What do you think?
Rate this book
Adam Dalgliesh #3
Unnatural Causes
THE MULTIMILLION-COPY BESTSELLING ADAM DALGLIESH SERIES FROM THE 'QUEEN OF ENGLISH CRIME' (Guardian)
'A legend.' VAL MCDERMID
'P. D. James took the classic crime novel and turned up the dial.' MICK HERRON
'The most ingeniously undetectable murder method since Dorothy L. Sayers.' SCOTSMAN
PERFECT FOR FANS OF VAL MCDERMID, RUTH RENDELL AND ELLY GRIFFITHS
__________________________________________________________________________________
An unfinished manuscript. A murder stranger than fiction.
Battered by the conclusion of a particularly brutal murder case in London, Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh has escaped for a hard-earned break, which he plans to spend taking long walks with his aunt and doing a little bird-watching in the Suffolk countryside.
But all hope of peace is shattered by murder, when the mutilated body of local crime writer Maurice Seaton is discovered floating in a dinghy near Dalgliesh's rural idyll. Faced with such a macabre crime, Dalgliesh feels compelled to join the investigation - but as he delves into the dead man's secrets, the case seems poised to take another murderous turn . . .
__________________________________________________________________________________
'Cleverly plotted . . . full of telling detail.' Edmund Crispin, Sunday Times
'Wonderful evocative writing - a thriller of the highest calibre. Just loved this book and would recommend to anyone who enjoys superbly crafted detective fiction.' 5* reader review
'A very engrossing whodunit with a real sense of location and character. It left me wanting to visit Suffolk and hear a wind coming off the sea, so fierce that you cannot stand upright against it . . . Thoroughly enjoyable.' 5* reader review
**Now a major Channel 5 series**
__________________________________________________________________________________
READERS LOVE THE ADAM DALGLEISH
'Adam Dalgleish is one of the best characters in modern detective fiction.' 5* reader review
'If you are not already an Adam Dalgliesh fan, I urge you to become one . . . James can describe a scene or delineate a character with precision and depth, like no other writer I have read . . . I usually stay up all night to read a P. D. James novel once I start one.' 5* reader review
'I would never give less than 5 stars to any P. D. James book. She is one of a kind, always constant, always wonderful writing, always great characters, and always a good mystery that you cannot put down.' 5* reader review
'P.D. James writes mysteries for ordinary people. Her characters are relatable and her hero is dynamic. But don't expect cell phones or computers. Her stories are strictly old school, which is what I love about them.' 5* reader review
'Crime writing at its very best!' 5* reader review
PRAISE FOR P. D.
'P. D. James is the crème de la crème of crime writers.
'A legend.' VAL MCDERMID
'P. D. James took the classic crime novel and turned up the dial.' MICK HERRON
'The most ingeniously undetectable murder method since Dorothy L. Sayers.' SCOTSMAN
PERFECT FOR FANS OF VAL MCDERMID, RUTH RENDELL AND ELLY GRIFFITHS
__________________________________________________________________________________
An unfinished manuscript. A murder stranger than fiction.
Battered by the conclusion of a particularly brutal murder case in London, Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh has escaped for a hard-earned break, which he plans to spend taking long walks with his aunt and doing a little bird-watching in the Suffolk countryside.
But all hope of peace is shattered by murder, when the mutilated body of local crime writer Maurice Seaton is discovered floating in a dinghy near Dalgliesh's rural idyll. Faced with such a macabre crime, Dalgliesh feels compelled to join the investigation - but as he delves into the dead man's secrets, the case seems poised to take another murderous turn . . .
__________________________________________________________________________________
'Cleverly plotted . . . full of telling detail.' Edmund Crispin, Sunday Times
'Wonderful evocative writing - a thriller of the highest calibre. Just loved this book and would recommend to anyone who enjoys superbly crafted detective fiction.' 5* reader review
'A very engrossing whodunit with a real sense of location and character. It left me wanting to visit Suffolk and hear a wind coming off the sea, so fierce that you cannot stand upright against it . . . Thoroughly enjoyable.' 5* reader review
**Now a major Channel 5 series**
__________________________________________________________________________________
READERS LOVE THE ADAM DALGLEISH
'Adam Dalgleish is one of the best characters in modern detective fiction.' 5* reader review
'If you are not already an Adam Dalgliesh fan, I urge you to become one . . . James can describe a scene or delineate a character with precision and depth, like no other writer I have read . . . I usually stay up all night to read a P. D. James novel once I start one.' 5* reader review
'I would never give less than 5 stars to any P. D. James book. She is one of a kind, always constant, always wonderful writing, always great characters, and always a good mystery that you cannot put down.' 5* reader review
'P.D. James writes mysteries for ordinary people. Her characters are relatable and her hero is dynamic. But don't expect cell phones or computers. Her stories are strictly old school, which is what I love about them.' 5* reader review
'Crime writing at its very best!' 5* reader review
PRAISE FOR P. D.
'P. D. James is the crème de la crème of crime writers.
291 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1967
921 people are currently reading
3637 people want to read
About the author
P.D. James
318 books3,242 followersP. D. James, byname of Phyllis Dorothy James White, Baroness James of Holland Park, (born August 3, 1920, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England—died November 27, 2014, Oxford), British mystery novelist best known for her fictional detective Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard.
The daughter of a middle-grade civil servant, James grew up in the university town of Cambridge. Her formal education, however, ended at age 16 because of lack of funds, and she was thereafter self-educated. In 1941 she married Ernest C.B. White, a medical student and future physician, who returned home from wartime service mentally deranged and spent much of the rest of his life in psychiatric hospitals. To support her family (which included two children), she took work in hospital administration and, after her husband’s death in 1964, became a civil servant in the criminal section of the Department of Home Affairs. Her first mystery novel, Cover Her Face (1962), introduced Dalgliesh and was followed by six more mysteries before she retired from government service in 1979 to devote full time to writing.
Dalgliesh, James’s master detective who rises from chief inspector in the first novel to chief superintendent and then to commander, is a serious, introspective person, moralistic yet realistic. The novels in which he appears are peopled by fully rounded characters, who are civilized, genteel, and motivated. The public resonance created by James’s singular characterization and deployment of classic mystery devices led to most of the novels featuring Dalgliesh being filmed for television. James, who earned the sobriquet “Queen of Crime,” penned 14 Dalgliesh novels, with the last, The Private Patient, appearing in 2008.
James also wrote An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972) and The Skull Beneath the Skin (1982), which centre on Cordelia Gray, a young private detective. The first of these novels was the basis for both a television movie and a short-lived series. James expanded beyond the mystery genre in The Children of Men (1992; film 2006), which explores a dystopian world in which the human race has become infertile. Her final work, Death Comes to Pemberley (2011)—a sequel to Pride and Prejudice (1813)—amplifies the class and relationship tensions between Jane Austen’s characters by situating them in the midst of a murder investigation. James’s nonfiction works include The Maul and the Pear Tree (1971), a telling of the Ratcliffe Highway murders of 1811 written with historian T.A. Critchley, and the insightful Talking About Detective Fiction (2009). Her memoir, Time to Be in Earnest, was published in 2000. She was made OBE in 1983 and was named a life peer in 1991.
The daughter of a middle-grade civil servant, James grew up in the university town of Cambridge. Her formal education, however, ended at age 16 because of lack of funds, and she was thereafter self-educated. In 1941 she married Ernest C.B. White, a medical student and future physician, who returned home from wartime service mentally deranged and spent much of the rest of his life in psychiatric hospitals. To support her family (which included two children), she took work in hospital administration and, after her husband’s death in 1964, became a civil servant in the criminal section of the Department of Home Affairs. Her first mystery novel, Cover Her Face (1962), introduced Dalgliesh and was followed by six more mysteries before she retired from government service in 1979 to devote full time to writing.
Dalgliesh, James’s master detective who rises from chief inspector in the first novel to chief superintendent and then to commander, is a serious, introspective person, moralistic yet realistic. The novels in which he appears are peopled by fully rounded characters, who are civilized, genteel, and motivated. The public resonance created by James’s singular characterization and deployment of classic mystery devices led to most of the novels featuring Dalgliesh being filmed for television. James, who earned the sobriquet “Queen of Crime,” penned 14 Dalgliesh novels, with the last, The Private Patient, appearing in 2008.
James also wrote An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972) and The Skull Beneath the Skin (1982), which centre on Cordelia Gray, a young private detective. The first of these novels was the basis for both a television movie and a short-lived series. James expanded beyond the mystery genre in The Children of Men (1992; film 2006), which explores a dystopian world in which the human race has become infertile. Her final work, Death Comes to Pemberley (2011)—a sequel to Pride and Prejudice (1813)—amplifies the class and relationship tensions between Jane Austen’s characters by situating them in the midst of a murder investigation. James’s nonfiction works include The Maul and the Pear Tree (1971), a telling of the Ratcliffe Highway murders of 1811 written with historian T.A. Critchley, and the insightful Talking About Detective Fiction (2009). Her memoir, Time to Be in Earnest, was published in 2000. She was made OBE in 1983 and was named a life peer in 1991.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 800 reviews
February 26, 2020
Published in 1967, this is the third Adam Dalgliesh mystery; following on from “Cover Her Face” and “A Mind to Murder.” Dalgliesh is still involved with Deborah Riscoe, who appeared in the first novel, and is considering whether or not to propose to her. Does he love her enough to change his life and perhaps put his work second? While considering this change, he goes to stay with his aunt, Jane Dalgliesh. An avid bird watcher, she lives in a small community near Monksmere bird reserve, which seems to be populated (apart from her) mostly by writers – either authors or critics. These include Maurice Seton, a detective novelist, Sylvia Kedge, his crippled secretary, his half brother Digby Seton, critic Oliver Latham, Justin Bryce, R.B. Sinclair, the reclusive ‘great novelist’ and romance writer Celia Calthrop and her niece, Elizabeth.
The book unfolds with the discovery of Maurice Seton; found floating in a small dingy, minus his hands. This macabre death throws the small group of writers into recriminations, suspicion and fear. Although the wonderfully named D I Inspector Reckless is in charge, Dalgliesh finds himself dragged into the investigation. This will take him from the idyllic countryside of Monksmere to Soho nightclubs, as he attempts to discover who was responsible for Seton’s disappearance and bizarre death.
Although this novel is set amongst a group of authors, which should appeal to me, I found this less enjoyable – or perhaps less believable – than the previous book. Of course, being P D James I still loved the plot and characters, but it just seemed a little too staged. I am, though, enjoying re-reading the series very much and enjoyed learning a little more about the taciturn Dalgliesh.
The book unfolds with the discovery of Maurice Seton; found floating in a small dingy, minus his hands. This macabre death throws the small group of writers into recriminations, suspicion and fear. Although the wonderfully named D I Inspector Reckless is in charge, Dalgliesh finds himself dragged into the investigation. This will take him from the idyllic countryside of Monksmere to Soho nightclubs, as he attempts to discover who was responsible for Seton’s disappearance and bizarre death.
Although this novel is set amongst a group of authors, which should appeal to me, I found this less enjoyable – or perhaps less believable – than the previous book. Of course, being P D James I still loved the plot and characters, but it just seemed a little too staged. I am, though, enjoying re-reading the series very much and enjoyed learning a little more about the taciturn Dalgliesh.
October 31, 2025
Reread
PD James is like reading a grown up mystery novel. No bad language or provocative sex scenes but a maturity of outlook that is sobering in the stories.
PD James is like reading a grown up mystery novel. No bad language or provocative sex scenes but a maturity of outlook that is sobering in the stories.
August 7, 2020
Another step on the journey to get to know Adam Dalgliesh. In this installment, we get to meet his aunt, Jane, who shares many characteristics with her nephew. They are both taciturn, comfortable in their own company, and rather detached observers of other people's behaviour. They are rather the mirror image of Christie's Jane Marple and her nephew, Raymond West.
As so many good mysteries are, this one is set in a small community where everyone knows one another at least a passing fashion. They have what is usually called history—grudges, friendships, dependencies, and prejudices. We sort through all these potential distractions with the help of Dalgliesh, who regularly vacations in the area and has pre-knowledge of the cast of characters. I was forcibly reminded of M.M. Kaye's Death in … series.
Dalgliesh is not included in the investigation officially; he is peripherally involved and too valuable a resource to be excluded. Indeed he and Inspector Reckless don't particularly like one another and tend to be like roosters, puffing themselves up to look more impressive when they are in the same room. In this way, Adam has taken on the expert amateur role of Jane Marple.
James is very aware of the romance of being a mystery writer and explores her own field through this group of published and aspiring writers. I wonder if she found it amusing? Perhaps some of these unpleasant people were based on the real thing? A friend of mine uses her fiction to kill off the people that annoy her. A good use of imagination, surely.
I find that I like Dalgliesh, despite his reticence to engage with humanity. Investigating homicides must tend to estrange a person from general society.
Cross posted at my blog:
https://wanda-thenextfifty.blogspot.c...
As so many good mysteries are, this one is set in a small community where everyone knows one another at least a passing fashion. They have what is usually called history—grudges, friendships, dependencies, and prejudices. We sort through all these potential distractions with the help of Dalgliesh, who regularly vacations in the area and has pre-knowledge of the cast of characters. I was forcibly reminded of M.M. Kaye's Death in … series.
Dalgliesh is not included in the investigation officially; he is peripherally involved and too valuable a resource to be excluded. Indeed he and Inspector Reckless don't particularly like one another and tend to be like roosters, puffing themselves up to look more impressive when they are in the same room. In this way, Adam has taken on the expert amateur role of Jane Marple.
James is very aware of the romance of being a mystery writer and explores her own field through this group of published and aspiring writers. I wonder if she found it amusing? Perhaps some of these unpleasant people were based on the real thing? A friend of mine uses her fiction to kill off the people that annoy her. A good use of imagination, surely.
I find that I like Dalgliesh, despite his reticence to engage with humanity. Investigating homicides must tend to estrange a person from general society.
Cross posted at my blog:
https://wanda-thenextfifty.blogspot.c...
March 5, 2020
After enjoying the first two Dalgleish books, this one was a bit of a slog. James does much to bring GA tropes up to date with her version of the village setting and closed circle of suspects. Problem is, I found the London section far more engaging, and the characterisation left a lot to be desired: it's hard to keep the male suspects distinguishable. There's a rather horrible attitude to physical disability that left a bad taste in my mouth. More positively, we get much greater insight into Dalgleish's psyche and his self-contained nature that shies away from intimacy and commitment. It's annoying that he solves the murder through a flash of intuition, even if it's fun to see him play the role of the interested amateur against the official police detective. And I didn't believe the solution *at all*. A very staged, artificial murder mystery.
December 26, 2024
The third book in the Adam Dalgleish series. We find Dalgleish on holiday from Scotland Yard, visiting his Aunt Jane who lives on the Suffolk coast. The first body turns up immediately, in a boat and mutilated with both hands removed. Dalgleish finds himself working assisting the local Constabulary with their investigation.
I have read and enjoyed several Adam Dalgleish books but most of them from the later part of the series. I most enjoy the ones where he is working with his support team and in this one I missed the interplay between them. The locals Dalgleish was dealing with in Unnatural Causes were a rather unpleasant group and it did not seem to matter to me which one of them had committed the crime. The conclusion was lengthy and very unlikely.
I still enjoyed the author's style, the setting and the character of Dalgleish himself. Three Stars for this one.
I have read and enjoyed several Adam Dalgleish books but most of them from the later part of the series. I most enjoy the ones where he is working with his support team and in this one I missed the interplay between them. The locals Dalgleish was dealing with in Unnatural Causes were a rather unpleasant group and it did not seem to matter to me which one of them had committed the crime. The conclusion was lengthy and very unlikely.
I still enjoyed the author's style, the setting and the character of Dalgleish himself. Three Stars for this one.
December 9, 2025
Tengo algunas observaciones acerca de este libro tanto buenas como malas. Me encuentro nuevamente con un escenario limitado en cuanto a lugar geográfico. Me gustan mucho las ciudades o pueblos pequeños para viajar o vivir. Sin embargo, cuando se trata de un libro de detectives, eso limita mucho a la cantidad de sospechosos para el crimen. Ahora, el crimen es muy extraño y lo encontré demasiado forzado, premeditado y muy artificial. Como que me hizo ruido.
Lo bueno es que si se escribe una novela policial y de crimen, es bueno tener morbo y por qué no, acudir al recurso de denigrar a las personas, como pasa con Sylvia. Entiendo que es muy denigrante como se le trata o la historia que tiene detrás, pero eso le da condimento para que este tipo de novela sea muy oscura. Si se hace algo tétrico, que sea tétrico de verdad.
P.D. James también rindió tributo a Agatha Christie con su referencia a Sherlock Holmes. Influencia clara y me alegra darme cuenta que entre más libros de ella leo, mejor son. Le doy también 3 estrellas esperanzado en que el próximo será 3, 4 o 5 estrellas.
Lo bueno es que si se escribe una novela policial y de crimen, es bueno tener morbo y por qué no, acudir al recurso de denigrar a las personas, como pasa con Sylvia. Entiendo que es muy denigrante como se le trata o la historia que tiene detrás, pero eso le da condimento para que este tipo de novela sea muy oscura. Si se hace algo tétrico, que sea tétrico de verdad.
P.D. James también rindió tributo a Agatha Christie con su referencia a Sherlock Holmes. Influencia clara y me alegra darme cuenta que entre más libros de ella leo, mejor son. Le doy también 3 estrellas esperanzado en que el próximo será 3, 4 o 5 estrellas.
July 18, 2020
This installment of Adam Dalgliesh was a disappointment. The story started well with a mutilated corpse of a local writer being found during Dalgliesh's visit to his aunt in Suffolk disturbing the much looked forward peace and quiet of a holiday. And the setting the story in a literary community added a bit more spice or so I thought. But unfortunately, it didn't take the turn that I expected it would.
The story quickly became sluggish. It became tangled within the too detailed descriptions into the characters and the psychologies of possible suspects, their petty differences, and tiresome bickering. Midway I lost my track of whatever the clues the author lying in our way as to the motive and the manner the crime was committed. But I guessed who the murderer could be and was gratified to be partly right. Overall, however, the whole murder-mystery plot sounded too fantastic and unnatural (which at least justifies the title), and the characters felt absolutely nothing to me. And the spite behind the motive and some of the attitudes made me very uncomfortable.
I also didn't enjoy the secondary and unofficial role played by Dalgliesh. The Superintendent's full capacity was curtailed and that placed him under a great disadvantage. As a result, the story suffered terribly. However, the story brings out more of Adam Dalgliesh as a person. The deeper penetration to his private thoughts and his character shows that he is human and is fallible.
After three books, I haven't still fully warmed to the series. And this third installment was a bitter disappointment. There is a good deal of psychology in these books, but I feel the author has always strayed from what is paramount - the plot of the murder-mystery. But I still want to continue with the series since I like Adam Dalgliesh. I hope the stories will get better eventually.
The story quickly became sluggish. It became tangled within the too detailed descriptions into the characters and the psychologies of possible suspects, their petty differences, and tiresome bickering. Midway I lost my track of whatever the clues the author lying in our way as to the motive and the manner the crime was committed. But I guessed who the murderer could be and was gratified to be partly right. Overall, however, the whole murder-mystery plot sounded too fantastic and unnatural (which at least justifies the title), and the characters felt absolutely nothing to me. And the spite behind the motive and some of the attitudes made me very uncomfortable.
I also didn't enjoy the secondary and unofficial role played by Dalgliesh. The Superintendent's full capacity was curtailed and that placed him under a great disadvantage. As a result, the story suffered terribly. However, the story brings out more of Adam Dalgliesh as a person. The deeper penetration to his private thoughts and his character shows that he is human and is fallible.
After three books, I haven't still fully warmed to the series. And this third installment was a bitter disappointment. There is a good deal of psychology in these books, but I feel the author has always strayed from what is paramount - the plot of the murder-mystery. But I still want to continue with the series since I like Adam Dalgliesh. I hope the stories will get better eventually.
October 1, 2019
Very happy that I stuck with this series after struggling a bit with the last book. Absolutely zipped through the 3rd in this well written series. It was a murder mystery within the writing of a murder mystery, and I was completely hooked by the shocking opening chapter.
Adam is quickly becoming one of my favourite literary characters. I loved seeing him moving from a secluded sea side village with his like tempered Aunt, to the exclusive Cadaver Club, on to the underbelly of London, in search of answers.
The characters were exquisitely portrayed. I especially enjoyed Mr. Plant, Reckless and Luker.
Best of all I didn’t see the end coming. I highly recommend this one!
Adam is quickly becoming one of my favourite literary characters. I loved seeing him moving from a secluded sea side village with his like tempered Aunt, to the exclusive Cadaver Club, on to the underbelly of London, in search of answers.
The characters were exquisitely portrayed. I especially enjoyed Mr. Plant, Reckless and Luker.
Best of all I didn’t see the end coming. I highly recommend this one!
August 30, 2022
5 stars
An Unnatural James!
"Unnatural Causes" is a classic whodunnit that, no joke, Agatha Christie herself could have written. Although there are typical James elements, it's not her style at all. It is more a satire on the detective genre and its writers than a "genuine" Dalgliesh mystery.
How so?
In addition to the Christie-feel is constant over-description of the angry Suffolk coast that reads like a farcical take on emotionally hysterical elements in Golden Age crime fiction (= it was a dark and stormy night when Lord Bigsby was murdered!! BOOM! CRASH! BLOOD!).
There is also non-stop and utterly hilarious depictions of envious, backbiting, egotistical novelists that only a writer surrounded by the scoundrels could portray so well and who are now cast as the bewildered villagers in a typical cozy mystery. (The writers are made into the characters.)
Put those all together and you've got not only a highly entertaining whodunnit in its own right but also a fairly good, totally stagey satire on the detective/mystery genre as it stood in 1967 when "Unnatural Causes" was published.
And okay, I admit. The writer in me loves that stuff. Just like I adore metafiction and this novel opens with a fantastic example of it.
In chapter 1, the murdered man is described, drifting in a dingy, with his hands hacked off. A few chapters later, one of the writers exclaims that she thought that would be a great opening hook for a mystery novel: a handless corpse in a dingy! That would really capture the reader's attention and make them hungry to read on!
See what PD did there? Made a metafictional comment on the writing advice "you've GOT to hook the reader from the first line" while making the reader reflect on if it really did hook theirs.
Gorgeous.
An Unnatural James!
"Unnatural Causes" is a classic whodunnit that, no joke, Agatha Christie herself could have written. Although there are typical James elements, it's not her style at all. It is more a satire on the detective genre and its writers than a "genuine" Dalgliesh mystery.
How so?
In addition to the Christie-feel is constant over-description of the angry Suffolk coast that reads like a farcical take on emotionally hysterical elements in Golden Age crime fiction (= it was a dark and stormy night when Lord Bigsby was murdered!! BOOM! CRASH! BLOOD!).
There is also non-stop and utterly hilarious depictions of envious, backbiting, egotistical novelists that only a writer surrounded by the scoundrels could portray so well and who are now cast as the bewildered villagers in a typical cozy mystery. (The writers are made into the characters.)
Put those all together and you've got not only a highly entertaining whodunnit in its own right but also a fairly good, totally stagey satire on the detective/mystery genre as it stood in 1967 when "Unnatural Causes" was published.
And okay, I admit. The writer in me loves that stuff. Just like I adore metafiction and this novel opens with a fantastic example of it.
In chapter 1, the murdered man is described, drifting in a dingy, with his hands hacked off. A few chapters later, one of the writers exclaims that she thought that would be a great opening hook for a mystery novel: a handless corpse in a dingy! That would really capture the reader's attention and make them hungry to read on!
See what PD did there? Made a metafictional comment on the writing advice "you've GOT to hook the reader from the first line" while making the reader reflect on if it really did hook theirs.
Gorgeous.
March 26, 2020
This third book is a charm in my opinion! I struggled with the first two and if this one went down like the others I was giving up. The writing was engaging, vocabulary was top notch without being too pedantic, plot was beautifully contrived, and the setting in coastal Suffolk was perfectly atmospheric. While I had guessed the who dunnit, I couldn't figure out the how or why dunnit. I feel like I know a little more about Inspector Dalgleish, even though it took a busman's holiday to see glimpses into his personal life. On with the next book in the P.D. James challenge, Shroud For A Nightingale!
July 16, 2022
Dalgliesh on Vacation
Review of the Sphere Books paperback edition (1973) of the Faber & Faber hardcover original (1967)
In a surprise twist, the autopsy reveals that Maurice Seton died of natural causes, an apparent heart attack and he was known to have a failing heart. Why then would his corpse be mutilated after the fact and the body set adrift? Then yet another body is found, a poisoning or a suicide? The answers are revealed in a dramatic finale in the midst of a torrential storm and flood on the Suffolk coast where Dalgliesh is called on to save some of the locals. Is one of them a murderer and will Dalgliesh become their next victim in the chaos of the tempest?
I'm quite enjoying getting reacquainted with P.D. James and Adam Dalgliesh in a binge re-read thanks to discovering my old 1980's paperbacks in a storage locker cleanout. I look forward to the next books in the series.
Trivia and Links
* In Book 1 Cover Her Face, Adam Dalgliesh was a Detective Chief Inspector. In Books 2 to 4 he is a Detective Superintendent and then in Books 5 to 14 he is a Detective Commander.
Unnatural Causes was adapted for television in 1993 as part of the long running Dalgliesh TV-series for Anglia Television/ITV (1983-1998) starring actor Roy Marsden as Commander** Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard. You can watch the entire episode of the 1993 adaptation on YouTube here. NOTE: The adaptation differs considerably from the original novel.
** Dalgliesh is a Superintendent in the novel, but in the TV adaptation he was already a Commander.
The new Acorn TV-series reboot Dalgliesh (2021-?) starring Bertie Carver as Adam Dalgliesh has not yet done an adaptation of Unnatural Causes. It has not yet been announced which books are being adapted for Season 2 (as of mid July 2022). Season 1 adapted Books 4, 5 & 7.
Review of the Sphere Books paperback edition (1973) of the Faber & Faber hardcover original (1967)
But he lingered himself for a few more minutes in the library. He had a tantalising and irrational feeling that somewhere, and very recently, he had seen a clue to Seton’s death, a fugitive hint which his subconscious mind had registered but which obstinately refused to come forward and be recognised. This experience was not new to him. Like every good detective, he had known it before. Occasionally it had led him to one of those seemingly intuitive successes on which his reputation partly rested. More often the transitory impression, remembered and analysed, had been found irrelevant. But the subconscious could not be forced. The clue, if clue it were, for the moment eluded him.Unnatural Causes finds Adam Dalgliesh on vacation in Monksmere on the East Suffolk coast for an annual visit to his aunt and a planned time of relaxation away from his duties at Scotland Yard CID. Death is not far away though. A corpse is brought ashore in a dinghy with its hands amputated. It is identified as the body of local writer Maurice Seton. The suspects include a brother and other writers, critics, secretaries & relatives who live in the vicinity and the local police investigate without calling in any official assistance from Scotland Yard. Adam Dalgliesh is at the heart of the investigation regardless.
In a surprise twist, the autopsy reveals that Maurice Seton died of natural causes, an apparent heart attack and he was known to have a failing heart. Why then would his corpse be mutilated after the fact and the body set adrift? Then yet another body is found, a poisoning or a suicide? The answers are revealed in a dramatic finale in the midst of a torrential storm and flood on the Suffolk coast where Dalgliesh is called on to save some of the locals. Is one of them a murderer and will Dalgliesh become their next victim in the chaos of the tempest?
I'm quite enjoying getting reacquainted with P.D. James and Adam Dalgliesh in a binge re-read thanks to discovering my old 1980's paperbacks in a storage locker cleanout. I look forward to the next books in the series.
Trivia and Links
* In Book 1 Cover Her Face, Adam Dalgliesh was a Detective Chief Inspector. In Books 2 to 4 he is a Detective Superintendent and then in Books 5 to 14 he is a Detective Commander.
Unnatural Causes was adapted for television in 1993 as part of the long running Dalgliesh TV-series for Anglia Television/ITV (1983-1998) starring actor Roy Marsden as Commander** Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard. You can watch the entire episode of the 1993 adaptation on YouTube here. NOTE: The adaptation differs considerably from the original novel.
** Dalgliesh is a Superintendent in the novel, but in the TV adaptation he was already a Commander.
The new Acorn TV-series reboot Dalgliesh (2021-?) starring Bertie Carver as Adam Dalgliesh has not yet done an adaptation of Unnatural Causes. It has not yet been announced which books are being adapted for Season 2 (as of mid July 2022). Season 1 adapted Books 4, 5 & 7.
Remember me, you said, at Blythburgh,
As if you were not always in my mind
And there could be an art to bend more sure
A heart already wholly you inclined
Of you, the you enchanted mind bereave
More clearly back your image to receive,
And in the unencumbered holy place
Recall again an unforgotten grace.
I you possessed must needs remember still
At Blythburgh my love, or where you will. - A poem by Adam Dalgliesh written during Unnatural Causes.
July 12, 2018
This is certainly not one of James’ better mysteries. The premise is wonderful and the opening scenes really grab you into the story. But quickly it just goes flat – like a car getting bogged in a muddy swamp. One then feels like they are sinking, with no escape and that pretty much sums up the narrative.
I found the characters a little TOO similar. Really?? A village that doesn’t have any facilities holds that many writers?? I don’t think so. There were the typical comments such as a male not fitting the normal stereotype being a pansy or a queer. There is the derogatory language towards a girl who isn’t “pretty” and so on.
What I did like was James’ eye for the social detail. Each and every one of her earlier novels highlight the poverty that was in Britain in the 1960s & 70s. Where other countries were spending up big on goods, Britain was this grimy nation that had a huge divide between the very haves and the have nots; a divide that crossed the Middle Class, and not at the Lower Class, as would be expected. The night club scene and dialogue was something out of one of those Rank kitchen sink b&w dramas. “a tart in tights drinking pink gin, with smeared make up” was a phrase that entered my head a lot here – it is from a forgotten 1960s pulp novel I read decades ago, but which has never left me.
There is also a storm and flood section that is very exciting and well paced. Ultimately, I found the resolution and outing of the killer really unbelievable and too far-fetched. How it was all achieved was just plain silly – and the motive is so weak, it is almost laughable. It was all very disappointing.
Read this book for the social commentary, for the open chapter, and for the wonderful storm scene, but give that mystery a miss.
I found the characters a little TOO similar. Really?? A village that doesn’t have any facilities holds that many writers?? I don’t think so. There were the typical comments such as a male not fitting the normal stereotype being a pansy or a queer. There is the derogatory language towards a girl who isn’t “pretty” and so on.
What I did like was James’ eye for the social detail. Each and every one of her earlier novels highlight the poverty that was in Britain in the 1960s & 70s. Where other countries were spending up big on goods, Britain was this grimy nation that had a huge divide between the very haves and the have nots; a divide that crossed the Middle Class, and not at the Lower Class, as would be expected. The night club scene and dialogue was something out of one of those Rank kitchen sink b&w dramas. “a tart in tights drinking pink gin, with smeared make up” was a phrase that entered my head a lot here – it is from a forgotten 1960s pulp novel I read decades ago, but which has never left me.
There is also a storm and flood section that is very exciting and well paced. Ultimately, I found the resolution and outing of the killer really unbelievable and too far-fetched. How it was all achieved was just plain silly – and the motive is so weak, it is almost laughable. It was all very disappointing.
Read this book for the social commentary, for the open chapter, and for the wonderful storm scene, but give that mystery a miss.
March 2, 2017
داستانش در کل بد نبود؛ شخصیت ها هم محدود اما ملموس بودن؛ اما من لذت خاصی ازش نبردم. یکی از مشکلات تصور مکان ماجرا و اون دماغه و ... بود - واقعا در تصور اوصاف شکست خوردم تو این کتاب. حس می کنم نوع روایت و تعلیق ماجرا هم چنگی به دل نمی زد
اما مهمترین مشکل - که شاید باقی مشکلاتم هم از دل اون براومده باشن - ترجمه بود. بی تعارف بگم ترجمه ترجمه ی بدی بود. اغراق نیست بگم از هر چهار جمله یه جمله مشکل داشت - یا حذف شده بود یا درست ترجمه نشده بود. خلاصه اینکه ترجمه داغون کرده بود کتابو. البته این داغونی اگر صرفا به متن فارسی نگاه کنید چندان به چشم نمی آد - مگه بواسطه ی ابهام های مفهومی گاه به گاه
حتی عنوان کتاب هم درس ترجمه نشده، نویسنده در عنوان داره به مرگی به ظاهر طبیعی اشاره می کنه؛ یعنی مرگ به "علل طبیعی" نبوده بلکه به "علل غیرطبیعی" بوده
اما مهمترین مشکل - که شاید باقی مشکلاتم هم از دل اون براومده باشن - ترجمه بود. بی تعارف بگم ترجمه ترجمه ی بدی بود. اغراق نیست بگم از هر چهار جمله یه جمله مشکل داشت - یا حذف شده بود یا درست ترجمه نشده بود. خلاصه اینکه ترجمه داغون کرده بود کتابو. البته این داغونی اگر صرفا به متن فارسی نگاه کنید چندان به چشم نمی آد - مگه بواسطه ی ابهام های مفهومی گاه به گاه
حتی عنوان کتاب هم درس ترجمه نشده، نویسنده در عنوان داره به مرگی به ظاهر طبیعی اشاره می کنه؛ یعنی مرگ به "علل طبیعی" نبوده بلکه به "علل غیرطبیعی" بوده
April 15, 2020
Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard is on holiday in the English countryside, visiting his aunt, Jane, after the successful completion of an investigation. What Dalgliesh gets instead is first the news that one of the village's regulars is missing -- and then, that said regular's body is found dead, floating in a dinghy offshore.
Dalgliesh, though not officially part of the ensuing investigation, nevertheless finds himself involved in all that happens after the body was found.
In addition to crime, Dalgliesh has a personal issue that is weighing on his mind. His relationship with Deborah has reached the point where Dalgliesh felt he must make a decision whether to make a formal commitment to the woman he loved or hang on to his independence.
P.D. James has written an atmospheric, character-driven, tightly-wound plot. There are plenty of red herrings throughout the story that left me surprised at the guilty party. A long, satisfying denouement ties up all the loose ends.
Dalgliesh, though not officially part of the ensuing investigation, nevertheless finds himself involved in all that happens after the body was found.
In addition to crime, Dalgliesh has a personal issue that is weighing on his mind. His relationship with Deborah has reached the point where Dalgliesh felt he must make a decision whether to make a formal commitment to the woman he loved or hang on to his independence.
P.D. James has written an atmospheric, character-driven, tightly-wound plot. There are plenty of red herrings throughout the story that left me surprised at the guilty party. A long, satisfying denouement ties up all the loose ends.
July 12, 2021
“Where’s the body?” According to Marilyn Stasio NY Times crime fiction critic, this is the first question readers ask of a crime novel. PD James an old master, 101 this year (if she was still alive) answers this in the first sentence of this 1967 novel: “The corpse without hands lay in the bottom of a small sailing dinghy drifting within sight of the Suffolk coast.” It’s her third Adam Dalgleish book and it’s set in a small storm ravaged coastal village that seems occupied by writers, critics and other nasty types. Apart from Dalgleish and Aunt Jane they’re a fairly unpleasant bunch of characters, and that’s not even the killer. Some of them, even the detective, share some very outmoded attitudes to disability. All of which made this book hard going for me, especially since Dalgleish doesn’t have center stage until the last third of it. Once he does take the reins in the wake of his arrogant but ineffectual local colleague, the pace picks up and the tension ratchets up into a climax that unfolds against the background of a wild storm. James’s descriptions of the storm and the killers final surprising move are beautifully written, gripping stuff, but it’s a long wait in this Agatha Christie-style village mystery. Not one of PD's best, and some of the characters are pretty stock, but the plotting is good and even 50-odd years after she wrote it there is plenty to enjoy on a cold wet lockdown weekend. Three and a half stars.
May 31, 2012
Although P.D. James is an excellent writer and her mysteries are interesting and intelligent, I just can't seem to warm up to Adam Dalgliesh. He's such a cold fish and it doesn't help that he--or James, through him--seems to have a certain disdain for the audience, who are the "suspects" in Dalgliesh's case and the reader in James's case.
In this mystery, James avoids a typical "reveal" where Dalgliesh sits everyone down and lets them and the reader know how and why the crime occurred. Instead, she has him discover the how about 75 pages from the end, but though he tells the detective in charge of the investigation (Dalgliesh himself is on vacation visiting his aunt and not officially involved with the case) and helps to solve the murder, James keeps this revelation from the reader, which feels to me like a cheat. Dalgliesh is observing something, the knowledge comes to him, we never knew how, and that is that. End of story. Now, we do get the why and how at the very end, but never Dalgliesh's epiphany and we're left to feel how he has "outgrown the satisfaction of being proved right. He had known who for a long time now and since Monday night he had known how. But to the suspects the day would bring a gratifying vindication and they could be expected to make the most of it."
Well, since I'm in there, as an observer along with the suspects because James keeps so much hidden from the reader, I feel that Dalgliesh is tired of me, too. And that's just off-putting.
Now, as I mentioned, James's writing is good as always, and the murder takes place in a seaside town full of authors of one kind or another, which is fun. But that ending really soured it for me and I'll be hard pressed to pick up the next Dalgliesh mystery unless I'm snowed in and have gone through all of my Christies.
In this mystery, James avoids a typical "reveal" where Dalgliesh sits everyone down and lets them and the reader know how and why the crime occurred. Instead, she has him discover the how about 75 pages from the end, but though he tells the detective in charge of the investigation (Dalgliesh himself is on vacation visiting his aunt and not officially involved with the case) and helps to solve the murder, James keeps this revelation from the reader, which feels to me like a cheat. Dalgliesh is observing something, the knowledge comes to him, we never knew how, and that is that. End of story. Now, we do get the why and how at the very end, but never Dalgliesh's epiphany and we're left to feel how he has "outgrown the satisfaction of being proved right. He had known who for a long time now and since Monday night he had known how. But to the suspects the day would bring a gratifying vindication and they could be expected to make the most of it."
Well, since I'm in there, as an observer along with the suspects because James keeps so much hidden from the reader, I feel that Dalgliesh is tired of me, too. And that's just off-putting.
Now, as I mentioned, James's writing is good as always, and the murder takes place in a seaside town full of authors of one kind or another, which is fun. But that ending really soured it for me and I'll be hard pressed to pick up the next Dalgliesh mystery unless I'm snowed in and have gone through all of my Christies.
November 30, 2025
“The corpse without hands lay in the bottom of a small sailing dinghy drifting just within sight of the Suffolk coast. It was the body of a middle-aged man, a dapper little cadaver, its shroud a dark pin-striped suit which fitted the narrow body as elegantly in death as it had in life.”
Thus begins Unnatural Causes, the third novel in the Adam Dalgliesh series, and the body in the little dinghy soon turns out to be the mortal coil of detective novel writer Maurice Seton, member of a small community of writers and literary critics, whose houses lie sprinkled along the Suffolk coast in the small hamlet of Monksmere. It happens that Adam Dalgliesh is staying for a holiday with his resident aunt Jane when the little boat is washed ashore, and that, although not officially involved in the case, he soon finds his holiday taken over by the investigation into this bizarre case, which is made more complicated by the fact that the victim apparently has not been killed but died due to a heart issue. As in every good cosy mystery, there is a set cast of suspects, all the same, starting with Seton’s half-brother Digby, who will come into the lion’s share of the bequest, or his neighbours Justin Bryce, a magazine editor who has it in for Maurice because he thinks the writer killed Bryce’s cat, and literary critic Oliver Latham, who had an affair with Maurice’s wife Dorothy, a self-destructive woman Maurice drove to her death with an acerbic letter. There is also the crippled Sylvia Kedge, the general dogsbody at Maurice’s house, Celia Calthrop, a romantic novelist, who also profits from Maurice’s will, and her niece Elizabeth, an ungainly dependant relative. Furthermore, there is the eminent writer R. B. Sinclair, whose housekeeper used to work at Maurice Seton’s house, leaving immediately after the death of his wife. And let’s not forget that the chopper with which Maurice’s hands were severed, belonged to Dalgliesh’s aunt Jane.
So far, I have read three P. D. James novels, and this one is easily the best, not only because of the intricate murder story or the vividness with which the Suffolk landscape is described – it made me think of Hitchcock’s film Rebecca several times – but also because of the clever meta-fiction approach James takes here: Not only does the novel itself start with the sentences quoted above, but they also turn up, in so many words, as the typewritten MS beginning of an unfinished novel by Seton, the idea of which, as has been established shortly before, was given him by Miss Calthrop – with a view of catching the reader’s attention from the very start. And it works, by the way.
There are lots of other intriguing instances of meta-fiction used by James, as when Dalgliesh enters the dead writer’s house and gets the impression of moving into the set of a stage, an impression which does not even dissolve when he meets DI Reckless and some of the suspects there. Indeed, we read,
A little bit later into the novel, the suspects, annoyed by Inspector Reckless’s choice of The Green Man as the place for the inquest to take place and by his determined way of conducting the investigation, compare the “real” policeman unfavourably with Maurice Seton’s Inspector Briggs, who seems to be a specimen of police officials known from Agatha Christie or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:
But then we learn that writers are no different than lesser men, because James presents us with their petty squabbles, their economic strife and their interpersonal insecurities so that even such a one as Celia Calthrop, who enters the pages as a caricature, comes out as a deeply lonely and deplorable woman who does everything she can to gain the respect and sympathy of her niece, but who repeatedly fails in her pathetic clumsiness.
Ironically, Inspector Reckless complains to Dalgliesh that in fiction, a murderer, once found out, easily comes up with a confession – so that hardly any proof is needed –, whereas in reality, criminals are not so ready to oblige. By the way, this is a detail that has often irritated me when reading a mystery novel. Yet, in Unnatural Causes the killer has conveniently taped a confession for their own pleasure – you know, committing the perfect murder comes with the only disadvantage of having no one to boast to about it –, and Dalgliesh just has to get hold of the tape in order to conclude the investigation with all the evidence needed. This may be regarded as another sly jab at the rules of the genre on the part of the author, as well as the mutual dislike between Reckless, the “real” inspector, and Dalgliesh, the hero of a series of mystery novels and author of poetry – and when we take into consideration that the murder has probably been more carefully planned than the building of Westminster Abbey, we may finally be aware of the fact that in this novel, P. D. James was indubitably having a jolly good time making gentle fun of her own craft.
Thus begins Unnatural Causes, the third novel in the Adam Dalgliesh series, and the body in the little dinghy soon turns out to be the mortal coil of detective novel writer Maurice Seton, member of a small community of writers and literary critics, whose houses lie sprinkled along the Suffolk coast in the small hamlet of Monksmere. It happens that Adam Dalgliesh is staying for a holiday with his resident aunt Jane when the little boat is washed ashore, and that, although not officially involved in the case, he soon finds his holiday taken over by the investigation into this bizarre case, which is made more complicated by the fact that the victim apparently has not been killed but died due to a heart issue. As in every good cosy mystery, there is a set cast of suspects, all the same, starting with Seton’s half-brother Digby, who will come into the lion’s share of the bequest, or his neighbours Justin Bryce, a magazine editor who has it in for Maurice because he thinks the writer killed Bryce’s cat, and literary critic Oliver Latham, who had an affair with Maurice’s wife Dorothy, a self-destructive woman Maurice drove to her death with an acerbic letter. There is also the crippled Sylvia Kedge, the general dogsbody at Maurice’s house, Celia Calthrop, a romantic novelist, who also profits from Maurice’s will, and her niece Elizabeth, an ungainly dependant relative. Furthermore, there is the eminent writer R. B. Sinclair, whose housekeeper used to work at Maurice Seton’s house, leaving immediately after the death of his wife. And let’s not forget that the chopper with which Maurice’s hands were severed, belonged to Dalgliesh’s aunt Jane.
So far, I have read three P. D. James novels, and this one is easily the best, not only because of the intricate murder story or the vividness with which the Suffolk landscape is described – it made me think of Hitchcock’s film Rebecca several times – but also because of the clever meta-fiction approach James takes here: Not only does the novel itself start with the sentences quoted above, but they also turn up, in so many words, as the typewritten MS beginning of an unfinished novel by Seton, the idea of which, as has been established shortly before, was given him by Miss Calthrop – with a view of catching the reader’s attention from the very start. And it works, by the way.
There are lots of other intriguing instances of meta-fiction used by James, as when Dalgliesh enters the dead writer’s house and gets the impression of moving into the set of a stage, an impression which does not even dissolve when he meets DI Reckless and some of the suspects there. Indeed, we read,
”The four people who turned to watch unsmiling as Dalgliesh stepped over the window sill were as immobile and carefully disposed about the room as actors who have taken up their pose ready for the curtains to rise.”
A little bit later into the novel, the suspects, annoyed by Inspector Reckless’s choice of The Green Man as the place for the inquest to take place and by his determined way of conducting the investigation, compare the “real” policeman unfavourably with Maurice Seton’s Inspector Briggs, who seems to be a specimen of police officials known from Agatha Christie or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:
”Perhaps, as Bryce suggested, a too-close acquaintance with Seton’s Inspector Briggs had spoilt them for the real thing. Briggs, who was occasionally called Briggsy by the Honourable Martin in an excess of camaraderie, had a humility which they hadn’t detected in Inspector Reckless. […] As Bryce pointed out, Briggs did not turn people out of their favourite pub nor gaze at them fixedly from dark, morose eyes as if hearing only half they were saying and disbelieving that. Nor did he give the impression of regarding writers as no different from lesser men except in their capacity of inventing more ingenious alibis.”
But then we learn that writers are no different than lesser men, because James presents us with their petty squabbles, their economic strife and their interpersonal insecurities so that even such a one as Celia Calthrop, who enters the pages as a caricature, comes out as a deeply lonely and deplorable woman who does everything she can to gain the respect and sympathy of her niece, but who repeatedly fails in her pathetic clumsiness.
Ironically, Inspector Reckless complains to Dalgliesh that in fiction, a murderer, once found out, easily comes up with a confession – so that hardly any proof is needed –, whereas in reality, criminals are not so ready to oblige. By the way, this is a detail that has often irritated me when reading a mystery novel. Yet, in Unnatural Causes the killer has conveniently taped a confession for their own pleasure – you know, committing the perfect murder comes with the only disadvantage of having no one to boast to about it –, and Dalgliesh just has to get hold of the tape in order to conclude the investigation with all the evidence needed. This may be regarded as another sly jab at the rules of the genre on the part of the author, as well as the mutual dislike between Reckless, the “real” inspector, and Dalgliesh, the hero of a series of mystery novels and author of poetry – and when we take into consideration that the murder has probably been more carefully planned than the building of Westminster Abbey, we may finally be aware of the fact that in this novel, P. D. James was indubitably having a jolly good time making gentle fun of her own craft.
May 6, 2021
I rather liked this one, with just one issue.
What I enjoyed was the setting! On the English shore, and among a few cottages and manor estate-style homes so close to the water you can feel it in every breath. (Yes, I know the sensation!) It's also often gloomy and stormy, and the water is edging closer and closer to some of these homes with every high tide. It's a lovely, secluded, somewhat ominous setting with only a brief foray here or there into the city of London.
In this, Inspector Adam Dalgliesh's third story, he's relegated to a back seat, in that yes, there's been a murder - a rather intriguing and gory one - but this time he's not the lead investigator.
Dalgliesh's in Monksmere, this seaside area, to visit his elderly, maiden aunt, his only living relative. He does this once or twice a year just to 'get away.' It gives him the opportunity to just walk and read, sit by a warm fire, eat home-cooked meals and forget about anything/everything that's bothering him. (What's bothering him here is whether or not he wants to propose to his long-time love.) Unfortunately...
Enter the dead body, on a little boat, hands cut off. And the closest neighbors, all of whom are suspects. They're a weird, eccentric lot and I kept notes on each so I wouldn't mix them up. (Didn't need the notes, it turned out.) Enter Inspector Reckless, local authority in charge of finding out who killed the dead man while Dalgliesh looks on, offers tips, but more or less tries to stay out of the way. Unfortunately, he can't.
A great and gloomy story with ocean waves, shingled beaches and storms galore. Large, cozy fireplaces, quaint cottages and overbearing manor houses. Paths through thorny brush and an ocean which even then - written in the 1960's - was rapidly encroaching on buildings too close to the water's edge. Loved it!
However, at the end, there was a rather long infodump. I don't disagree with infodumps; sometimes they're necessary in books and even in life. Like, why did you do that? And you get from your spouse/child/parent/whoever a long and detailed explanation. It happens!
So five stars for locale and characters. One point off for the long explanation at the end.
Still, I love me some Adam Dalgliesh and am looking forward to No. 4 in this well-written series.
What I enjoyed was the setting! On the English shore, and among a few cottages and manor estate-style homes so close to the water you can feel it in every breath. (Yes, I know the sensation!) It's also often gloomy and stormy, and the water is edging closer and closer to some of these homes with every high tide. It's a lovely, secluded, somewhat ominous setting with only a brief foray here or there into the city of London.
In this, Inspector Adam Dalgliesh's third story, he's relegated to a back seat, in that yes, there's been a murder - a rather intriguing and gory one - but this time he's not the lead investigator.
Dalgliesh's in Monksmere, this seaside area, to visit his elderly, maiden aunt, his only living relative. He does this once or twice a year just to 'get away.' It gives him the opportunity to just walk and read, sit by a warm fire, eat home-cooked meals and forget about anything/everything that's bothering him. (What's bothering him here is whether or not he wants to propose to his long-time love.) Unfortunately...
Enter the dead body, on a little boat, hands cut off. And the closest neighbors, all of whom are suspects. They're a weird, eccentric lot and I kept notes on each so I wouldn't mix them up. (Didn't need the notes, it turned out.) Enter Inspector Reckless, local authority in charge of finding out who killed the dead man while Dalgliesh looks on, offers tips, but more or less tries to stay out of the way. Unfortunately, he can't.
A great and gloomy story with ocean waves, shingled beaches and storms galore. Large, cozy fireplaces, quaint cottages and overbearing manor houses. Paths through thorny brush and an ocean which even then - written in the 1960's - was rapidly encroaching on buildings too close to the water's edge. Loved it!
However, at the end, there was a rather long infodump. I don't disagree with infodumps; sometimes they're necessary in books and even in life. Like, why did you do that? And you get from your spouse/child/parent/whoever a long and detailed explanation. It happens!
So five stars for locale and characters. One point off for the long explanation at the end.
Still, I love me some Adam Dalgliesh and am looking forward to No. 4 in this well-written series.
December 31, 2019
This is the third Adam Dalgleish book, and was a library check out for me. I decided to revisit P.D. James this year as part of my "Century of Women" project. Unnatural Causes is the third in the series, and was published in 1967.
This is my favorite book so far because it was so cleverly plotted. The victim is a mystery writer, and is found in circumstances that feel like something out of his next planned book. Well after his death, an envelope containing the typed opening of his next book is received, and it echoes the circumstances in which his body was found, and was obviously typed on the victim's own typewriter.
Adam Dalgleish is is involved because he has gone to Suffolk to visit his aunt, a respected amateur ornithologist, lifelong spinster, and extremely self-contained woman. The victim was one of her neighbors, and her small circle of neighbors all have a motive to murder. Dalgleish is also trying to decide what to do about his romantic relationship, which has reached a critical juncture and he must decide if he is going to ask the woman to marry him or end the relationship all together. Aunt Jane lives in an isolated cottage on the Suffolk coast, so there is a lot of discussion about remote coastal landscapes that look something like this:
The way that the solution to the mystery is presented isn't completely successful, in my opinion. The end of the book is basically a transcription of a long, somewhat rambling, recorded confession left behind by the murderer. This type of device has a tendency to drag on, and it does so here, but it's a relatively small quibble. Otherwise, the book is extremely cleverly done, and the meta elements are a lot of fun.
This is my favorite book so far because it was so cleverly plotted. The victim is a mystery writer, and is found in circumstances that feel like something out of his next planned book. Well after his death, an envelope containing the typed opening of his next book is received, and it echoes the circumstances in which his body was found, and was obviously typed on the victim's own typewriter.
Adam Dalgleish is is involved because he has gone to Suffolk to visit his aunt, a respected amateur ornithologist, lifelong spinster, and extremely self-contained woman. The victim was one of her neighbors, and her small circle of neighbors all have a motive to murder. Dalgleish is also trying to decide what to do about his romantic relationship, which has reached a critical juncture and he must decide if he is going to ask the woman to marry him or end the relationship all together. Aunt Jane lives in an isolated cottage on the Suffolk coast, so there is a lot of discussion about remote coastal landscapes that look something like this:
The way that the solution to the mystery is presented isn't completely successful, in my opinion. The end of the book is basically a transcription of a long, somewhat rambling, recorded confession left behind by the murderer. This type of device has a tendency to drag on, and it does so here, but it's a relatively small quibble. Otherwise, the book is extremely cleverly done, and the meta elements are a lot of fun.
June 19, 2020
Honestly this whole book felt like a waste of time. The only reason why I am giving it two stars is I liked how James described the location of the murders and we get into Dalgliesh's family history more.
"Unnatural Causes" follows Adam Dalgliesh as he returns to Suffolk to visit his aunt Jane. I maybe smiled at her name and had thoughts of Miss Marple dancing in my head. Adam's visit though is interrupted by a local writing group coming to call and then an Inspector Reckless interrupting to tell them that one of their own, Maurice Seton, was found dead and missing his hands. James takes you through all of the characters in this one, Adam, Sylvia Kedge, Maurice's secretary who is handicapped, Maurice's half brother and only heir, Digby Seton, Oliver Latham who is a critic, Celia Calthrop and her niece, Elizabeth.I am probably forgetting someone. We also have to deal with Adam and his tedious relationship and where is it going next throughout this one.
Honestly the description of Suffolk was great, I liked hearing things via Adam's third person point of view and other than that, this book dragged. I just didn't care about what was going on after a while. When the action moves from Suffolk things became even slower.
I have to say the ending was lackluster. The killer is revealed and I maybe went really? We then get the killer's taped confession that goes on and on for dozens of pages. I felt bored and things can be wrapped up by saying they felt insulted so they just went about murdering everyone they could.
"Unnatural Causes" follows Adam Dalgliesh as he returns to Suffolk to visit his aunt Jane. I maybe smiled at her name and had thoughts of Miss Marple dancing in my head. Adam's visit though is interrupted by a local writing group coming to call and then an Inspector Reckless interrupting to tell them that one of their own, Maurice Seton, was found dead and missing his hands. James takes you through all of the characters in this one, Adam, Sylvia Kedge, Maurice's secretary who is handicapped, Maurice's half brother and only heir, Digby Seton, Oliver Latham who is a critic, Celia Calthrop and her niece, Elizabeth.I am probably forgetting someone. We also have to deal with Adam and his tedious relationship and where is it going next throughout this one.
Honestly the description of Suffolk was great, I liked hearing things via Adam's third person point of view and other than that, this book dragged. I just didn't care about what was going on after a while. When the action moves from Suffolk things became even slower.
I have to say the ending was lackluster. The killer is revealed and I maybe went really? We then get the killer's taped confession that goes on and on for dozens of pages. I felt bored and things can be wrapped up by saying they felt insulted so they just went about murdering everyone they could.
May 20, 2021
The story is set in Suffolk on the coast near Sizewell. Dalgleish visits his aunt for a holiday and to decide whether to propose to his girlfriend. A bizzare murder takes place. Maurice Seaton a hack crime writer dies mysteriously and is found in a dingy with both his hands chopped off. The suspects are his cousin Digby, Celia another writer, two critics and Celia’s ward Miss Marley and Sylvia Kedge a disabled secretary/housekeeper for Seaton.
The authors treatment of the disabled character is harsh as are the attitudes to her in the story. The tension between Reckless the investigating officer and Dalgleish is apparent.
The storm st the end and the confession of Sylvia of how she did it is well done especially how she manipulated Digby who was a bit dense. The late introduction of claustrophobia and why the hands were chopped off all made sense.
A good read but the attitudes to a disabled person and her motive is disquieting.
The authors treatment of the disabled character is harsh as are the attitudes to her in the story. The tension between Reckless the investigating officer and Dalgleish is apparent.
The storm st the end and the confession of Sylvia of how she did it is well done especially how she manipulated Digby who was a bit dense. The late introduction of claustrophobia and why the hands were chopped off all made sense.
A good read but the attitudes to a disabled person and her motive is disquieting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 20, 2025
Slight revisions 20 June 2025
‘For a moment their eyes were level and they gazed at each other, wordlessly. It seemed to Dalgliesh that in that moment some kind of communication passed but whether those black eyes held a warning or an appeal he was never afterwards able to decide.’ (p190)
Satisfyingly traditional detective fiction from a skilled practitioner, with some satirical barbs.
Unnatural Causes is early in Baroness James’ writing career, albeit written in her mid-forties, the third Dalgliesh story. The already somewhat famous Scotland Yard detective is taking a much needed holiday after a gruelling case, to rest and recuperate with his maiden aunt, the twitcher Jane Dalgliesh, long resident on the isolated Suffolk coast.
This small community consists almost entirely of second rate writers of varying sorts; one turns up in a small row boat (witness the rather chilling underexposed cover of my edition), very dead minus his hands, chopped off at the wrists. And Jane’s kitchen chopper is missing.
Because he is staying with his Aunt, Dalgliesh finds himself with an unofficial role. Suffolk is the bailiwick of the local CID, in the person of the wonderfully named Inspector Reckless, who is anything but. The local policeman is in charge, which makes for awkwardness and unspoken friction- after all Dalgliesh outranks Reckless by several rungs. It is an especially interesting dynamic about how the police bureaucracy works, with its protocols, niceties and assumptions. This attention to how the workplace functions is welcome; an assurance the author knows what she is taking about. Jo Nesbø is similarly very good at this in his Harry Hole stories.
There is more than one murder, of course, which adds to the gathering tension. The story is peopled by interesting characters brought to life in immaculate and elegant prose, although occasionally one has to keep reading to clarify which of the suspects James is talking about. Her detective Dalgliesh means well despite his traditional detective’s commitment issues, and of course he is a writer himself, with two volumes of poetry to his credit. James has fun with these Suffolk writers: the author without his hands, who is a whinger and not particularly successful. Other literary locals are not much chop either.
She also creates the Cadaver Club, an exclusive, all-male London establishment devoted to the subject (rather than the practice) of murder and peopled by barristers, solicitors, former judges, detective writers and enthusiasts. She takes particular pleasure pointing out that while women are excluded from membership, and even visiting, there is no such prohibition on their books which may be found readily in the club library.
P D James’ debt to Agatha Christie and traditional English detective fiction is apparent. We are among a small gathering of isolated suspects, united by their enmities and slights, real and imagined, with plenty of motivation, professional or financial, for foul play. It is not quite old dark house, but a number of the cottages belonging to the locals are in danger during the dark and stormy nights which are not infrequent along this coast, including the night of the thrilling climax. Dalgliesh has a clue of course that death by natural causes might not be entirely accurate but James makes us wait until the denouement for the revelation, with the longest confession I have ever read in a detective novel.
A suitably intriguing tale with colourful characters and a genuinely exciting climax.
PS: A note to fellow claustrophobes: read with care.
‘For a moment their eyes were level and they gazed at each other, wordlessly. It seemed to Dalgliesh that in that moment some kind of communication passed but whether those black eyes held a warning or an appeal he was never afterwards able to decide.’ (p190)
Satisfyingly traditional detective fiction from a skilled practitioner, with some satirical barbs.
Unnatural Causes is early in Baroness James’ writing career, albeit written in her mid-forties, the third Dalgliesh story. The already somewhat famous Scotland Yard detective is taking a much needed holiday after a gruelling case, to rest and recuperate with his maiden aunt, the twitcher Jane Dalgliesh, long resident on the isolated Suffolk coast.
This small community consists almost entirely of second rate writers of varying sorts; one turns up in a small row boat (witness the rather chilling underexposed cover of my edition), very dead minus his hands, chopped off at the wrists. And Jane’s kitchen chopper is missing.
Because he is staying with his Aunt, Dalgliesh finds himself with an unofficial role. Suffolk is the bailiwick of the local CID, in the person of the wonderfully named Inspector Reckless, who is anything but. The local policeman is in charge, which makes for awkwardness and unspoken friction- after all Dalgliesh outranks Reckless by several rungs. It is an especially interesting dynamic about how the police bureaucracy works, with its protocols, niceties and assumptions. This attention to how the workplace functions is welcome; an assurance the author knows what she is taking about. Jo Nesbø is similarly very good at this in his Harry Hole stories.
There is more than one murder, of course, which adds to the gathering tension. The story is peopled by interesting characters brought to life in immaculate and elegant prose, although occasionally one has to keep reading to clarify which of the suspects James is talking about. Her detective Dalgliesh means well despite his traditional detective’s commitment issues, and of course he is a writer himself, with two volumes of poetry to his credit. James has fun with these Suffolk writers: the author without his hands, who is a whinger and not particularly successful. Other literary locals are not much chop either.
She also creates the Cadaver Club, an exclusive, all-male London establishment devoted to the subject (rather than the practice) of murder and peopled by barristers, solicitors, former judges, detective writers and enthusiasts. She takes particular pleasure pointing out that while women are excluded from membership, and even visiting, there is no such prohibition on their books which may be found readily in the club library.
P D James’ debt to Agatha Christie and traditional English detective fiction is apparent. We are among a small gathering of isolated suspects, united by their enmities and slights, real and imagined, with plenty of motivation, professional or financial, for foul play. It is not quite old dark house, but a number of the cottages belonging to the locals are in danger during the dark and stormy nights which are not infrequent along this coast, including the night of the thrilling climax. Dalgliesh has a clue of course that death by natural causes might not be entirely accurate but James makes us wait until the denouement for the revelation, with the longest confession I have ever read in a detective novel.
A suitably intriguing tale with colourful characters and a genuinely exciting climax.
PS: A note to fellow claustrophobes: read with care.
May 25, 2025
3 Stars. I regret she is no longer with us, but if I'd had the chance, I would have said, "Dame James of Holland Park, I understand your famous Superintendent Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard is an intelligent man, well considered, and a published poet, but I have a longing for a little more detecting." In this third entry of the series, our hero is taking a short holiday with his aunt at her cottage at Monksmere Head on the Suffolk coast. It's a very small community of literary luminaries. He needs to relax far from the crowd of London and, incidentally, decide if he should ask Deborah Riscoe to marry him. While there, one of Jane Dalgliesh's neighbours, detective writer Maurice Seaton is found dead in a dinghy afloat on the North Sea, sans hands. Enter Detective Inspector Reckless of Suffolk C.I.D. who resents the presence of a senior member of the Yard, if only as a private visitor. One of the small community is responsible but who? Of course Dalgleish figures it out, but even then we are not privy to the contents of his flash of insight far from the end of the novel. He knows long before we do! (Dec2019/May2025)
December 5, 2016
Through the years I've read some of P.D. James' mysteries featuring Adam Dagleish. And I've seen some of the books portrayed in television dramas. Consequently, I'm confused as to which books I'm familiar with. But I have definitely not read or seen this one. Dagleish takes a holiday to visit his Aunt, who lives near the coast. It is winter,and James writing brings that forcefully to mind as Adam is caught up in a murder investigation that takes him out to deal with the elements. Other than Adam and his Aunt, the rest of the cast is such a deplorable group of whinny, self-centered people, that I could hardly stand them. That's mainly why I gave it only three stars. I didn't care for the recording artist who read the book, either. But James' elegant writing saves the audio version. It is as always an intriguing mystery.
February 28, 2020
First, I did not read this edition. I am reading this on the bundle P. D. James's Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries: Cover Her Face, A Mind to Murder, Unnatural Causes, Shroud for a Nightingale, The Black Tower, and Death of an Expert Witness. To be honest, I picked it up because it was cheap and I was in the market for some British mysteries. I did not know then how much I would like James' writing style. I find it better than most mysteries, which, after all, are supposed to be about plot.
I also like her characterizations. I'm less sure that these are actually as good as I'm finding them. In this installment, I was able to visualize the characters. I have a better understanding of Dalgliesh - the man himself, not just the detective.
The novel opens with a man lying in the bottom of a small boat, obviously dead, and with his hands cut off at the wrists. Little blood, he was dead before the mutilation. We soon learn that this was Maurice Seton, detective novelist. The small community on the Suffolk coast is made up of other authors, one of whom has suggested to Seton that he open a novel with a man lying dead in the bottom of a boat with his hands cut off. It's hard not to be intrigued.
Are all of her novels this good? Because this is another 4-stars, and possibly better than the previous two of the series. I'm so glad to be reading these with a group here on Goodreads - one a month. I look forward to the next installment.
I also like her characterizations. I'm less sure that these are actually as good as I'm finding them. In this installment, I was able to visualize the characters. I have a better understanding of Dalgliesh - the man himself, not just the detective.
The novel opens with a man lying in the bottom of a small boat, obviously dead, and with his hands cut off at the wrists. Little blood, he was dead before the mutilation. We soon learn that this was Maurice Seton, detective novelist. The small community on the Suffolk coast is made up of other authors, one of whom has suggested to Seton that he open a novel with a man lying dead in the bottom of a boat with his hands cut off. It's hard not to be intrigued.
Are all of her novels this good? Because this is another 4-stars, and possibly better than the previous two of the series. I'm so glad to be reading these with a group here on Goodreads - one a month. I look forward to the next installment.
August 10, 2021
When Adam goes to visit his aunt, he's hoping for a peaceful stay, but a local writer turning up sans hands means he gets no such thing. Now he must figure out what's going on before the killer strikes again.
This is my first PD James, and I did not find it half bad. The mystery was convoluted and I was curious enough about the resolution that I read on through a headache. I did wish that the side characters had more development, though.
This is my first PD James, and I did not find it half bad. The mystery was convoluted and I was curious enough about the resolution that I read on through a headache. I did wish that the side characters had more development, though.
October 22, 2022
Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh can't have a quiet holiday. I like the way he thinks of a murder case and the writing style is nice.
August 1, 2009
This book was published in 1967 and was the 3rd book in the Dalgliesh series. Back then a mystery novel was expected to be in the 200 page range, and this one was at 205 pages less than half as long as the last P.D. James book I read which was written in the 21st Century.
I'm pretty sure that my feeling that the book was ended as quickly as the author could arrange it was, in part, due to the fact that she only had 200 pages available to her. The explanation of the mystery is made by a taped confession of the murderer which is listened to after she has died attempting to kill an additional two people. During the confession you discover that the murderer has actually killed more people than you were originally aware of.
Although I can understand why the author needed to end her book this abruptly because of a lack of space, I still am giving the book only 3 stars. It truly is not as good a book as her later work.
I'm pretty sure that my feeling that the book was ended as quickly as the author could arrange it was, in part, due to the fact that she only had 200 pages available to her. The explanation of the mystery is made by a taped confession of the murderer which is listened to after she has died attempting to kill an additional two people. During the confession you discover that the murderer has actually killed more people than you were originally aware of.
Although I can understand why the author needed to end her book this abruptly because of a lack of space, I still am giving the book only 3 stars. It truly is not as good a book as her later work.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 15, 2009
I very much enjoyed the quality of the prose but found it difficult to sympathize with any of the characters. Even Dalgliesh and his Aunt–both of whom seem to have more dimension that the other flat, insipid, self absorbed residents of Monksmere Head–were provided with so little context and backstory that I felt very little connection. Aunt Jane seemed to be someone I would like to know better, but James never provides the reader with the chance in this book. And the revelation of the murderer at the conclusion seemed contrived–how convenient that the confession tape was in that bag Dalgliesh grabbed–and gratuitously ugly. And even the best language cannot redeem that sort of letdown at the end of a novel, especially a mystery. I'm not writing James off, but I'm certianly not racing out to get another Adam Dalgliesh novel–he's no Peter Wimsey.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 800 reviews