Death in Holy Orders

Rating:
Summary: Dust off your dictionary
Review: Death in Holy Orders is the first P.D James tale I have read. I plan on reading others. While Adam Dalgiesh of the Scotland Yard conducts a secondary investigation of a death at a theological college more deaths occur. The investigation is the backbone of the book.

One reviewer described this book as "ponderous" and I agree. The book is long and at times the detail is deep - for some maybe, too deep. The style of author James leads this book to be read slowly and with a dictionary at hand. I enjoyed this book, but found myself starting and finishing a couple other books while following Dalgiesh's investigation. I willed myself to finish this book and in doing so I was entertained and my vocabulary increased.

Rating:
Summary: Plot, Characters, Background Equal Success on this One
Review: I can't believe there are only 3 reviews, but I'll confirm what the others said. I have not liked all of P.D. James's books, but this one seems to be the crowning achievment of her lifetime. I generally read mysteries now only if there is a background theme that is of interest, something new I can learn about. In this book it was the Church of England. Being of the Roman persuasion, I found it interesting to compare the two religions and look at the similarities and differences. I also always like stories that involve authentication of art objects, which played a part in the murders in this book. The plot moved along well, and the author did keep me guessing right up to the end. She supported a large cast of characters, with any one of a dozen people as possible suspects. She had the normal couple doing the cooking and maintenance, and then she had Eric and Karen(!). She had a priest who had served a prison sentence for child sexual abuse, certainly a very timely issue. However, which I liked, she never spelled out whether he was actually guilty or had been framed. The person was written as a very sympathetic character rather than the evil stranger who lures kids into his car and then dumps them in a ditch. It gave the reader something to think about. She showed compassion for all of her characters, while at the same time giving many of them dark secrets. The location in East Anglia was interesting also, as this was the same area in which Dorothy L. Sayers set her bell-ringing classic, The Nine Tailors. The only criticism I have is that the motive for murder was not all that convincing. I believe other reviewers said the same thing. This was a great read and I blasted through it on a weekend without putting it down. I now want to see the video.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best mysteries I've read recently
Review: P.D. James is a masterful writer, and this pageturner is surely one of her best. The plot involves a series of deaths in a very small gated Anglo-Catholic seminary in an isolated area on a rugged coast -- there are a limited number of people to consider as the possible killer, and the fact that so many are priests or ordinands makes the situation more difficult. Given the number of people at the seminary at the time of the central murder, however, the list of suspects is quite long and at times difficult to keep track of. There are enough red herrings in this mystery to make a large fish stew. Adam Dalgliesh, the poet-detective, is staying at the seminary, poking around about the previous mysterious death of one of the students, when an unpopular official from the Church is murdered. There are candidates galore for the killer, and some of those candidates have secrets of their own that may or may not have anything to do with the murder. And do the deaths connect? It gets very complicated, so much so that I considered taking notes of the possible killers and their motives. James is great at developing characters and setting -- so much so that you felt like you were there.

My only complaint is that the motive for the killing did not seem sufficient to me. I really can't say more without revealing too much. Otherwise, this is an excellent book.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best mysteries I've read recently
Review: P.D. James is a masterful writer, and this pageturner is surely one of her best. The plot involves a series of deaths in a very small gated Anglo-Catholic seminary in an isolated area on a rugged coast -- there are a limited number of people to consider as the possible killer, and the fact that so many are priests or ordinands makes the situation more difficult. Given the number of people at the seminary at the time of the central murder, however, the list of suspects is quite long and at times difficult to keep track of. There are enough red herrings in this mystery to make a large fish stew. Adam Dalgliesh, the poet-detective, is staying at the seminary, poking around about the previous mysterious death of one of the students, when an unpopular official from the Church is murdered. There are candidates galore for the killer, and some of those candidates have secrets of their own that may or may not have anything to do with the murder. And do the deaths connect? It gets very complicated, so much so that I considered taking notes of the possible killers and their motives. James is great at developing characters and setting -- so much so that you felt like you were there.

My only complaint is that the motive for the killing did not seem sufficient to me. I really can't say more without revealing too much. Otherwise, this is an excellent book.

Rating:
Summary: Fine Novel, but not quite her best
Review: This is a fine book equal in quality to most of her other novels, but not the best one IMHO. It has a great many suspects, as usual the characterization if very fine, I like Dalgleish a lot as a protagonist. The motive was not all that strong, perhaps, and there were a couple of flaws, but it's well worth the read--far better than most mysteries on the market. P.D. James is no doubt a fine mystery writer. If you like this one, try my favorite (but no Dalgleish) "Innocent Blood" or read "Cover Her Face" or "Death of an Expert Witness." The biggest problem with P. D. James is that she hasn't written more novels! My favorite quotes from this book:

p. 274 Quoting Pascal: `Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.'

p. 315 If we're on a wild-goose chase, at least they're flying in the right direction.


Rating:
Summary: Keeps you guessing!!
Review: This is the first P.D. James book that I have read and clearly I have been depriving myself of some very thrilling and cleverly constructed murder mysteries, which do more than keep the reader turning the pages. This is a well constructed murder/mystery, with not just one death, but 4! The book opens with the death of a young man training to be a priest in an isolated seminary on the rugged English coast. Is it suicide? Murder?

Despite a coroner's inquest, the super competent Inspector Dalgleish comes to investigate further, at the request of the man's father. While there he beomes emborioled in the other deaths, only one of which is obviously murder, committed while he is staying at the seminary. Are all of these deaths connected, and why would anyone want all of these people dead?

This is a really complex story, with nearly all of the characters having some reason to either hate the murdered man, or reason to implicate someone else. I didn't guess who the murderer was until the author wanted me to, and I think that this is fantastic in really good murder mysteries (I hate working out who did it in too short a period of time).

The reason I have given this fine book 4 stars (well, really 4.5) is that I wasn't really convinced with the motive for the murder when it was finally solved. I guess it was plausible, but nowhere as strong as I had expected. As for the other deaths, well you'll have to read the book to work it out! It is well worth reading, and I shall find more of Ms Jame's books to devour!