of her system early, here in Unnatural Causes.The corpse around which this book's fantastically convoluted plot turns is a murdered murder mystery writer. Every character on the scene is a writer of some sort or another, much of Dalgleish's detecting involves scraps of manuscript and analysis of typing styles -- and after a while, the self-referential nature of all this is likely to leave even the staunchest P D James fan a bit cold. In addition, the story's climax is melodramatic, and its subsequent denouement clumsily-presented and unlikely -- i.e. they resemble typical murder mysteries, but do not meet James's usual elegant standard. Unnatural Causes is therefore not recommended for the casual reader interested in sampling Lady James's generally superlative work; Devices and Desires and A Taste for Death, her two best, are really the places to start. Nevertheless, for experienced P D James readers, Unnatural Causes does hold interest. The character of Dalgleish is here 'fully-formed', and the bleak descriptions of the Suffolk coast presage the even better evocations of England's eastern shores in several of her later novels. And, as always, Lady James's use of the English language stands head and shoulders above her peers. It's true real people rarely talk in the elegant sentences her characters spout at all turns, but the sheer joy of her style more than compensates for her lack of versimilitude.
Rating: 
Summary: The best view ever of Dalgliesh's character.
Review: This is my absolute favorite of the Dalgliesh novels. The balance between exploring characters and expounding plot is just about perfect. The reader really feels for Dalgliesh as he struggles to decide about marrying Deborah Riscoe, and the murder than intrudes on his vacation is both horrible and intruiging. Finally, as an added bonus, in this book we at last get to read a bit of Dalgliesh's poetry: ten beautifully intricate lines addressed to Deborah. If you like and are interested in the character of Dalgliesh, you must own this book, because you will want to read it again and again.
Rating:
Summary: NOT ONE OF HER BEST
Review: To my mind, any book of P.D. James is worth reading, but UNNATURAL CAUSES is simply not one of her best. Yes, the plot is fascinating, if a bit dependent on twists and turns that mean very little, indeed, to the solution of the murders. Most interesting, as usual with James, is her development of complex characters. Unfortunately, as another reviewer pointed out, almost every one of these characters is, at best, unpleasant and since they are all writers or are connected with professional writers in some way, it seems James has a bit of a chip on her shoulder about her colleagues. The last 20 pages contain a transcription of a taped confession which ties up all the loose plot knots, but does not, at all, let us in on the effects this confession has on any of the characters except for James' detective, Adam Dalgliesh. This is truly disappointing, especially for a writer who so carefully peoples her novels. A small note: I do not consider myself a prude and perhaps it is mere political correctness on my part, but I found James' characters' negative comments about homosexuals and one physically challenged character to be in poor taste.
Rating:
Summary: NOT ONE OF HER BEST
Review: To my mind, any book of P.D. James is worth reading, but UNNATURAL CAUSES is simply not one of her best. Yes, the plot is fascinating, if a bit dependent on twists and turns that mean very little, indeed, to the solution of the murders. Most interesting, as usual with James, is her development of complex characters. Unfortunately, as another reviewer pointed out, almost every one of these characters is, at best, unpleasant and since they are all writers or are connected with professional writers in some way, it seems James has a bit of a chip on her shoulder about her colleagues. The last 20 pages contain a transcription of a taped confession which ties up all the loose plot knots, but does not, at all, let us in on the effects this confession has on any of the characters except for James' detective, Adam Dalgliesh. This is truly disappointing, especially for a writer who so carefully peoples her novels. A small note: I do not consider myself a prude and perhaps it is mere political correctness on my part, but I found James' characters' negative comments about homosexuals and one physically challenged character to be in poor taste.
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