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Adam Dalgliesh #6
Death of an Expert Witness
Dr. Lorrimer appeared to be the picture of a bloodless, coldly efficient scientist. Only when his brutally slain body is discovered and his secret past dissected does the image begin to change. Once again, Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh learns that there is more to human beings than meets the eye -- and more to solving a murder than the obvious clues.
306 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
622 people are currently reading
3247 people want to read
About the author
P.D. James
331 books3,237 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 588 reviews
August 19, 2020
This is by far the better murder-mystery story of the series. Combining Jealousy, obsession, and blackmail, P.D. James spins an interesting mystery around the murder of an "expert witness". The plot is cleverly done and the story is quite well written. James's intelligence and creativity as a mystery writer is quite evident in this installment. It looks as if James, by the time of writing this particular Dalgliesh story, has become literary mature.
James takes us yet again to a medically related setting - this time, it being a forensic laboratory. Mercifully, she concentrates more on the characters and the inner selves of the highly intelligent scientists, their subordinates, and the assistants without tiring the readers with scientific details. This character penetration was what was interesting in this story. They showed both the vulnerable and the malicious and the vindictive nature of those highly educated and well respected.
The story was well built and the curiosity and the suspense of the readers were cleverly maintained. There were both clues and enough red herrings, not to baffle the readers but to keep them guessing a little longer. The ending, however, was felt a bit bland. Its hurried conclusion did not do justice to the suspense that was so well built up to that point.
I enjoyed the authoritative and dominant role Adam Dalgliesh played in the story. And I also liked the subordinate officer John Massingham. He is so far the best subordinate officer the Commander got to work with. I truly liked the combination and their joint effort in solving the mystery of the murder, and sincerely hope James would humour me another time with their joint venture. :)
I enjoyed this Dalgliesh installment a lot, and if not for the falling at the end, I would have rated it higher. However, this installment was a good inducement for me to continue with the series, and also a good indication that the series will get better. But I do wish that James would soon outgrow of her preference for description to the molecule level! It really can be painfully irritating at times.
James takes us yet again to a medically related setting - this time, it being a forensic laboratory. Mercifully, she concentrates more on the characters and the inner selves of the highly intelligent scientists, their subordinates, and the assistants without tiring the readers with scientific details. This character penetration was what was interesting in this story. They showed both the vulnerable and the malicious and the vindictive nature of those highly educated and well respected.
The story was well built and the curiosity and the suspense of the readers were cleverly maintained. There were both clues and enough red herrings, not to baffle the readers but to keep them guessing a little longer. The ending, however, was felt a bit bland. Its hurried conclusion did not do justice to the suspense that was so well built up to that point.
I enjoyed the authoritative and dominant role Adam Dalgliesh played in the story. And I also liked the subordinate officer John Massingham. He is so far the best subordinate officer the Commander got to work with. I truly liked the combination and their joint effort in solving the mystery of the murder, and sincerely hope James would humour me another time with their joint venture. :)
I enjoyed this Dalgliesh installment a lot, and if not for the falling at the end, I would have rated it higher. However, this installment was a good inducement for me to continue with the series, and also a good indication that the series will get better. But I do wish that James would soon outgrow of her preference for description to the molecule level! It really can be painfully irritating at times.
March 27, 2009
It's unfortunate Commander Adam Dalgliesh doesn't have amusing personality quirks or foibles which would endear him to readers the way many of the most beloved fictional sleuths do. Well he does write poetry but unfortunately, that's not the sort of hobby most people can relate to, more's the pity. And even that unusual side of him wasn't especially relevant to Death of an Expert Witness.
This was my sixth P. D. James mystery about the illustrious and aloof commander who is a long time widower and still seems--in my opinion--to wear his grief almost as a persona. It wasn't bad but it wasn't as good as some I've read. It's most disappointing feature was it brought no development in the character of the mysterious Adam Dalgliesh. I'm beginning to think he's Ms. James' greatest mystery!
However, that said, her books are psychological challenges. They aren't your modern day graphic sexual thrillers. When you encounter a P. D. James mystery, expect to work. Unless you have a photographic memory, it's best to approach the first three chapters with paper and pen in hand. She introduces a plethora of characters, job titles and seeming minutia about each individual with a minimum of words. It's very easy to be lulled into thinking you have everything straight and finding you've overlooked something critical. I always do.
Reading up to section seven of Book 2 in Death of an Expert Witness, I recorded twenty primary characters--most of whom were suspects--not counting their immediate family members, who also played roles.
As usual, I didn't figure out whodunit. There are plenty of red herrings, well they seem to be so to me the reader, but seen from another perspective...
Will I read another? Oh yes!
This was my sixth P. D. James mystery about the illustrious and aloof commander who is a long time widower and still seems--in my opinion--to wear his grief almost as a persona. It wasn't bad but it wasn't as good as some I've read. It's most disappointing feature was it brought no development in the character of the mysterious Adam Dalgliesh. I'm beginning to think he's Ms. James' greatest mystery!
However, that said, her books are psychological challenges. They aren't your modern day graphic sexual thrillers. When you encounter a P. D. James mystery, expect to work. Unless you have a photographic memory, it's best to approach the first three chapters with paper and pen in hand. She introduces a plethora of characters, job titles and seeming minutia about each individual with a minimum of words. It's very easy to be lulled into thinking you have everything straight and finding you've overlooked something critical. I always do.
Reading up to section seven of Book 2 in Death of an Expert Witness, I recorded twenty primary characters--most of whom were suspects--not counting their immediate family members, who also played roles.
As usual, I didn't figure out whodunit. There are plenty of red herrings, well they seem to be so to me the reader, but seen from another perspective...
Will I read another? Oh yes!
December 2, 2025
Reading this book was peeling back layers of mediocre material to arrive at something good; ultimately, the central crimes were interesting. But James diluted the effect with too many obvious red herrings, too many equally potent motives, too many unnecessary details and, perhaps most importantly, not enough trust in the reader (for example, when the truth comes out, it's not necessary for the killer's confession to allude specifically to every shred of evidence uncovered in chapter 2). The effect is a strong impression of contrivance.
Also, potential readers should be warned that the star detective is, and I can't stress this enough, an amateur poet.
Also, potential readers should be warned that the star detective is, and I can't stress this enough, an amateur poet.
May 8, 2023
May 8, 2023 Update Trailer is up for Season 2 of the new series of Dalgliesh (2021-) with Bertie Carver as Inspector Dalgliesh, see on YouTube here. Season 2 will cover books #6 Death of an Expert Witness, #10 A Certain Justice and #12 The Murder Room. Dalgliesh has DS Kate Miskin as one of his main assistants in the new TV series already in Season 1, unlike the books, where she came in later.
Laboratory Lust
Review of the Sphere Books paperback (1978 orig./1986 reprint) of the Faber & Faber hardcover original (1977)
The tight security procedures at the laboratory would seem to indicate that the murderer had to be someone with inside knowledge of its workings. Due to the way Lorrimer belittled or resented his colleagues, there are no shortage of suspects. It also becomes evident that the murderer had to have a special set of skills in order to exit the laboratory after the crime. This was probably the most significant clue (it was only mentioned briefly in passing) to the solution which begins to be clear when witnesses are able to narrow down the time frame of the crime. But then there is yet another murder.
Front cover of the original Faber & Faber hardcover edition (1977). Image sourced from Wikipedia.
I read Death of an Expert Witness as part of my continuing 2022 binge re-read of the P.D. James' Adam Dalgliesh and Cordelia Gray novels, which I am enjoying immensely. James is truely at the height of the Silver Age of Crime authors and puts most modern mystery writers to shame with her extensive character backgrounds and plots often set in confined communities where an atmosphere of paranoia and foreboding reign, until the cool, often detached detection of Dalgliesh is able to arrive at a clarifying solution.
Trivia and Links
* In Book 1, Adam Dalgliesh was a Detective Chief Inspector, in Books 2 to 4 he is a Detective Superintendent and in Books 5 to 14 he is a Detective Commander.
Death of an Expert Witness was adapted for television in 1983 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 7 episodes of the 1983 adaptation starting with Episode 1 on YouTube here. The adaptation is reasonably faithful to the novel.
The new Acorn TV-series reboot Dalgliesh (2021-?) starring Bertie Carver as Adam Dalgliesh has adapted Death of an Expert Witness (Dalgliesh #6) as Season 2 Episodes 1 & 2. Season 1 adapted Books 4, 5 & 7. See the Season 2 trailer here.
Laboratory Lust
Review of the Sphere Books paperback (1978 orig./1986 reprint) of the Faber & Faber hardcover original (1977)
I used to think that we can have almost anything we want from life, that it's just a question of organization. But now I'm beginning to think that we have to make a choice more often than we'd like. The important thing is to make sure that it's our choice, no one else's, and that we make it honestly. But one thing I'm sure of is that it's never a good thing to make a decision when you're not absolutely well. - Adam Dalgliesh gives advice during Death of an Expert WitnessDetective Commander* Adam Dalgliesh and his assistant DS John Massingham, both of Scotland Yard CID, are called out to investigate the death of Dr. Edwin Lorrimer at the East Anglia Forensics Laboratory. Lorrimer was chief of the biological department of the laboratory and did not get along well with his colleagues. He was also recently overlooked for promotion to the position of Head of the Laboratory with the hiring of an outsider, Dr. Howarth.
The tight security procedures at the laboratory would seem to indicate that the murderer had to be someone with inside knowledge of its workings. Due to the way Lorrimer belittled or resented his colleagues, there are no shortage of suspects. It also becomes evident that the murderer had to have a special set of skills in order to exit the laboratory after the crime. This was probably the most significant clue (it was only mentioned briefly in passing) to the solution which begins to be clear when witnesses are able to narrow down the time frame of the crime. But then there is yet another murder.
Front cover of the original Faber & Faber hardcover edition (1977). Image sourced from Wikipedia.
I read Death of an Expert Witness as part of my continuing 2022 binge re-read of the P.D. James' Adam Dalgliesh and Cordelia Gray novels, which I am enjoying immensely. James is truely at the height of the Silver Age of Crime authors and puts most modern mystery writers to shame with her extensive character backgrounds and plots often set in confined communities where an atmosphere of paranoia and foreboding reign, until the cool, often detached detection of Dalgliesh is able to arrive at a clarifying solution.
Trivia and Links
* In Book 1, Adam Dalgliesh was a Detective Chief Inspector, in Books 2 to 4 he is a Detective Superintendent and in Books 5 to 14 he is a Detective Commander.
Death of an Expert Witness was adapted for television in 1983 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 7 episodes of the 1983 adaptation starting with Episode 1 on YouTube here. The adaptation is reasonably faithful to the novel.
The new Acorn TV-series reboot Dalgliesh (2021-?) starring Bertie Carver as Adam Dalgliesh has adapted Death of an Expert Witness (Dalgliesh #6) as Season 2 Episodes 1 & 2. Season 1 adapted Books 4, 5 & 7. See the Season 2 trailer here.
August 4, 2022
Autoarea a fost directoare in Departamentul de Politie si a primit titlul de Ofiter al Imperiului Britanic. Are numeroase romane celebre ca "Giulgiu pentru o privighetoare", "Atentie la crima", iar de la ea am mai citit doua carti: "Farul" si "Sala crimelor".
Romanul de fata a aparut in 1977 si face parte din seria cu comandantul Adam Dalgliesh de la Scotland Yard.
In ceea ce priveste actiunea: intr-o dimineata cadavrul unei fete tinere este gasit intr-o cariera de la marginea unui catun. Medicii stabilesc ca aceasta a fost strangulata. Cazul va fi examinat de patologii de la Laboratorul de Medicina Legala Hoggatt. Acolo lucreaza mai multi cercetatori si personalul aferent printre care si Edwin Lorrimer, pe care toata lumea il detesta. Nu este de mirare astfel ca in curand va fi gasit mort in propriul sau birou. Adam Dalgliesh soseste sa investigheze cazul.
Crima are loc destul de tarziu si numai dupa ce, ca in majoritatea romanelor lui P.D. James, am avut ocazia sa-i cunoastem pe indelete pe toti suspectii si motivele lor bine intemeiate.
Este un roman politist reusit cu o intriga buna pe care autoarea o sustine foarte bine pastrand misterul si creand niste personaje bine conturate si simpatice.
Pentru cei care prefera un first-blood timpuriu romanul s-ar putea sa para un pic obositor sau sa le epuizeze rabdarea pana se intra in miezul actiunii.
In ceea ce priveste cartea in sine doua lucruri mi s-au parut hilar de ciudate:
Primul ar fi numerotarea paginilor - langa numarul fiecarei file se afla si o cruce, ca la cartile religioase.
Al doilea, cel mai ciudat si lipsit de sens ar fi coperta in sine a exemplarului meu ce contine o imagine a unui medic cu o masca chirurgicala, imagine ce este plasata cu capul in jos. Astfel ca la prima vedere pare ca ar fi cineva cu lenjeria intima (adica niste chiloti mari mototoliti) trasa pe cap, ceea ce e mai mult decat amuzant.
Este greu de inteles care a fost intentia autorului copertii si chiar m-am gandit la o greseala de tipar - insa imaginea mai apare o data si pe spatele cartii tot asa. In concluzie habar n-am ce reprezinta toata aceasta tarasenie; cert e ca m-am hlizit tot drumul de la biblioteca pana acasa. Ca sa intelegeti despre ce vorbesc va inserez mai jos o poza cu ea:
In incheiere cateva citate pe care le-am selectat si pe care le atasez mai jos:
"Moartea, nu, cel putin nu mai grea decat nasterea. Nu poti avea una fara cealalta, altfel n-am mai avea loc toti pe pamant."
"Asta inseamna democratie. Un sistem supus greselilor, dar e cel mai bun pe care-l avem."
"Cand o crima patrunde pe fereastra, tainele ies pe usa."
"Mi-am dat seama ca o persoana isi iroseste repede atractia fizica, nu credeti? Dar daca barbatul e inteligent, intelept si are un entuziasm al lui, relatia capata un tel."
Romanul de fata a aparut in 1977 si face parte din seria cu comandantul Adam Dalgliesh de la Scotland Yard.
In ceea ce priveste actiunea: intr-o dimineata cadavrul unei fete tinere este gasit intr-o cariera de la marginea unui catun. Medicii stabilesc ca aceasta a fost strangulata. Cazul va fi examinat de patologii de la Laboratorul de Medicina Legala Hoggatt. Acolo lucreaza mai multi cercetatori si personalul aferent printre care si Edwin Lorrimer, pe care toata lumea il detesta. Nu este de mirare astfel ca in curand va fi gasit mort in propriul sau birou. Adam Dalgliesh soseste sa investigheze cazul.
Crima are loc destul de tarziu si numai dupa ce, ca in majoritatea romanelor lui P.D. James, am avut ocazia sa-i cunoastem pe indelete pe toti suspectii si motivele lor bine intemeiate.
Este un roman politist reusit cu o intriga buna pe care autoarea o sustine foarte bine pastrand misterul si creand niste personaje bine conturate si simpatice.
Pentru cei care prefera un first-blood timpuriu romanul s-ar putea sa para un pic obositor sau sa le epuizeze rabdarea pana se intra in miezul actiunii.
In ceea ce priveste cartea in sine doua lucruri mi s-au parut hilar de ciudate:
Primul ar fi numerotarea paginilor - langa numarul fiecarei file se afla si o cruce, ca la cartile religioase.
Al doilea, cel mai ciudat si lipsit de sens ar fi coperta in sine a exemplarului meu ce contine o imagine a unui medic cu o masca chirurgicala, imagine ce este plasata cu capul in jos. Astfel ca la prima vedere pare ca ar fi cineva cu lenjeria intima (adica niste chiloti mari mototoliti) trasa pe cap, ceea ce e mai mult decat amuzant.
Este greu de inteles care a fost intentia autorului copertii si chiar m-am gandit la o greseala de tipar - insa imaginea mai apare o data si pe spatele cartii tot asa. In concluzie habar n-am ce reprezinta toata aceasta tarasenie; cert e ca m-am hlizit tot drumul de la biblioteca pana acasa. Ca sa intelegeti despre ce vorbesc va inserez mai jos o poza cu ea:
In incheiere cateva citate pe care le-am selectat si pe care le atasez mai jos:
"Moartea, nu, cel putin nu mai grea decat nasterea. Nu poti avea una fara cealalta, altfel n-am mai avea loc toti pe pamant."
"Asta inseamna democratie. Un sistem supus greselilor, dar e cel mai bun pe care-l avem."
"Cand o crima patrunde pe fereastra, tainele ies pe usa."
"Mi-am dat seama ca o persoana isi iroseste repede atractia fizica, nu credeti? Dar daca barbatul e inteligent, intelept si are un entuziasm al lui, relatia capata un tel."
April 11, 2021
An interesting mix of the usual and unusual. It's normal for the murder victim to be hated by multiple people (for example, Georgette Heyer's A Christmas Party). It's also normal for a forensic lab to be involved in a murder investigation. What was unusual was that the murder victim should be one of the members of the lab, killed in the lab, and that his fellow employees should become suspects. I wonder why this plot line doesn't get more use? After all, people of all walks of life have the same kinds of personal conflicts.
Another issue I found myself contemplating, especially in these physical distancing times, was how much of my life passes without having any kind of alibi. We don't live our lives expecting to be suspected of a crime. Living alone as I do, I would have a difficult task to find another person to vouch for me for most of every day.
James saw people, their virtues and their foibles, rather clearly, in my opinion. I find her plots believable and her characters realistic. The ailing elderly, the optimistic young people, the dissatisfied wives, the hen-pecked husbands, the unhappily divorced, the drunks, the church goers, they are all represented in her novels. They feel real. I can even understand how Dalgleish has ended up in the chilly emotional state that we find him in. Once again, I am struck with the idea that we all have pasts, not all of which we would be willing to proclaim to the world, and that we will get to keep secret unless we are caught up in a serious investigation.
Cross posted at my blog:
https://wanda-thenextfifty.blogspot.c...
Another issue I found myself contemplating, especially in these physical distancing times, was how much of my life passes without having any kind of alibi. We don't live our lives expecting to be suspected of a crime. Living alone as I do, I would have a difficult task to find another person to vouch for me for most of every day.
James saw people, their virtues and their foibles, rather clearly, in my opinion. I find her plots believable and her characters realistic. The ailing elderly, the optimistic young people, the dissatisfied wives, the hen-pecked husbands, the unhappily divorced, the drunks, the church goers, they are all represented in her novels. They feel real. I can even understand how Dalgleish has ended up in the chilly emotional state that we find him in. Once again, I am struck with the idea that we all have pasts, not all of which we would be willing to proclaim to the world, and that we will get to keep secret unless we are caught up in a serious investigation.
Cross posted at my blog:
https://wanda-thenextfifty.blogspot.c...
January 13, 2019
This was another great twisty and turny Dalgliesh book by P.D. James. It seems with each instalment of the series it gets even more complex. Which I find greatly enjoyable.
Like most James readers I watched the series, so as I was reading the book the series played through my head.
And I am looking forward to the next book.
Like most James readers I watched the series, so as I was reading the book the series played through my head.
And I am looking forward to the next book.
June 1, 2020
James's writing is a step up on that frequently found in this genre but gosh, she's miserable! Humourless and packed with characters who either hate each other or themselves (and Miss Willard is almost a Dickensian grotesque), there are red herrings galore but it's not really possible to solve the mystery as we can in Christie. James probably thinks she's above that kind of puzzle pleasure.
That said, I spotted the murderer by page 3 - though couldn't understand the motive. .
Dalgleish ditches his cold fish demeanour, and there's an interesting tension between him and his colleague. Yet again, though, he can't walk into a room without being recognised as a famous poet - really, Ms James - literally, in your dreams!
That said, I spotted the murderer by page 3 - though couldn't understand the motive. .
Dalgleish ditches his cold fish demeanour, and there's an interesting tension between him and his colleague. Yet again, though, he can't walk into a room without being recognised as a famous poet - really, Ms James - literally, in your dreams!
September 21, 2020
Another multi-layered mystery, with a large cast of characters who are either suspects or related to a suspect. I enjoyed this one a bit more than the previous ones, couldn't quite solve it myself. I really like the way P.D. James writes more than I like Inspector Adam Dalgliesh, a very low key detective.
June 4, 2020
This is the sixth Adam Dalgliesh mystery, originally published in 1977. I have been enjoying reading this series and enjoyed this novel very much.
Like many of P.D. James books, this is set in a closed community, with a good cast of suspects and motives. This book is set within Hoggat's Laboratory, in the Fenland of East Anglia. The victim is the disliked, bullying, Dr Edwin Lorrimor. Although Lorrimor is not a likeable man, as the novel continues, you do begin to feel some sympathy for him - not just for being murdered, obviously, but for his behaviour beforehand.
P.D. James was a writer who liked character above anything else and I feel much the same way. I do, sometimes, enjoy a fast-paced thriller, but really, my heart is in the slow unravelling of motive and the discovery of clues. Dalgliesh is not a showy detective, but he is sensitive, thoughtful and calm. I look forward to reading on in this series and finally reading it to the end.
Like many of P.D. James books, this is set in a closed community, with a good cast of suspects and motives. This book is set within Hoggat's Laboratory, in the Fenland of East Anglia. The victim is the disliked, bullying, Dr Edwin Lorrimor. Although Lorrimor is not a likeable man, as the novel continues, you do begin to feel some sympathy for him - not just for being murdered, obviously, but for his behaviour beforehand.
P.D. James was a writer who liked character above anything else and I feel much the same way. I do, sometimes, enjoy a fast-paced thriller, but really, my heart is in the slow unravelling of motive and the discovery of clues. Dalgliesh is not a showy detective, but he is sensitive, thoughtful and calm. I look forward to reading on in this series and finally reading it to the end.
August 16, 2020
3.5 stars.
The plot is a good one and the setting near Ely and the fens interesting. In parts the author is overly descriptive and Dalgliesch is his dour self. The forensic lab where the murder takes place was interesting and the now mostly historic methods of identifying suspects. DNA not even thought about.
The characters are unlikeable such as Domenica the sister of the director who is beautiful and sexy but also without depth. Massingham the assistant to Dalgliesch is an interesting character who upsets his boss towards the end.
Dr Kerrison the assistant pathologist is hoping for a promotion, is in the middle of a bitter divorce, has custody of his two children with his daughter mentally disturbed as well as he is having an affair with the directors wife. In the tv version he is played by such a mild character it’s difficult to suspect him.
Atmospherically is where P.D James excelled with Brenda’s panicked escape thinking someone is going to murder her. Overall a good readable story.
The plot is a good one and the setting near Ely and the fens interesting. In parts the author is overly descriptive and Dalgliesch is his dour self. The forensic lab where the murder takes place was interesting and the now mostly historic methods of identifying suspects. DNA not even thought about.
The characters are unlikeable such as Domenica the sister of the director who is beautiful and sexy but also without depth. Massingham the assistant to Dalgliesch is an interesting character who upsets his boss towards the end.
Dr Kerrison the assistant pathologist is hoping for a promotion, is in the middle of a bitter divorce, has custody of his two children with his daughter mentally disturbed as well as he is having an affair with the directors wife. In the tv version he is played by such a mild character it’s difficult to suspect him.
Atmospherically is where P.D James excelled with Brenda’s panicked escape thinking someone is going to murder her. Overall a good readable story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 14, 2024
An old-school one, with plenty of gothic elements: the church, the chapel , the cemetery, swamps, bad weather. If you ask me, the first pages are somehow dull and may expel quite a lot of potential readers, but the plot is ok, the characters very well defined and the final unexpected.
So maybe we have not four full stars, but sometimes we have to defend our choices...
So maybe we have not four full stars, but sometimes we have to defend our choices...
May 24, 2022
This was a panic buy – pushed to my Kindle by Amazon’s algorithm late at night when I was already half asleep and had finished my last bedtime read.
How does the saying go? Act in haste, repent at leisure.
I don’t mind ‘internal dialogue’ (when the narrator reveals a character’s thoughts) – but when TWO characters keep doing it interchangeably, without warning and sometimes even in the SAME paragraph it can be quite disconcerting.
And descriptions. Okay, what folk look like – fair enough. But every building and every garden and the contents of every room! I believe this book could lose a third of its words and no one would notice. It is ponderous, tedious and over-written.
Characters. How many is too many? In marketing, proven by research, for the optimum balance of message and retention, the magic number is SEVEN.
In this book, by the time Commander Dalgliesh arrives on the scene to solve the crime, the reader has been introduced to 45 CHARACTERS. Yes, that’s FORTY-FIVE.
There is a Morgan, a Massey, a Mawson, a Mason, a Mallettt, a Martin … and when Massingham started to talk to Middlemass about the Muddington Murder I began to think the whole thing was one big practical joke on the part of the author.
To compound matters, the story is set in and around a forensic lab. Many of the characters have similar-sounding job titles, some of them extending to five words in their own right!
Much of the dialogue was wooden, robotic at times; witnesses sounded like they were reading from prepared statements. And yet there were other passages, later in the novel that were of an impressive literary quality, both in their language and philosophical content. Perplexing.
The plot. There was one, rudimentary – which I cannot spoil – because, I have to admit, a week after finishing I have forgotten it.
How does the saying go? Act in haste, repent at leisure.
I don’t mind ‘internal dialogue’ (when the narrator reveals a character’s thoughts) – but when TWO characters keep doing it interchangeably, without warning and sometimes even in the SAME paragraph it can be quite disconcerting.
And descriptions. Okay, what folk look like – fair enough. But every building and every garden and the contents of every room! I believe this book could lose a third of its words and no one would notice. It is ponderous, tedious and over-written.
Characters. How many is too many? In marketing, proven by research, for the optimum balance of message and retention, the magic number is SEVEN.
In this book, by the time Commander Dalgliesh arrives on the scene to solve the crime, the reader has been introduced to 45 CHARACTERS. Yes, that’s FORTY-FIVE.
There is a Morgan, a Massey, a Mawson, a Mason, a Mallettt, a Martin … and when Massingham started to talk to Middlemass about the Muddington Murder I began to think the whole thing was one big practical joke on the part of the author.
To compound matters, the story is set in and around a forensic lab. Many of the characters have similar-sounding job titles, some of them extending to five words in their own right!
Much of the dialogue was wooden, robotic at times; witnesses sounded like they were reading from prepared statements. And yet there were other passages, later in the novel that were of an impressive literary quality, both in their language and philosophical content. Perplexing.
The plot. There was one, rudimentary – which I cannot spoil – because, I have to admit, a week after finishing I have forgotten it.
Read
October 9, 2025(notes while reading:) One of the reasons P.D. James is so great is utterly simple. She writes a murder mystery like it's a novel. This sounds facile, but it's unusual, often a hallmark of greatness like James's or Josephine Tey's. In this book, for example, the discovery of the body is written, not in order to give us all the details, clues and red herrings, of the body's condition, but as a truly traumatic event in the life of an established character, a rather sheltered young woman. This is what people mean when they tell you not to write to a formula. If you consider your story as a story, not as its genre, you transcend all the assembly-line books in the world.
Review: 3.5 stars
Ah, P.D. You are too good; it makes me raise my standards. This was just an okay Dalgliesh novel, which means I was never too scared on behalf of a character to stop listening, never caught myself musing on how totally awesome Dalgliesh is and missing parts of the story, et cetera. I was merely entertained and engaged the whole time. I enjoyed the wrinkles added to the plot by the fact that the murder happened at a forensic lab and most of the suspects were forensic scientists; but P.D. James has such a history of grabbing my heart as well as my brain with her mysteries that I am marking this one down for only getting the grey cells.
Review: 3.5 stars
Ah, P.D. You are too good; it makes me raise my standards. This was just an okay Dalgliesh novel, which means I was never too scared on behalf of a character to stop listening, never caught myself musing on how totally awesome Dalgliesh is and missing parts of the story, et cetera. I was merely entertained and engaged the whole time. I enjoyed the wrinkles added to the plot by the fact that the murder happened at a forensic lab and most of the suspects were forensic scientists; but P.D. James has such a history of grabbing my heart as well as my brain with her mysteries that I am marking this one down for only getting the grey cells.
August 10, 2024
לסקירה מפורטת בעברית, קישור לבלוג שלי -
https://sivi-the-avid-reader.com/deat...
https://sivi-the-avid-reader.com/deat...
May 17, 2010
The murderer in Death of an Expert Witness by P. D. James is one for which we rightly should expect to show some empathy, if not sympathy. The murderer is a victim as well as a perpetrator. That being said, I haven’t given anything away. Every suspect in this novel has some emotional baggage that might or might not have caused them to kill the deceased. Even the eventual victim who inspires such angst and ire among his co-workers is not one for which I could withhold my sympathy. I could understand and identify with mistakes he had made and recognize self-destructive facets in his personality that have been (and probably still are) present in my own personality. I can honestly state that this is the best mystery novel I’ve read by James. I consider it her masterpiece. Not only did I not know the real murderer until the end, but I turned each page in constant fear that it would turn up being this suspect or another. I was emotionally involved with every suspect.
In addition to the intriguing mystery, James weaves a microcosm of society (amazing in terms of the fact that this was written years ago)—potential foreclosure, tolerance of alternate lifestyles, sexual predators, domestic violence, abandoned spouses, unloved children, sibling closeness that threatened other relationships, vocational ambition, emotional frigidity, and more. I found portions of the investigation to uncover absolutely visceral-wrenching aspects of human cruelty (more emotional than physical, if you happen to be squeamish and still like well-written mysteries).
Of course, one of the more unique aspects of this mystery is that we don’t really get any new insights about the protagonist, Adam Dalgleish. Although portions of the investigation are seen through his point-of-view, the brilliant sections of the book are positively told through the perspectives of the interesting suspects. Now, those of you who follow my reviews will know that I usually don’t like having my POV bounced around like an old railway carriage on a neglected stretch of track, but I can honestly say that the myriad of important perspectives in this novel is exactly what makes it. I love fascinating characters and this one is absolutely chock-full of some of the most vivid I can ever remember encountering in James’ work. If you want a mix of procedural and psychological cleverness, you need to read or re-read this one.
In addition to the intriguing mystery, James weaves a microcosm of society (amazing in terms of the fact that this was written years ago)—potential foreclosure, tolerance of alternate lifestyles, sexual predators, domestic violence, abandoned spouses, unloved children, sibling closeness that threatened other relationships, vocational ambition, emotional frigidity, and more. I found portions of the investigation to uncover absolutely visceral-wrenching aspects of human cruelty (more emotional than physical, if you happen to be squeamish and still like well-written mysteries).
Of course, one of the more unique aspects of this mystery is that we don’t really get any new insights about the protagonist, Adam Dalgleish. Although portions of the investigation are seen through his point-of-view, the brilliant sections of the book are positively told through the perspectives of the interesting suspects. Now, those of you who follow my reviews will know that I usually don’t like having my POV bounced around like an old railway carriage on a neglected stretch of track, but I can honestly say that the myriad of important perspectives in this novel is exactly what makes it. I love fascinating characters and this one is absolutely chock-full of some of the most vivid I can ever remember encountering in James’ work. If you want a mix of procedural and psychological cleverness, you need to read or re-read this one.
June 13, 2020
This is the third audiobook of P.D. James that I've read/listened to that is narrated by Penelope Dellaporta. I've enjoyed each one, imagining to myself that the narrator's voice is that of the author. (Flight of fancy, I know.) But it adds to my personal enjoyment of the experience.
Death of an Expert Witness is the sixth in the author's Inspector Adam Dalgleish series. It can be read as a standalone.
I find James' writing to be very much in the tradition of British mystery/police procedurals. Each is character-based and detailed enough for each scene to be imagined but not so much as to be tedious.
I'm looking forward to reading/listening to the seventh in this series.
Death of an Expert Witness is the sixth in the author's Inspector Adam Dalgleish series. It can be read as a standalone.
I find James' writing to be very much in the tradition of British mystery/police procedurals. Each is character-based and detailed enough for each scene to be imagined but not so much as to be tedious.
I'm looking forward to reading/listening to the seventh in this series.
November 25, 2020
The critic Julian Symons said that PD James was the end of a line of golden age British crime writers that began with Christie, Sayers and Allingham. A fair comment since all the elements of a classic mystery novel are to be seen here and in her other books.
These include a crime committed in a closed community, a victim unpleasant enough to have made several of his colleagues willing to ensure he never tasted birthday cake again and a detective whom is as much a father confessor as a warranted officer of the law. Other less palatable, to modern readers anyway, elements are present too, such as the way James writes her working-class characters as half truculent oafs and half dim but decent children.
As a piece of crime fiction, the novel works surprisingly well despite being over forty years old and written in a way that even then was looking back to an idealised past. James keeps her readers guessing as to the identity of the suspect almost to the end and her description of the fraught internal politics of a civil service establishment are entirely believable.
What makes it both readable and worth relishing now are all the things that her predecessors would largely have ignored, but for James are integral to the whole exercise. She has a magnificent skill for using landscape to evoke feelings of unease and solitude. Also, unlike those of her golden age predecessors her characters have three dimensional emotional lives, here they are all on some level struggling with faith. Be that in books and symbols, science or their agency to create lives worth living.
This isn’t James’s best book, that accolade goes to Shroud for a Nightingale (1971), it has though stood the test of time remarkably well and still works some good tricks on the reader.
These include a crime committed in a closed community, a victim unpleasant enough to have made several of his colleagues willing to ensure he never tasted birthday cake again and a detective whom is as much a father confessor as a warranted officer of the law. Other less palatable, to modern readers anyway, elements are present too, such as the way James writes her working-class characters as half truculent oafs and half dim but decent children.
As a piece of crime fiction, the novel works surprisingly well despite being over forty years old and written in a way that even then was looking back to an idealised past. James keeps her readers guessing as to the identity of the suspect almost to the end and her description of the fraught internal politics of a civil service establishment are entirely believable.
What makes it both readable and worth relishing now are all the things that her predecessors would largely have ignored, but for James are integral to the whole exercise. She has a magnificent skill for using landscape to evoke feelings of unease and solitude. Also, unlike those of her golden age predecessors her characters have three dimensional emotional lives, here they are all on some level struggling with faith. Be that in books and symbols, science or their agency to create lives worth living.
This isn’t James’s best book, that accolade goes to Shroud for a Nightingale (1971), it has though stood the test of time remarkably well and still works some good tricks on the reader.
March 16, 2012
This took a while to get into.
There is a reason PD James is so well-known as a mystery writer - she knows what she's doing, and she's good at it. The woman can craft a mystery. I hear from various places that this wasn't one of her best, though, and I'm quite glad to hear that, because sorry, PD, but this wasn't really for me.
It started off with the mother of all info-dumps. I find it very sad when mystery novels start off like this. It is easy to overdo it completely, and this overdid it completely. Then the death count confused me: a chapter or so in, someone dies, and it's not the expert witness of the title. Then there was the titular death, and that was explained in about four very dense pages of more info-dump near the end. And then there was the Obligatory Afterthought Death, which I have yet to understand the point of. It created no tension, and just seemed a bit pointless.
Also, can we talk about Commander Dalgliesh? Not really, that's the problem. Commander Dalgliesh is the detective. He looks a bit nondescript, although he has a moustache, and he always seems to say the right thing, which is to say that he has no defining features at all. This is the first time I've read a book with him in, it's true, but I feel like I haven't even met the man. Given that his sidekick got upwards of four pages of life history before they'd even started the detecting, and I heard all about his hair colour, accent, level of education and progression through the police service, I with I'd found out a bit more about The Man Himself. Give me hard-drinking lovable-but-flawed old men about to get forced into early retirement for being sarky with their superiors any day, at least they have a bit of character to them.
So, if the murders were a bit of a let-down, and I've still no idea who the detective was, what was the point of this book?
Well, I feel like I've been a bit harsh, there. I liked some of the characters a lot. Brenda was an absolute sweetheart, everyone with the title Inspector was good to hang around with for a while, and I'll even admit to having a soft spot for Hoary Domenica, writhing mass of cliché though she undoubtedly was. And dammit, when there wasn't a massive exposition of backstory going on, PD James can write a darned good mystery. She can keep you guessing. There were quite a few things I really didn't see coming - the significance of the numbers, for instance, was clever and unusual, and she's clearly got an eye for writing a classic puzzle, and writing it well. And as for the Big Showdown, yes, I'll admit to staying up for an extra hour to read it, which is always a good sign.
The reputation of PD James as the writer of a good mystery is a strong one, and I really do want to give her another go. But I have to say that this didn't light any of my fires.
There is a reason PD James is so well-known as a mystery writer - she knows what she's doing, and she's good at it. The woman can craft a mystery. I hear from various places that this wasn't one of her best, though, and I'm quite glad to hear that, because sorry, PD, but this wasn't really for me.
It started off with the mother of all info-dumps. I find it very sad when mystery novels start off like this. It is easy to overdo it completely, and this overdid it completely. Then the death count confused me: a chapter or so in, someone dies, and it's not the expert witness of the title. Then there was the titular death, and that was explained in about four very dense pages of more info-dump near the end. And then there was the Obligatory Afterthought Death, which I have yet to understand the point of. It created no tension, and just seemed a bit pointless.
Also, can we talk about Commander Dalgliesh? Not really, that's the problem. Commander Dalgliesh is the detective. He looks a bit nondescript, although he has a moustache, and he always seems to say the right thing, which is to say that he has no defining features at all. This is the first time I've read a book with him in, it's true, but I feel like I haven't even met the man. Given that his sidekick got upwards of four pages of life history before they'd even started the detecting, and I heard all about his hair colour, accent, level of education and progression through the police service, I with I'd found out a bit more about The Man Himself. Give me hard-drinking lovable-but-flawed old men about to get forced into early retirement for being sarky with their superiors any day, at least they have a bit of character to them.
So, if the murders were a bit of a let-down, and I've still no idea who the detective was, what was the point of this book?
Well, I feel like I've been a bit harsh, there. I liked some of the characters a lot. Brenda was an absolute sweetheart, everyone with the title Inspector was good to hang around with for a while, and I'll even admit to having a soft spot for Hoary Domenica, writhing mass of cliché though she undoubtedly was. And dammit, when there wasn't a massive exposition of backstory going on, PD James can write a darned good mystery. She can keep you guessing. There were quite a few things I really didn't see coming - the significance of the numbers, for instance, was clever and unusual, and she's clearly got an eye for writing a classic puzzle, and writing it well. And as for the Big Showdown, yes, I'll admit to staying up for an extra hour to read it, which is always a good sign.
The reputation of PD James as the writer of a good mystery is a strong one, and I really do want to give her another go. But I have to say that this didn't light any of my fires.
May 26, 2020
There are a lot of characters in this. I found the novel constructed well enough that keeping them straight wasn't a problem. Even Dalgliesh's sargeant named Massingham, and one of the scientist's named Middlemass didn't offer even a moment to do a double take.
She continues to develop Adam Dalgliesh's character. In each installment, we learn a bit more or something different, so that with each read he becomes more fully-fleshed. I find it interesting that his sergeant isn't always the same man. Other mystery series seem to have a duo, but not here. It's noticeable, but not disconcerting.
The mystery is good. I'm not good at figuring these things out anyway and I laughed at myself when two of the characters announced they knew who did it - and I still didn't have a clue. The edition I read was unpaged (from a bundle). I can say with confidence that it was probably with fewer than 20 pages to go that I knew who it was, and that only when Dalgliesh was ready for the arrest.
It seems that in this sixth novel, P.D. James finally hit her stride. I say that having given 4-stars to four of the previous five novels in the series, so it isn't as if I thought the others weren't good. This is another 4-stars and sitting toward the top of that group. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
She continues to develop Adam Dalgliesh's character. In each installment, we learn a bit more or something different, so that with each read he becomes more fully-fleshed. I find it interesting that his sergeant isn't always the same man. Other mystery series seem to have a duo, but not here. It's noticeable, but not disconcerting.
The mystery is good. I'm not good at figuring these things out anyway and I laughed at myself when two of the characters announced they knew who did it - and I still didn't have a clue. The edition I read was unpaged (from a bundle). I can say with confidence that it was probably with fewer than 20 pages to go that I knew who it was, and that only when Dalgliesh was ready for the arrest.
It seems that in this sixth novel, P.D. James finally hit her stride. I say that having given 4-stars to four of the previous five novels in the series, so it isn't as if I thought the others weren't good. This is another 4-stars and sitting toward the top of that group. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
March 24, 2017
During the investigation of a local murder, we are introduced to the people who work at Hoggart's Laboratory, a forensic laboratory written and set in the 1970s. Dr. Lorrimer, who will, of course, be murdered (it's in the book description) is not at all likable, and we have been introduced to a slew of people with possible motive, and not one of them particularly endearing. Adam Dalgleish enters the picture in the second part of the book; there is nothing endearing about him, either, although his associate, Massingham (with a name awfully close to one the Hoggart's employees) comes close to being endearing.
During the rest of the novel we continue to read the stories of the various suspects as well as the investigation. I really had high hopes that this would be a four star read, but it's difficult to do that when I am not actually rooting for any of the characters even though I did want the mystery to be solved. No doubt this is likely to be better in a film.
After two PD James novels, I suspect I'm done with her writing. Pity.
During the rest of the novel we continue to read the stories of the various suspects as well as the investigation. I really had high hopes that this would be a four star read, but it's difficult to do that when I am not actually rooting for any of the characters even though I did want the mystery to be solved. No doubt this is likely to be better in a film.
After two PD James novels, I suspect I'm done with her writing. Pity.
March 28, 2009
This was not my favorite of James' books. The extensive cast of characters and their interconnected lives were not only confusing, but also pushed too far beyond the edge of plausible. Certainly happenstance, family ties and being in the right place at the right (or wrong) time is the keystone to most great mystery stories, but James' overachievement in this area made less of her talent. James set up a story with 30+ characters, and then defaulted to creating complicated sexual histories in order to establish connections, all the while requiring that the reader believe that all the characters live in the same area, are associated with the same laboratory, and happened to be engaged in their scandalous deeds right around the time of the murder.
It was a little much.
It was a little much.
November 20, 2015
This is my fifth P.D. James book--I keep looking for a good mystery writer, and she has a reputation. I am sorry to say that this is the end of the line, though. I seem to have started with the worst possible book--that Pride and Prejudice thing--which I stopped reading in utter horror around page 20. I am a Jane Austen fan, and I have my pride. Then I tried the two Cordelia Gray books, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman and The Skull Beneath The Skin. Well, those two had a somewhat feeble female lead, weakened so much in the second book that we meet her at the peak of her career as a specialist in finding stray cats. And then she falls even further when she is put in the employ of a rich tycoon living on a small private island in a theatrical setting. That was a lot of layers of implausibility right there. The Lighthouse was my first Dalgliesh mystery, and I was dismayed to see that this novel was also set on a private island. Dangerous, murderous places, these private islands.
What I have discovered in reading James's novels is that she has a good literary style, which I enjoy, but her writing is poorly organized--undisciplined, one could say. The first tenth or more of every book is basically pointless. You could skip it and not miss anything important about the characters or anything else later in the book. This is true for Death of an Expert Witness, as well--if you start reading it and are wondering when all of this will become important, well, it won't. Her books are like that tedious style of joke where there is a long, boring build-up to a sometimes good punchline. Here, the buildup is almost completely unrelated to the actual case that the rest of the book is about. By now, I am fairly certain that this is the author's trademark--at the beginning of the first Cordelia Gray novel, a body is found after an apparent suicide, and ... absolutely nothing comes of that. It's actually a suicide, whose only plot point is to put Gray into the investigatorial position that is vacated by the dead body.
The setting of this novel is the fens--that part of Eastern England that resembles the Netherlands. I actually quite enjoyed the setting; Domenica Scholfield's house was vividly portrayed and I kind of wanted to move in. Indeed, James has a talent for describing people. Angela Foley is a picture in my mind, as are the two children of one of the two dozen suspects and their Dickensian babysitter Ms. Willard.
I would say that if there is a good reason to give her writing a chance, it is for the closely observed portraits of the gargoyles that populate her world. Her world is not a happy place, and there are very few likable characters, but they are all quite vividly drawn. She obviously disliked people but was interested in them. By "people", though, I think I have to mean "women", because her male characters are usually little more than ciphers. The women are arrogant, secretive, worried about pleasing others, insecure, knitting ominously, embedded in a stifling room smelling of sherry and loneliness, coldly manipulating their many lovers, neurotic--and every negative female archetype is to be found somewhere in her novels. The men are generally kind of samey. It's a pity that she chose the fundamentally uninteresting Dalgliesh character as her hero instead of creating a strong female lead, but I think she doesn't like people enough to have a character one might actually care about.
What I have discovered in reading James's novels is that she has a good literary style, which I enjoy, but her writing is poorly organized--undisciplined, one could say. The first tenth or more of every book is basically pointless. You could skip it and not miss anything important about the characters or anything else later in the book. This is true for Death of an Expert Witness, as well--if you start reading it and are wondering when all of this will become important, well, it won't. Her books are like that tedious style of joke where there is a long, boring build-up to a sometimes good punchline. Here, the buildup is almost completely unrelated to the actual case that the rest of the book is about. By now, I am fairly certain that this is the author's trademark--at the beginning of the first Cordelia Gray novel, a body is found after an apparent suicide, and ... absolutely nothing comes of that. It's actually a suicide, whose only plot point is to put Gray into the investigatorial position that is vacated by the dead body.
The setting of this novel is the fens--that part of Eastern England that resembles the Netherlands. I actually quite enjoyed the setting; Domenica Scholfield's house was vividly portrayed and I kind of wanted to move in. Indeed, James has a talent for describing people. Angela Foley is a picture in my mind, as are the two children of one of the two dozen suspects and their Dickensian babysitter Ms. Willard.
I would say that if there is a good reason to give her writing a chance, it is for the closely observed portraits of the gargoyles that populate her world. Her world is not a happy place, and there are very few likable characters, but they are all quite vividly drawn. She obviously disliked people but was interested in them. By "people", though, I think I have to mean "women", because her male characters are usually little more than ciphers. The women are arrogant, secretive, worried about pleasing others, insecure, knitting ominously, embedded in a stifling room smelling of sherry and loneliness, coldly manipulating their many lovers, neurotic--and every negative female archetype is to be found somewhere in her novels. The men are generally kind of samey. It's a pity that she chose the fundamentally uninteresting Dalgliesh character as her hero instead of creating a strong female lead, but I think she doesn't like people enough to have a character one might actually care about.
June 9, 2018
At last, a fully fledged Adam Dalgliesh mystery. This being the 6th volume in the series and we are finally seeing what Commander Dalgliesh can do.
In this volume, we have reverted back to seeing Dalgliesh as a bit of a one dimensional character, though this was seen through the eyes of the other characters. This was the one area where the novel fell down somewhat for me.
Otherwise we have a cast of characters with hints of incest and lesbianism, which at the time the novel was written would have been a bit risqué for mainstream authors. These delicate subjects were handled well and I can honestly say I was totally wrong in who I thought was responsible for the murders.
I salute anyone who is able to really unravel this complex situation. There were so many red herrings and unreliable characters, but it all worked out neatly. I say this in terms of a resolution of the crime, not for the characters’ lives.
I really can’t wait to read in with the series - I recommend these for people who like a good whodunnit without the gratuitous and voyeuristic detail.
In this volume, we have reverted back to seeing Dalgliesh as a bit of a one dimensional character, though this was seen through the eyes of the other characters. This was the one area where the novel fell down somewhat for me.
Otherwise we have a cast of characters with hints of incest and lesbianism, which at the time the novel was written would have been a bit risqué for mainstream authors. These delicate subjects were handled well and I can honestly say I was totally wrong in who I thought was responsible for the murders.
I salute anyone who is able to really unravel this complex situation. There were so many red herrings and unreliable characters, but it all worked out neatly. I say this in terms of a resolution of the crime, not for the characters’ lives.
I really can’t wait to read in with the series - I recommend these for people who like a good whodunnit without the gratuitous and voyeuristic detail.
March 28, 2011
A girl's body has turned up in a clunch pit (clunch: a hard chalk used as building stone) in East Anglia, but we don't care about her. Our focus is the Hoggatt Forensic Science Laboratory, one of whose forensic scientists, who just happens to be hated by many, will be bludgeoned to death before he can finish examining the evidence in the clunch pit case. The lovely Dalgliesh helicopters in with his appealing sidekick, Massingham, a deeply ordinary aristocrat. "The marvel of the Massinghams was that a lineage going back five hundred years could have produced so many generations of amiable nonentities." James can't seem to help her deep misogynistic streak; it's not enough for spinsters to be unloved, they also need to be vindictive and foul-smelling, their lipstick melting into the creases around their mouths, their hair rollers leaving fat sausage impressions in their hair, their stockings put on backwards.
May 21, 2016
During the investigation of a local murder, we are introduced to the people who work at Hoggart's Laboratory, a forensic laboratory written and set in the 1970s. Dr. Lorrimer, who will, of course, be murdered (it's in the book description) is not at all likable, and we have been introduced to a slew of people with possible motive, and not one of them particularly endearing. Adam Dalgleish enters the picture in the second part of the book; there is nothing endearing about him, either, although his associate, Massingham (with a name awfully close to one the Hoggart's employees) comes close to being endearing.
During the rest of the novel we continue to read the stories of the various suspects as well as the investigation. I really had high hopes that this would be a four star read, but it's difficult to do that when I am not actually rooting for any of the characters even though I did want the mystery to be solved. No doubt this is likely to be better in a film.
During the rest of the novel we continue to read the stories of the various suspects as well as the investigation. I really had high hopes that this would be a four star read, but it's difficult to do that when I am not actually rooting for any of the characters even though I did want the mystery to be solved. No doubt this is likely to be better in a film.
October 16, 2019
Another marvellous police procedural mystery by P.D. James that stands up to the test of time. I especially enjoyed the exploration of societal attitudes towards the different female lifestyles and the setting of the Fens.
I am dismayed by the reviews that complain about Adam Dalgiesh’s lack of quirks and interesting hobbies. Personally, I am amused by his knowledge and appreciation of obscure collectables that one may find hiding in the corner of your Grandmothers China cabinet. In my opinion, he is a relatable literary character who spends as much time in his head as the rest of us. So much so, that sometimes I half expect to run into him at the corner store!
I am dismayed by the reviews that complain about Adam Dalgiesh’s lack of quirks and interesting hobbies. Personally, I am amused by his knowledge and appreciation of obscure collectables that one may find hiding in the corner of your Grandmothers China cabinet. In my opinion, he is a relatable literary character who spends as much time in his head as the rest of us. So much so, that sometimes I half expect to run into him at the corner store!
October 1, 2019
2.5/5 ⭐️
Una vez leí un libro de esta autora que me encantó. Lastima que no fue lo mismo en esta ocasión.
P. D. James se caracteriza por escribir novelas policíacas teniendo como investigador principal a Adam Dalgliesh.
El detective es llamado luego de ocurrir un asesinato a un forense en el laboratorio donde trabaja. Muchos sospechosos los cuales tienen coartada y ninguna prueba que incrimine al asesino.
La lectura me la encontré aburrida al principio, ya que era una introducción de los implicados desde el punto de vista de ellos. Luego empieza la trama, donde hay que tener buena memoria para no confundirse con la gran cantidad de personajes que aparecen.
Hay que destacar que aunque no fue un total acierto para mí la lectura, siempre elogiaré la manera de escribir de esta autora, es casi imposible saber quien es el autor de los asesinatos.
Una vez leí un libro de esta autora que me encantó. Lastima que no fue lo mismo en esta ocasión.
P. D. James se caracteriza por escribir novelas policíacas teniendo como investigador principal a Adam Dalgliesh.
El detective es llamado luego de ocurrir un asesinato a un forense en el laboratorio donde trabaja. Muchos sospechosos los cuales tienen coartada y ninguna prueba que incrimine al asesino.
La lectura me la encontré aburrida al principio, ya que era una introducción de los implicados desde el punto de vista de ellos. Luego empieza la trama, donde hay que tener buena memoria para no confundirse con la gran cantidad de personajes que aparecen.
Hay que destacar que aunque no fue un total acierto para mí la lectura, siempre elogiaré la manera de escribir de esta autora, es casi imposible saber quien es el autor de los asesinatos.
January 14, 2025
Someone’s alibi in this otherwise fairly serious book is “I can’t have done it because I was busy pretending to be a horse for a group of morris dancers.”
10/10 alibi, 6/10 book, PD James has done better than this.
10/10 alibi, 6/10 book, PD James has done better than this.
December 11, 2016
Listened to in audio format.
I remembered the Adam Daglish TV adaptations when I was young. I remembered at the time I did not like the Adam Daglish character. When these book was in a Audible two for one I thought I would give it another try.
Death of an expert witness was first published in 1977. This book is a bit of a cozy mystery set in The Fen. Unfortunately Commander Adam Daglish lacks personality, he is neither charismatic or a bad boy like DI Regan who another Tv detective from The Sweeney.
The storyline showed promise, forensic scientist Dr Edwin Lorrimer was found murdered in his laboratory at Hoggarts. It turns out that Dr Mortimer was recently turned down for promotion and clashed with his new boss Dr Kerrison. However there were too many characters in the story for me to remember. It took me a few moments to work out who the character was.
All in all, I did enjoy the story but it was more on a par with a Midsomer Murder/Columbo murder mystery then a thriller.
I remembered the Adam Daglish TV adaptations when I was young. I remembered at the time I did not like the Adam Daglish character. When these book was in a Audible two for one I thought I would give it another try.
Death of an expert witness was first published in 1977. This book is a bit of a cozy mystery set in The Fen. Unfortunately Commander Adam Daglish lacks personality, he is neither charismatic or a bad boy like DI Regan who another Tv detective from The Sweeney.
The storyline showed promise, forensic scientist Dr Edwin Lorrimer was found murdered in his laboratory at Hoggarts. It turns out that Dr Mortimer was recently turned down for promotion and clashed with his new boss Dr Kerrison. However there were too many characters in the story for me to remember. It took me a few moments to work out who the character was.
All in all, I did enjoy the story but it was more on a par with a Midsomer Murder/Columbo murder mystery then a thriller.
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