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Adam Dalgliesh #2
A Mind To Murder
A piercing scream, shattering the evening calm, brings Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh hurrying from his literary party to the nearby Steen Psychiatric Clinic, where he discovers the body of a woman sprawled on the basement floor, a chisel thrust through her heart.
As Dalgliesh probes beneath the apparently unruffled calm of the clinic, he discovers that many an intrigue lies hidden behind the Georgian terrace's unassuming façade. Professionally, he has never known the taste of failure. Now, for the first time, he feels unsure of his own mastery as he battles to unmask a cool killer who is proving to be his intellectual equal, and who is poised to strike again.
A Mind To Murder is the second novel to feature Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh from the bestselling author of Death Comes To Pemberley, Death in Holy Orders and The Children of Men. In 1995 the novel was adapted into a hit film and starred Roy Marsden as the inspector protagonist.
291 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1963
1011 people are currently reading
4110 people want to read
About the author
P.D. James
240 books3,247 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 926 reviews
January 24, 2020
This is the second Adam Dalgleish mystery and was originally published in 1963. Most of the novel takes place in the Steen Psychiatric Clinic, which deals mainly with affluent and often artistic patients. These problems are dealt with in ways which, in 1963, seem to herald the beginning of the Swinging Sixties – with one patient undergoing treatment using LSD. This was a time, of course, when such legal drugs were still seem as harmless and experimental.
Miss Enid Bolam was the senior administrator of the clinic and is found murdered, leading to Dalgleish being called in to the investigate. Rather like the first book in the series, “Cover Her Face,” the victim is not greatly liked. Indeed, Miss Bolam’s colleagues all seem to agree that she lacked humour and tact – and, although unlikeable, these are not character traits which really suggest the character should be killed. However, there are other possible motives, including revenge, fear and money…
I am really enjoying re-reading the work of P.D. James. I suspect that reading the first two books in the series so closely together did emphasise similarities, but I am looking forward to reading the next in this classic series.
Miss Enid Bolam was the senior administrator of the clinic and is found murdered, leading to Dalgleish being called in to the investigate. Rather like the first book in the series, “Cover Her Face,” the victim is not greatly liked. Indeed, Miss Bolam’s colleagues all seem to agree that she lacked humour and tact – and, although unlikeable, these are not character traits which really suggest the character should be killed. However, there are other possible motives, including revenge, fear and money…
I am really enjoying re-reading the work of P.D. James. I suspect that reading the first two books in the series so closely together did emphasise similarities, but I am looking forward to reading the next in this classic series.
March 31, 2013
here's a little story for you...
so a famous San Francisco lobbyist - a lively raconteur, a darling of the media, and an infamously debauched homosexual - had a birthday celebration. because this was a man who helped build the careers of many politicians, his birthday party was a rather public affair and was heavily attended by the local glitterati, including our illustrious mayor. this turned out to be an exceedingly unconventional event: activities included the carving of satanic symbols on various 'models' and the insertion of a Jack Daniels bottle up the host's anus. naturally, the media became quite absorbed by the spectacle and - in particular - the guest list. reporters began interviewing local politicians and power-brokers, and most of the interviewed denied being in attendance. happily, Mayor Willie Brown had a rare flash of honesty, and in his interview, responded along the lines of:
"Well of course I was there. Everyone was there. But by this time tomorrow...no one will have been there at all."
the true story above is also a completely spoiler-free clue to solving the mystery of A Mind to Murder - delivered to you free of charge!
PD James' early novels featuring detective and poet Adam Dalgliesh are straightforward, old-fashioned murder mysteries. although i missed the complexity and richness of her later narratives, her steady hand at plotting, psychological & emotional acuity, and ability to evoke a very specific atmosphere and setting were apparently intact at the start of her career.
so a famous San Francisco lobbyist - a lively raconteur, a darling of the media, and an infamously debauched homosexual - had a birthday celebration. because this was a man who helped build the careers of many politicians, his birthday party was a rather public affair and was heavily attended by the local glitterati, including our illustrious mayor. this turned out to be an exceedingly unconventional event: activities included the carving of satanic symbols on various 'models' and the insertion of a Jack Daniels bottle up the host's anus. naturally, the media became quite absorbed by the spectacle and - in particular - the guest list. reporters began interviewing local politicians and power-brokers, and most of the interviewed denied being in attendance. happily, Mayor Willie Brown had a rare flash of honesty, and in his interview, responded along the lines of:
"Well of course I was there. Everyone was there. But by this time tomorrow...no one will have been there at all."
the true story above is also a completely spoiler-free clue to solving the mystery of A Mind to Murder - delivered to you free of charge!
PD James' early novels featuring detective and poet Adam Dalgliesh are straightforward, old-fashioned murder mysteries. although i missed the complexity and richness of her later narratives, her steady hand at plotting, psychological & emotional acuity, and ability to evoke a very specific atmosphere and setting were apparently intact at the start of her career.
December 5, 2023
The fans of a closed circle murder mysteries might find 'A Mind to Murder' worthwhile. Especially if they prefer the detective investigating the case to be a true gentelman and a poet.
February 23, 2021
I read a short story by P.D. James about 3 weeks ago, ‘The Victim’, and liked it a lot — I liked this novel also. I must say I was about 100 pages into it and still found it boring. Just goes to show…and why I am less apt to abandon books midstream…. sometimes a book can turn around and capture your attention. 😉
This is the second of 14 novels of the Adam Dalgliesh Mystery series. It is not a long novel…252 pages of the paperback version of the book. Chapters are rather long but only 5 in all. It’s a whodunit and I did not guess who did it throughout the novel. I suppose with all good mysteries, they remain so until oftentimes the last page. (With profound statements like that from me I had better end this review pronto… 😐)
You can tell by now I don’t read mystery novels. But I think I will continue to read P.D. James. Her writing is quite good. I am not sure whether her other Dalgliesh mysteries are like this one, but Inspector Dalgliesh takes a secondary seat to the possible perpetrators of the crime. He doesn’t pontificate. And I liked that.
The murder took place in a psychiatric hospital. They were using LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) to treat some of their patients. Currently there is a resurgence of interest in hallucinogens (psilocybin) being used to induce mystical experiences. See: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/press... and https://qz.com/1196408/scientists-stu...
The word ‘unshriven’ was used and I had never seen that before. It means not having confessed sins and been absolved.
Review:
• This is a really good review from a blog site written by Patrick Reardon…it DOES focus on Dalgliesh…. he is not your prototypic Inspector/detective: https://patricktreardon.com/book-revi...
• Another good review and he makes the point that P.D. James worked in a psychiatric hospital, and that her husband was in and out of psychiatric facilities for a good deal of their marriage: http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=1293
This is the second of 14 novels of the Adam Dalgliesh Mystery series. It is not a long novel…252 pages of the paperback version of the book. Chapters are rather long but only 5 in all. It’s a whodunit and I did not guess who did it throughout the novel. I suppose with all good mysteries, they remain so until oftentimes the last page. (With profound statements like that from me I had better end this review pronto… 😐)
You can tell by now I don’t read mystery novels. But I think I will continue to read P.D. James. Her writing is quite good. I am not sure whether her other Dalgliesh mysteries are like this one, but Inspector Dalgliesh takes a secondary seat to the possible perpetrators of the crime. He doesn’t pontificate. And I liked that.
The murder took place in a psychiatric hospital. They were using LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) to treat some of their patients. Currently there is a resurgence of interest in hallucinogens (psilocybin) being used to induce mystical experiences. See: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/press... and https://qz.com/1196408/scientists-stu...
The word ‘unshriven’ was used and I had never seen that before. It means not having confessed sins and been absolved.
Review:
• This is a really good review from a blog site written by Patrick Reardon…it DOES focus on Dalgliesh…. he is not your prototypic Inspector/detective: https://patricktreardon.com/book-revi...
• Another good review and he makes the point that P.D. James worked in a psychiatric hospital, and that her husband was in and out of psychiatric facilities for a good deal of their marriage: http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=1293
October 15, 2019
Very reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s work. P.D. James really does demonstrate the same mystery writing skills that Christie did. She lays out the crime and all the various suspects and then sets Dalgleish and Martin among them to sort things out. Two police cats amongst the psychiatric pigeons. Just like Poirot, Dalgleish is able to see through the clutter to the heart of things. Unlike Poirot, he is able to do so without being annoyingly self-satisfied.
Perhaps because I just recently read Christie’s They Do It with Mirrors, set in a juvenile reform school, this novel seemed similar. In fact, they were written within a few years of each other and share the institutional settings and “closed room” aspects to the stories. James throws plenty of details of the psychiatric setting at the reader, using them as distractions from the usual motivations for murder.
As I said when I reviewed the first Dalgleish novel, I see this detective as one of the sources of one of my favourite policemen, Armand Gamache, Louise Penny’s main character. Which reminds me, I need to track down the next book in that series too.
Perhaps because I just recently read Christie’s They Do It with Mirrors, set in a juvenile reform school, this novel seemed similar. In fact, they were written within a few years of each other and share the institutional settings and “closed room” aspects to the stories. James throws plenty of details of the psychiatric setting at the reader, using them as distractions from the usual motivations for murder.
As I said when I reviewed the first Dalgleish novel, I see this detective as one of the sources of one of my favourite policemen, Armand Gamache, Louise Penny’s main character. Which reminds me, I need to track down the next book in that series too.
September 1, 2020
I absolutely adore the wit and writing of this author! This series started in the 60’s, but I find that it is able to hold up in the present. It feels a little like reading a Mad Men murder mystery and while reading I can easily visualize the setting and the costumes. I find some of the gender stereotypes and sexist characters highly entertaining. For example, the assumptions made by some of the men that female characters shouldn’t bother seeking more education, or a higher position since they will likely want to be married soon. And all of the drinking sprinkled throughout (and in the office! ) reminds me of visiting my Grandfather’s office as a child that also housed a bar.
I especially enjoy the character of Inspector, Adam Dalgliesh and half expect to see him walking by me on the street, he is that vividly portrayed.
So glad that I made my way to starting this series. It keeps me guessing and serves as an absorbing escape!
I especially enjoy the character of Inspector, Adam Dalgliesh and half expect to see him walking by me on the street, he is that vividly portrayed.
So glad that I made my way to starting this series. It keeps me guessing and serves as an absorbing escape!
August 8, 2023
Killer Clinic
Review of the Vintage Canada paperback edition (2011) of the Faber & Faber hardcover original (1963)
I started a binge re-read of the early P.D. James Adam Dalgliesh novels when I recently discovered my 1980's Sphere Books paperbacks while clearing a storage locker. After finishing Cover Her Face (Adam Dalgliesh #1 - 1962) I realized that I did not have a copy of A Mind to Murder, the next entry in the series. Fortunately I was able to source a nice copy of the 2011 Vintage Canada paperback.
Cover Her Face held back quite a bit on introducing Adam Dalgliesh and did not even mention his being a poet. A Mind to Murder brings him on-site almost immediately, only part-way into Chapter One when he is called away from a party at his publishers to a nearby murder scene at the Steen Clinic, an exclusive psychiatric treatment centre. The Chief Administrator has been found murdered in a basement file room and there are multiple suspects, including the doctors, nurses, secretaries and custodians.
P.D. James adopts a trademark style of revealing quite a lot about the inner lives of the suspect characters through inner monologues & scenes without the investigators, including the various possible murder motives that they might have. It seems fairly evident early on that one individual is the wrong 'un of the pack, but James manages to keep you guessing throughout, and then even pulls out a complete surprise at the very end, even to the point of fooling her lead detective.
I'm quite enjoying getting reacquainted with P.D. James and Adam Dalgliesh and look forward to the next books in the series.
Cover of the Sphere Books paperback edition (1985). Image sourced from Library Thing.
Trivia and Links
* In 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.
A Mind to Murder was adapted for television in 1995 as part of the long running Dalgliesh TV-series for Anglia Television/ITV (1983-1998) starring actor Roy Marsden as Chief Detective Inspector Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard. You can watch the entire episode of the 1995 adaptation on YouTube here. NOTE: The adaptation differs considerably from the original novel.
The new Acorn TV-series reboot Dalgliesh (2021-?) starring Bertie Carver as Adam Dalgliesh has not yet done an adaptation of A Mind to Murder (Dalgliesh Book #2). It has not been announced which books are being adapted for Season 3 (as of early August 2023). Season 1 adapted Books 4, 5 & 7. Season 2 adapted Books 6, 10 & 12.
Review of the Vintage Canada paperback edition (2011) of the Faber & Faber hardcover original (1963)
At the other end of the square, Superintendent* Adam Dalgliesh of the Criminal Investigation Department was attending the ritual autumn sherry party given by his publishers which had coincided with the third reprint of his first book of verse. He didn't overestimate his talent or the success of his book. The poems, which reflected his detached, ironic and fundamentally restless spirit, had happened to catch a public mood. He did not believe that more than half a dozen would live even in his own affections. Meanwhile he found himself awash on the shallows of an unfamiliar sea in which agents, royalties and reviews were agreeable hazards. And now there was this party.
I started a binge re-read of the early P.D. James Adam Dalgliesh novels when I recently discovered my 1980's Sphere Books paperbacks while clearing a storage locker. After finishing Cover Her Face (Adam Dalgliesh #1 - 1962) I realized that I did not have a copy of A Mind to Murder, the next entry in the series. Fortunately I was able to source a nice copy of the 2011 Vintage Canada paperback.
Cover Her Face held back quite a bit on introducing Adam Dalgliesh and did not even mention his being a poet. A Mind to Murder brings him on-site almost immediately, only part-way into Chapter One when he is called away from a party at his publishers to a nearby murder scene at the Steen Clinic, an exclusive psychiatric treatment centre. The Chief Administrator has been found murdered in a basement file room and there are multiple suspects, including the doctors, nurses, secretaries and custodians.
P.D. James adopts a trademark style of revealing quite a lot about the inner lives of the suspect characters through inner monologues & scenes without the investigators, including the various possible murder motives that they might have. It seems fairly evident early on that one individual is the wrong 'un of the pack, but James manages to keep you guessing throughout, and then even pulls out a complete surprise at the very end, even to the point of fooling her lead detective.
I'm quite enjoying getting reacquainted with P.D. James and Adam Dalgliesh and look forward to the next books in the series.
Cover of the Sphere Books paperback edition (1985). Image sourced from Library Thing.
Trivia and Links
* In 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.
A Mind to Murder was adapted for television in 1995 as part of the long running Dalgliesh TV-series for Anglia Television/ITV (1983-1998) starring actor Roy Marsden as Chief Detective Inspector Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard. You can watch the entire episode of the 1995 adaptation on YouTube here. NOTE: The adaptation differs considerably from the original novel.
The new Acorn TV-series reboot Dalgliesh (2021-?) starring Bertie Carver as Adam Dalgliesh has not yet done an adaptation of A Mind to Murder (Dalgliesh Book #2). It has not been announced which books are being adapted for Season 3 (as of early August 2023). Season 1 adapted Books 4, 5 & 7. Season 2 adapted Books 6, 10 & 12.
August 16, 2020
Very satisfying mystery I got it almost correct. The motive was staring me in the face. However, PD James teases us with a few red herrings. So who did it? A doctor, nurse, secretary, janitor? The list of suspects are strong with each having a motive.
Like Dalgliesch I tried to make it more complicated than it was. A psychiatric clinic with an administrator who cannot empathize and is disliked by everyone including her cousin who works there. Nagle a painter working there as a porter, his mistress a secretary called Priddy, Doctor Steiner a little bit neurotic and many more in a clinic treating mentally ill people. The closed room mystery was explained and so simple when put in context.
What is so good with this story are the clues and of course working out who has the strongest motive. An enjoyable read.
Like Dalgliesch I tried to make it more complicated than it was. A psychiatric clinic with an administrator who cannot empathize and is disliked by everyone including her cousin who works there. Nagle a painter working there as a porter, his mistress a secretary called Priddy, Doctor Steiner a little bit neurotic and many more in a clinic treating mentally ill people. The closed room mystery was explained and so simple when put in context.
What is so good with this story are the clues and of course working out who has the strongest motive. An enjoyable read.
December 7, 2022
Comments on re-reading this book for the first time in decades:
If I thought this book was written later in P.D. James’ Adam Dalgliesh series, I might have been disappointed in it. Knowing that it was only the second had me giving it something of the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes authors seem to take a while before they hit their stride with a series. For instance, if I had started Louise Penny's Gamache series (which I adore) with the first book rather than in the middle, I might not have continued. Initially she didn't seem to know quite what she wanted to do with her characters; that came in the third book if I recall correctly.
Getting back to this book: It's definitely not as good as some of the later entries, but enjoyable nevertheless. In truth, back when it was first written (and even when I first read it about 10 years later), there just weren't that many mysteries featuring detectives with inner lives, and where the author clearly took delight in, well, writing! And it may be that remembering James as an iconoclast of that era inclines me to be more generous in my responses than I might have been otherwise.
As always, I adored her characterizations. The people in this novel, regardless of how annoying they may be, nevertheless jump off the page. Even though they are 60 years in the past, they seem quite vivid to me.
And I found the plotting enjoyable as well, especially Dalgliesh's sense of foreboding over successfully identifying and arresting the killer, in contrast to the ultimate outcome of the story.
I'm glad I took the opportunity to revisit PD James via a group read of this book. I'll have to remember to pick up another volume at some point. I still love her writing.
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If I thought this book was written later in P.D. James’ Adam Dalgliesh series, I might have been disappointed in it. Knowing that it was only the second had me giving it something of the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes authors seem to take a while before they hit their stride with a series. For instance, if I had started Louise Penny's Gamache series (which I adore) with the first book rather than in the middle, I might not have continued. Initially she didn't seem to know quite what she wanted to do with her characters; that came in the third book if I recall correctly.
Getting back to this book: It's definitely not as good as some of the later entries, but enjoyable nevertheless. In truth, back when it was first written (and even when I first read it about 10 years later), there just weren't that many mysteries featuring detectives with inner lives, and where the author clearly took delight in, well, writing! And it may be that remembering James as an iconoclast of that era inclines me to be more generous in my responses than I might have been otherwise.
As always, I adored her characterizations. The people in this novel, regardless of how annoying they may be, nevertheless jump off the page. Even though they are 60 years in the past, they seem quite vivid to me.
And I found the plotting enjoyable as well, especially Dalgliesh's sense of foreboding over successfully identifying and arresting the killer, in contrast to the ultimate outcome of the story.
I'm glad I took the opportunity to revisit PD James via a group read of this book. I'll have to remember to pick up another volume at some point. I still love her writing.
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October 16, 2024
This second installment of the Adam Dalgliesh series is a better murder-mystery story. The administrative officer at a Psychiatric Clinic is brutally murdered at the premises and the Superintendant Adam Dalglish is called upon to investigate her death. The investigation draws Dalgliesh to a web of lies, deceit, adultery, and blackmail and he must use his intelligence and experience to work against time to catch the murderer before he either strikes again or slips away.
This was a better story than the first in the series. The premise was interesting and the characters were more complicated. Dalgliesh doesn't quite attain the end to his satisfaction, but even this part failure had an attraction. The story had its share of clues and some deliberate red-herrings, but since Dalglish was set on first to find the motive, it was not very difficult to guess the criminal. I'm happy to be right there. However, the plot twist which was introduced at the end was unimpressive. The author must have wanted to increase the suspense and take the readers by surprise, but it destroyed the balance so carefully maintained up to that point.
I also had a bit of an issue with the presentation of the story as the interviews of each possible suspect were made one after the other in a quite tedious manner. Dalglish admits he being weary and so we readers were too. Then again that is how it is done in reality, but a bit of a fictional diversion wouldn't harm and would be most welcoming. Despite these flaws, I'm interested in this series and am looking forward to the next.
This was a better story than the first in the series. The premise was interesting and the characters were more complicated. Dalgliesh doesn't quite attain the end to his satisfaction, but even this part failure had an attraction. The story had its share of clues and some deliberate red-herrings, but since Dalglish was set on first to find the motive, it was not very difficult to guess the criminal. I'm happy to be right there. However, the plot twist which was introduced at the end was unimpressive. The author must have wanted to increase the suspense and take the readers by surprise, but it destroyed the balance so carefully maintained up to that point.
I also had a bit of an issue with the presentation of the story as the interviews of each possible suspect were made one after the other in a quite tedious manner. Dalglish admits he being weary and so we readers were too. Then again that is how it is done in reality, but a bit of a fictional diversion wouldn't harm and would be most welcoming. Despite these flaws, I'm interested in this series and am looking forward to the next.
February 2, 2020
I continue to appreciate James' writing style and her characterizations. This installment in the series was interesting for its setting in a psychiatric out-patient clinic. This gives us the limited number of perpetrators for the murder which takes place in the clinic. We do get outside of the clinic to learn about the home environments of potential suspects, and also of the victim.
She lets us know Dalgliesh better. I'd like to know his partner, Martin, a little better and hope to as the series continues.
I was surprised to see that I gave the first in the series 4-stars, and am happy to give this one the same. I liked this one more, so there is definitely a range to be seen in my 4-star group.
She lets us know Dalgliesh better. I'd like to know his partner, Martin, a little better and hope to as the series continues.
I was surprised to see that I gave the first in the series 4-stars, and am happy to give this one the same. I liked this one more, so there is definitely a range to be seen in my 4-star group.
July 5, 2018
I am a huge PD James fan and enjoyed revisiting this book. It must have been 15 years since I originally read it. I had suggested her books to my husband when he was looking for an audiobook and so I can now reread PD James in audio form. While in some ways this book could be said to be dated, in other ways it is strangely up-to-date. James always comes across as the most level-headed person. She brings this sense of strength to her mysteries. There is nothing cozy here.
February 27, 2020
I didn't like this second in the series as much as the first. We get to know Dalgliesh a bit more, but I really bogged down in the initial investigation the night of the murder-interminably long and drawn out. The setting of a psychiatric clinic was ok, not my favorite type of place but it was unique. The last quarter of the book really became interesting and ended rather well. Looking forward to the next for this challenge.
October 7, 2019
Not too much to say about this one. I thought it was a solid mystery for the second book in the Adam Dalgliesh series. I just found myself getting bored after a while since it was really obvious who the murderer was (at least to me). There are some other secrets that are spilled, but other than a couple of major ones at the end, none of the rest had much to do with anything I thought. I do think the flow could have been tighter too. We just stayed too long with the suspects and I wanted to be walked through Dalgliesh's brain as he figured out the guilty party. Too bad though that this one shows how Dalgliesh was off about who done it and why.
"A Mind to Murder" finds the administrative head of the Steen Psychiatric Clinic murdered. The woman, Miss Enid Bolam, was bludgeoned and then stabbed and left in the basement of the clinic. When the doctors and nurses find her it becomes apparent that whoever did the murder never left (the doors are locked) and it has to be one of their own who did it. Adam Dalgliesh is called up after sitting through a reception for his recent book of poetry (yeah I hard paused there too) and feels nothing but dread since he feels like the murderer is not done.
James walks us through Dalgliesh's life since the first murder where we came across him. It's been three years and Adam still thinks of Deborah (see "Cover Her Face") but realizes that he's not ready to start again with another woman. Adam works methodically through all of the suspects, and hits on someone fairly early that he doesn't care for or trust. Just like "Cover Her Face" though we have a victim that a lot of people had a hard time liking and finding to be too black and white about things. However, unlike with "Cover Her Face" I thought James did a good job of showing us another side of Enid Bolam. She was a woman who liked flowers and children.
The other characters in this one started to feel a bit tiresome after a while, at least to me. We have Dr. Paul Steiner and Dr. James Baguley, both men with secrets. We also have Doctor Frederica Saxton's story-line that also gave me hard pause too. I don't even get the purpose of that whole thing except for Dalgliesh to have someone else speak to who has even more messed up views of marriage than he does. Enid's cousin, Nurse Marion Bolam also worked at the clinic. There was a bigger cast of suspects to think on in this one, but I thought that James did a good job with developing them. For example, one of the porters, Peter Nagle we find out is an artist, and only working at the clinic for money. He's supposedly very talented, but I find myself thinking he was creepy. When James reveals his relationship that he is having with someone there, we pull back another layer dealing with him.
The writing I thought was good, but honestly the flow was off. I think the book needed to be edited a bit tighter since we tended to wander around in some of the characters story-lines way too long. For example, the whole thing with Frederica was one of those story-lines.
The setting of this clinic also echoes some locked door mysteries a la Christie, though I have to say that this one wasn't that intriguing. We are given some very blatant clues in the beginning of the book and through another character telling their roommate about something they overheard. After that I was in a hurry for Dalgliesh to get there already.
The ending though at one point made me worry that I had guessed wrong, but nope, instead we get information about something else and then jump over into the epilogue that takes place months later.
"A Mind to Murder" finds the administrative head of the Steen Psychiatric Clinic murdered. The woman, Miss Enid Bolam, was bludgeoned and then stabbed and left in the basement of the clinic. When the doctors and nurses find her it becomes apparent that whoever did the murder never left (the doors are locked) and it has to be one of their own who did it. Adam Dalgliesh is called up after sitting through a reception for his recent book of poetry (yeah I hard paused there too) and feels nothing but dread since he feels like the murderer is not done.
James walks us through Dalgliesh's life since the first murder where we came across him. It's been three years and Adam still thinks of Deborah (see "Cover Her Face") but realizes that he's not ready to start again with another woman. Adam works methodically through all of the suspects, and hits on someone fairly early that he doesn't care for or trust. Just like "Cover Her Face" though we have a victim that a lot of people had a hard time liking and finding to be too black and white about things. However, unlike with "Cover Her Face" I thought James did a good job of showing us another side of Enid Bolam. She was a woman who liked flowers and children.
The other characters in this one started to feel a bit tiresome after a while, at least to me. We have Dr. Paul Steiner and Dr. James Baguley, both men with secrets. We also have Doctor Frederica Saxton's story-line that also gave me hard pause too. I don't even get the purpose of that whole thing except for Dalgliesh to have someone else speak to who has even more messed up views of marriage than he does. Enid's cousin, Nurse Marion Bolam also worked at the clinic. There was a bigger cast of suspects to think on in this one, but I thought that James did a good job with developing them. For example, one of the porters, Peter Nagle we find out is an artist, and only working at the clinic for money. He's supposedly very talented, but I find myself thinking he was creepy. When James reveals his relationship that he is having with someone there, we pull back another layer dealing with him.
The writing I thought was good, but honestly the flow was off. I think the book needed to be edited a bit tighter since we tended to wander around in some of the characters story-lines way too long. For example, the whole thing with Frederica was one of those story-lines.
The setting of this clinic also echoes some locked door mysteries a la Christie, though I have to say that this one wasn't that intriguing. We are given some very blatant clues in the beginning of the book and through another character telling their roommate about something they overheard. After that I was in a hurry for Dalgliesh to get there already.
The ending though at one point made me worry that I had guessed wrong, but nope, instead we get information about something else and then jump over into the epilogue that takes place months later.
September 29, 2017
P D James's second Adam Dalgliesh mystery was published in 1963 and so is on the 1963 list for My Big Fat Reading Project. Only three weeks earlier I had read Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, making it a bit of a shock (pun intended) to open A Mind to Murder and find it set in a London psychiatric clinic. In between the electric shock and LSD treatments as well as psychiatric "talk therapy" sessions, the administrator of the clinic is murdered in the basement amid a confusion of scattered patient files.
This reader's personal tastes were confirmed: P D James is hands down a superior mystery writer to Agatha Christie. (I know there are many readers who would not agree with me, but it is what it is.) Right out of the gate she sets up the rivalries and tension between the various therapists, the nurses and secretaries, and the victim. Miss Bolam had been nearly universally disliked by all the staff, giving Inspector Dalgliesh a knotty problem as he tried to single out the suspects. Every doctor had an alibi while the rest had some issue with their boss.
As the investigation proceeds, Ms James also writes scenes with the various characters interacting while not in the Inspector's presence. Quite soon the reader comes to know all these people and what is going on in their personal lives. I felt like I was doing my own work to figure out who done it and that made the reading even more enjoyable.
In the end however, it was Inspector Dalgliesh who found the correct line of criminal activity to follow and solved the crime in an intense series of time sensitive incidents. My only complaint was that I could not figure out what led him to follow up that particular line of inquiry and suddenly felt left out of the story where previously I had thought I was part of it.
A breach of patient confidentiality was the initial cause of events leading to the murder. That issue as well as the conflicts of opinion among the doctors about various approaches to treating mental illness, made the story resonate with current times even though it was written over 60 years ago.
The first P D James novel I read was Children of Men and I was struck by her intelligence, her insight into her characters, and her sense of social consciousness. Now that I have gone back to read her earlier books I am hooked and look forward to more of them.
October 20, 2015
Where I got the book: audiobook on Audible. Read by Penelope Dellaporta in a terribly refined voice with a few character accents
I noted with great delight that the action of this book takes place mostly in the Steen clinic, which caters to rich, upper-class patients with socially unacceptable problems such as failing marriages and Undiscussable Things (I suspect one of the Things is homosexuality, which was still a criminal offense in England back in 1963). Cures are effected by such means as electroshock therapy and doses of LSD, causing the patients such distress that they scream, and everyone seems to think that’s quite OK and normal. How antiquated it all sounds, and how happy I am that those days are gone.
The clinic is kept running smoothly by Miss Bolam, whom nobody particularly likes. In the last book, Cover Her Face, James also had a murder victim whom nobody particularly liked, and I do hope she doesn’t overuse this method of ensuring lots of potential suspects. Adam Dalgliesh is the man to work his way through the list of possible murderers, and we learn a little more about him—that’s he’s a moderately successful poet on the side, that he still has a thing for Deborah Risko, a suspect from the first book, and that his wife died. All in the cause of making him a little more three-dimensional, but only, really, a little bit more. As a man he just doesn’t float my boat, which is a shame because it helps to fall for the detective as you read through the series.
The suspects are a bit more convincingly sketched in this time, and the slow unfolding of motives and backstory is reasonably entertaining, but it’s not yet P.D. James at her best. There’s a twist, but I ended up being a bit meh about the whole business of who actually killed Miss Bolam. I found myself psychoanalyzing James instead—hmm, another plot line involving a lower-class girl who’s no better than she should be. Hmmm, more snobbery. Hmmmmmmmmm, a suggestion that the single life can, despite all appearances (and contrary to what women were told in James’s day) be more fulfilling than marriage and motherhood. I’m starting to picture James as having clawed her way upward despite all odds, because there’s nothing more snobbish than the ambitious lower orders.
Is there a biographer in the house? I see that James has written an autobiography, but that no biography has as yet been written. I begin to suspect that it might be worth the telling, and have put the autobiography on my TBR.
I noted with great delight that the action of this book takes place mostly in the Steen clinic, which caters to rich, upper-class patients with socially unacceptable problems such as failing marriages and Undiscussable Things (I suspect one of the Things is homosexuality, which was still a criminal offense in England back in 1963). Cures are effected by such means as electroshock therapy and doses of LSD, causing the patients such distress that they scream, and everyone seems to think that’s quite OK and normal. How antiquated it all sounds, and how happy I am that those days are gone.
The clinic is kept running smoothly by Miss Bolam, whom nobody particularly likes. In the last book, Cover Her Face, James also had a murder victim whom nobody particularly liked, and I do hope she doesn’t overuse this method of ensuring lots of potential suspects. Adam Dalgliesh is the man to work his way through the list of possible murderers, and we learn a little more about him—that’s he’s a moderately successful poet on the side, that he still has a thing for Deborah Risko, a suspect from the first book, and that his wife died. All in the cause of making him a little more three-dimensional, but only, really, a little bit more. As a man he just doesn’t float my boat, which is a shame because it helps to fall for the detective as you read through the series.
The suspects are a bit more convincingly sketched in this time, and the slow unfolding of motives and backstory is reasonably entertaining, but it’s not yet P.D. James at her best. There’s a twist, but I ended up being a bit meh about the whole business of who actually killed Miss Bolam. I found myself psychoanalyzing James instead—hmm, another plot line involving a lower-class girl who’s no better than she should be. Hmmm, more snobbery. Hmmmmmmmmm, a suggestion that the single life can, despite all appearances (and contrary to what women were told in James’s day) be more fulfilling than marriage and motherhood. I’m starting to picture James as having clawed her way upward despite all odds, because there’s nothing more snobbish than the ambitious lower orders.
Is there a biographer in the house? I see that James has written an autobiography, but that no biography has as yet been written. I begin to suspect that it might be worth the telling, and have put the autobiography on my TBR.
December 2, 2015
From the Book Jacket - When the administrative head of the Steen Psychiatric Clinic is found dead with a chisel in her heart, Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard is called in to investigate. Dalgliesh must analyze the deep-seated anxieties and thwarted desires of patients and staff alike to determine which of their unresolved conflicts resulted in murder.
My Reactions
This is an engaging, interesting and complex murder mystery. I love Dalgliesh and his quiet, deliberate manner. I also really appreciate how James gives us background detail on the characters, revealing a little at a time, much as we’d learn about someone in real life.
James crafts a plot that seems straightforward, but which includes numerous red herrings to keep the reader off balance. She certainly had me guessing, and even when Dalgliesh was closing in on the suspect, the author had another surprise in store. Well done!
My Reactions
This is an engaging, interesting and complex murder mystery. I love Dalgliesh and his quiet, deliberate manner. I also really appreciate how James gives us background detail on the characters, revealing a little at a time, much as we’d learn about someone in real life.
James crafts a plot that seems straightforward, but which includes numerous red herrings to keep the reader off balance. She certainly had me guessing, and even when Dalgliesh was closing in on the suspect, the author had another surprise in store. Well done!
November 20, 2025
Smelly Cats Can Save Lives
If this sounds rather odd to you, by the end of the book you will know that it does make sense, albeit probably not very often. A Mind to Murder is P.D. James’s second entry into the Adam Dalgliesh case list, and I liked it a lot more than its predecessor because the pace of the story was a lot brisker and there was quite some humour, mostly at the expense of psychiatrists, who are engaged in a vicious struggle between classical Freudian therapy, as exemplified by the petty-minded Dr. Steiner, and a modern LSD treatment pursued by Dr. Baguley. However differently these two doctors may act in their professional life, when we follow them home, we see that both their private lives are a shambles – a state of affairs they reassuringly share with most of their patients.
So, what is the book about? At the Steen Psychiatric Clinic, where they have specialized in treating the well-healed neurotics, one Friday night the body of Miss Enid Bolam is found in the cellar, stabbed with caretaker Peter Nagle’s chisel. Nobody considers this a wonderful start into the weekend although Miss Bolam, the clinic’s senior administrator, was not exactly popular among staff and patients, being too much bent on ensuring the house’s financial well-being and on enforcing rules. When Dalgliesh and his colleague Martin later investigate Miss Bolam’s private life, they will come to the dreary conclusion that nobody is probably going to shed any honest tears over her grave but the Girl Scouts whom she coached with a fair share of enthusiasm and devotion. In fact, there are lots of people who had a motive for precipitating Miss Bolam’s quietus and many leads to follow. Has the murder something to do with a phone call Miss Bolam made to Mr Lauder, her superior, on the day of her death? A phone call in which she told him that she had found out about something wrong that has been going on in the clinic for years and that she must break to him? Or was the murder an act of revenge for Miss Bolam’s meddling divulging the affair between Dr. Baguley and his colleague Frederica Saxon to Baguley’s wife? Did Miss Bolam’s cousin Marion have a hand in her death? After all, Marion would have come into a pretty sum of money, should Miss Bolam die, and there were rumours about Miss Bolam’s wanting to change her will. Or was it simply a matter of wrong place, wrong time because there was also a burglary in the clinic?
Be that as it may, A Mind to Murder deftly entwines the investigation of a murder with the description of the petty wars fought among the staff of the clinic, giving us examples of everyday plotting, opportunism and hostility fed by ambition. Unlike in Cover Her Face, James succeeds here in keeping up suspense throughout the narration and in not getting entirely carried away by her explorations into people’s minds and characters. The latter not only enlighten us as to what makes people tick but also insert powerful red herrings into the crime plot so that I am looking forward to the next novel, Unnatural Causes.
If this sounds rather odd to you, by the end of the book you will know that it does make sense, albeit probably not very often. A Mind to Murder is P.D. James’s second entry into the Adam Dalgliesh case list, and I liked it a lot more than its predecessor because the pace of the story was a lot brisker and there was quite some humour, mostly at the expense of psychiatrists, who are engaged in a vicious struggle between classical Freudian therapy, as exemplified by the petty-minded Dr. Steiner, and a modern LSD treatment pursued by Dr. Baguley. However differently these two doctors may act in their professional life, when we follow them home, we see that both their private lives are a shambles – a state of affairs they reassuringly share with most of their patients.
So, what is the book about? At the Steen Psychiatric Clinic, where they have specialized in treating the well-healed neurotics, one Friday night the body of Miss Enid Bolam is found in the cellar, stabbed with caretaker Peter Nagle’s chisel. Nobody considers this a wonderful start into the weekend although Miss Bolam, the clinic’s senior administrator, was not exactly popular among staff and patients, being too much bent on ensuring the house’s financial well-being and on enforcing rules. When Dalgliesh and his colleague Martin later investigate Miss Bolam’s private life, they will come to the dreary conclusion that nobody is probably going to shed any honest tears over her grave but the Girl Scouts whom she coached with a fair share of enthusiasm and devotion. In fact, there are lots of people who had a motive for precipitating Miss Bolam’s quietus and many leads to follow. Has the murder something to do with a phone call Miss Bolam made to Mr Lauder, her superior, on the day of her death? A phone call in which she told him that she had found out about something wrong that has been going on in the clinic for years and that she must break to him? Or was the murder an act of revenge for Miss Bolam’s meddling divulging the affair between Dr. Baguley and his colleague Frederica Saxon to Baguley’s wife? Did Miss Bolam’s cousin Marion have a hand in her death? After all, Marion would have come into a pretty sum of money, should Miss Bolam die, and there were rumours about Miss Bolam’s wanting to change her will. Or was it simply a matter of wrong place, wrong time because there was also a burglary in the clinic?
Be that as it may, A Mind to Murder deftly entwines the investigation of a murder with the description of the petty wars fought among the staff of the clinic, giving us examples of everyday plotting, opportunism and hostility fed by ambition. Unlike in Cover Her Face, James succeeds here in keeping up suspense throughout the narration and in not getting entirely carried away by her explorations into people’s minds and characters. The latter not only enlighten us as to what makes people tick but also insert powerful red herrings into the crime plot so that I am looking forward to the next novel, Unnatural Causes.
March 2, 2024
En esta novela de detectives 🕵️♂️, tenemos un escenario creativo, una clínica de salud mental multidisciplinaria, donde confluyen varias técnicas o métodos para tratar diversos trastornos mentales, desde revolucionarios tratamientos, el confiable psicoanálisis hasta talleres artísticos, esta mezcla hace que los diferentes especialistas y áreas no se lleven tan bien, por otra parte el personal administrativo lidereado por la oficial, la señorita Bolam, una mujer de mediana edad, rechoncha, guardiana de lo correcto, hace que la vida en esta clínica sea todo menos aburrida.
En este escenario ocurre un asesinato y le tocará al detective Adam Dalgliesh resolver el caso.
Me entretuve mucho con los tejes y manejes que se dan en la clínica, así como los chismes sobre la vida personal de cada uno de ellos, hay de todo un poco, rivalidades, infidelidades, alianzas, secretos, etc
Da mayor complejidad, que hay dos o tres asuntos de gravedad que se entremezclan con el crimen, haciendo que pueda desviarse la atención.
Otro punto a favor es que conocemos un poco más a Dalgliesh, es un viudo joven que aún no procesa su pena, escribe poemas y trata de sobrellevar esta etapa de su vida.
El final es el punto flojo, ya que existe una escena no del todo coherente pero aunque le resta puntos, sigue siendo una novela muy correcta.
August 27, 2016
A Mind To Murder by P.D. James is the second book in the Inspector Dalgleish mystery series. In this mystery, Dalgleish and his assistant, Sgt Martin, investigate the murder of the Administrative Officer at a London psychiatrist facility. To all intents it appears that the murder is an inside job. As with the other PD James books I've read, I'm impressed with how intelligently James writes. The story is a methodical police investigation, but I enjoy how she lays out a story, the methodical investigation, the development of all of the main characters; Dalgleish and suspects alike. Dalgleish is a thoughtful investigator, Martin, with is more down-to-earth way of looking at things, a perfect assistant. It's a pleasure to read such a well-crafted story and satisfying to discover the conclusion. I look forward to reading the next book in this series. (4 stars) 
October 25, 2018
The plot centres around a murder at a psychiatric clinic in London. First published in 1963, this is the second of the series featuring detective Adam Dalgleish and we learn a little more about what makes him tick in this book, including his fear of failure despite never having allowing a murderer to slip through his grasp.
I thought the first 70 pages dragged a little as Dalgleish interviews each of the suspects in turn but the pace picked up and the writing at the denouement was very good indeed. This is what raised it from a 3 to a 4 star review.
I thought the first 70 pages dragged a little as Dalgleish interviews each of the suspects in turn but the pace picked up and the writing at the denouement was very good indeed. This is what raised it from a 3 to a 4 star review.
November 16, 2019
When the administrator officer dies under suspicious circumstances with a handful of suspects, Adam Dalgliesh finds himself plowing through evidence, motives, and less-than-forthcoming suspects to make an arrest. While I suspected the perpetrator, it was not completely obvious. Still the story seemed tedious in places. The library held two Overdrive audio versions and after listening to samples of both readers, I selected the one by Penelope Dellaporta who seemed to use more voice inflection and read at a more relaxed pace.
May 24, 2025
This was certainly an interesting read!
May 25, 2020
4 Stars
*An astute and easy to read classic mystery*
Classic Mysteries make great in-between reads. They are quick, engaging, and easy to read. And there is something comforting in the formula of murder-investigation-justice. So I decided to check out the next book in the Adam Dalgliesh series.
In the first book of the series, I was surprised how little Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh was actually in the story. He was barely more than a cameo. I’m not sure whether or not he was intended to a continuing character. But in A Mind to Murder, Dalgliesh plays a larger role. You also get to learn more about his background and personality, although there is certainly still plenty of room for expansion.
As with Cover Her Face, A Mind to Murder is as much about the characters’ reaction to the murder as it is about the actual murder investigation. The cast consists of mostly morally grey characters whose flaws are evident as they simultaneously try to cast aspersions and avoid blame for the crimes committed. Also in keeping with the first book, many issues of the time period are woven throughout the story giving it a bit more depth and reality.
A Mind to Murder is not exactly a locked room mystery, but there is a limited pool of suspects which affects both the investigation and the suspects’ reactions to each other. The actual mystery still kept me guessing although it was not groundbreaking. Overall, this was a solid installment in the series.
RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 4 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 4 Stars
Level of Captivation: 4 Stars
Originality: 3 Stars
*An astute and easy to read classic mystery*
Classic Mysteries make great in-between reads. They are quick, engaging, and easy to read. And there is something comforting in the formula of murder-investigation-justice. So I decided to check out the next book in the Adam Dalgliesh series.
In the first book of the series, I was surprised how little Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh was actually in the story. He was barely more than a cameo. I’m not sure whether or not he was intended to a continuing character. But in A Mind to Murder, Dalgliesh plays a larger role. You also get to learn more about his background and personality, although there is certainly still plenty of room for expansion.
“Right and wrong stood for him as immutable as the two poles. He had never wandered in that twilight country where the nuances of evil and good cast their perplexing shadows.”
As with Cover Her Face, A Mind to Murder is as much about the characters’ reaction to the murder as it is about the actual murder investigation. The cast consists of mostly morally grey characters whose flaws are evident as they simultaneously try to cast aspersions and avoid blame for the crimes committed. Also in keeping with the first book, many issues of the time period are woven throughout the story giving it a bit more depth and reality.
“She would not wish anyone violently dead but, since it had happened, one might as well make the most of it.”
A Mind to Murder is not exactly a locked room mystery, but there is a limited pool of suspects which affects both the investigation and the suspects’ reactions to each other. The actual mystery still kept me guessing although it was not groundbreaking. Overall, this was a solid installment in the series.
RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 4 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 4 Stars
Level of Captivation: 4 Stars
Originality: 3 Stars
March 23, 2021
Seriously, make a cue card for all the characters first.
Okay, the story of a woman who works in a medical facility (psychiatric, circa 1962 where lysergic acid (LSD) treatments are de rigueur) is brutally murdered - with a chisel, no less! - in the records archive on the basement floor. Yep, it starts with that, isn't too-graphically presented and we're left with the handsome and urbane Adam Dalgliesh, and his assistant Martin, to sort it all out.
This kind of a story lends itself to talking, some more talking, and even more talking. To all those who work at the facility, and some of the patients, and then some of the workers' or patients' relatives, friends, spouses, lovers and so on. This is how police work often goes: talk, talk, talk and eventually somebody will spill the beans. (After withholding them for umpteen pages.) This is a very literal story, page by plodding page, and IMO not one of Ms. James' best. However, for sheer intricacy and a look at the early 1960's era, it's a treat. (Seriously early 60's is as different from late 60's as is a muddy, froggy swamp from a saltwater bay of leaping dolphins.)
I'm going to admit I did get lost due to the sheer volume of characters, plus I'm not the type to 'stop and think' etc., as I read. I did understand the basic story, and got the bad guy/girl right! (Hurray!) Another criticism: Ms. James often leaps from OMNI to a more concentrated POV, as in a single character. Also, there's very little of Dalgliesh's 'back story' here, though what there is, is compelling.
In conclusion, just three stars or a C+. I read many of the later books when I was older, set in the 80's or 90's, and thoroughly enjoyed them. It's some of the earlier novels that I missed, so I'm trying to work through them. I'll keep going.
Three stars.
Okay, the story of a woman who works in a medical facility (psychiatric, circa 1962 where lysergic acid (LSD) treatments are de rigueur) is brutally murdered - with a chisel, no less! - in the records archive on the basement floor. Yep, it starts with that, isn't too-graphically presented and we're left with the handsome and urbane Adam Dalgliesh, and his assistant Martin, to sort it all out.
This kind of a story lends itself to talking, some more talking, and even more talking. To all those who work at the facility, and some of the patients, and then some of the workers' or patients' relatives, friends, spouses, lovers and so on. This is how police work often goes: talk, talk, talk and eventually somebody will spill the beans. (After withholding them for umpteen pages.) This is a very literal story, page by plodding page, and IMO not one of Ms. James' best. However, for sheer intricacy and a look at the early 1960's era, it's a treat. (Seriously early 60's is as different from late 60's as is a muddy, froggy swamp from a saltwater bay of leaping dolphins.)
I'm going to admit I did get lost due to the sheer volume of characters, plus I'm not the type to 'stop and think' etc., as I read. I did understand the basic story, and got the bad guy/girl right! (Hurray!) Another criticism: Ms. James often leaps from OMNI to a more concentrated POV, as in a single character. Also, there's very little of Dalgliesh's 'back story' here, though what there is, is compelling.
In conclusion, just three stars or a C+. I read many of the later books when I was older, set in the 80's or 90's, and thoroughly enjoyed them. It's some of the earlier novels that I missed, so I'm trying to work through them. I'll keep going.
Three stars.
June 3, 2018
Although P.D. James has for years been a favorite writer of mine, I have to admit that this book was not one of her best. It may have been me, as I was a bit distracted while reading it, but the pages that describe Adam Dalgleish's questioning the various suspects seemed interminably long and the basic solution seemed obvious.
The administrator of a posh psychiatric clinic in London has been murdered; the setting is the early 1960s, so electro-convulsive and LSD treatments are a couple of the clinic's offerings, in addition to other therapies. (Not that these had anything to do with the plot; I just had to keep reminding myself that the book is more than 50 years old.)
No one liked Enid Bolam much, with the possible exception of a woman whom she had helped to get a job at the clinic; of course, I suspected this woman right away. Silly. Even though Miss Bolam had few admirers, few of the staff or doctors had a real motive...with the exception of one person. Unfortunately, "whodunnit" didn't seem like much of a surprise to me, but in true James fashion, there are twists and turns throughout the book to keep things reasonably interesting.
And, of course, Adam Dalgliesh is one of my favorite detectives in fiction. A widower and poet in addition to being a thoughtful and sensitive policeman, he is an admirable figure...and one of the disappointments of this book is that we don't really get much of a sense of who he is.
Nevertheless, you could do worse than to spend hours in his and James's company; in a world of so many good detective fiction writers, she was one of the best and Dalgliesh is her finest creation.
The administrator of a posh psychiatric clinic in London has been murdered; the setting is the early 1960s, so electro-convulsive and LSD treatments are a couple of the clinic's offerings, in addition to other therapies. (Not that these had anything to do with the plot; I just had to keep reminding myself that the book is more than 50 years old.)
No one liked Enid Bolam much, with the possible exception of a woman whom she had helped to get a job at the clinic; of course, I suspected this woman right away. Silly. Even though Miss Bolam had few admirers, few of the staff or doctors had a real motive...with the exception of one person. Unfortunately, "whodunnit" didn't seem like much of a surprise to me, but in true James fashion, there are twists and turns throughout the book to keep things reasonably interesting.
And, of course, Adam Dalgliesh is one of my favorite detectives in fiction. A widower and poet in addition to being a thoughtful and sensitive policeman, he is an admirable figure...and one of the disappointments of this book is that we don't really get much of a sense of who he is.
Nevertheless, you could do worse than to spend hours in his and James's company; in a world of so many good detective fiction writers, she was one of the best and Dalgliesh is her finest creation.
October 23, 2011
I read this book many, many years ago and was looking for a quick read recently when it fell out of my wardrobe and landed at my feet. Decision made. This was first published in 1963 and it still holds up really well as a great murder mystery. It gives me a new found admiration for P.D. James, that she can still hold her own in this genre, after so many decades of writing and against so many new authors. She is still one of the best - no contest. This is an Adam Dalgleish police procedural mystery,(Hope I spelled that right), and I love the fact that it's all based on one murder and the investigation surrounding it, as against the new crime thrillers there are so many of these days, where it is necessary to have bodies piled up to the roof (literally in some books). Miss Bolam is found murdered at the Steen Psychiatric clinic and everyone inside the clinic is interviewed as suspects, as it looks like the murder was committed by someone working there. So, you get a list of suspects, possible motives and a good old fashioned who-dunnit. I really enjoyed it. It took me back to my Agatha Christie reading days and a desire to re-read all of P.D. James books and then, maybe I will revisit Ms. Christie. Enjoyed it, a must for all crime/mystery lovers. Get back to basics and the really good authors of this genre.
February 12, 2008
not nearly as enjoyable (imho) as "Cover Her Face," but still an okay read. I've noticed in these two that while Dalgliesh gets onto a certain clue that sends him right to the murderer, there really isn't much here about investigative technique or something that he does especially to solve the crime. Oh well.
brief summary, no spoilers
The scene of the crime is the Steen psychiatric clinic, and the victim is the administrative head of the place, a miss Bolam. She is killed in the records room with a chisel through her heart. Dalgliesh draws this case and he sets out to investigate. As usual, a fairly decent amount of red herrings and suspects with motives keeps the story interesting.
This book is a bit dated, obviously. Consider that electro-shock therapy was used here as well as the administration of lysergic acid (yup, good old LSD) to get people to "loosen up" and shed their inhibitions so that the doctors could get to the roots of their problems. Hmmm.
Not a bad read, and I would recommend it to people who read British mysteries or who have decided they want to read this series.
#2 Adam Dalgliesh series
brief summary, no spoilers
The scene of the crime is the Steen psychiatric clinic, and the victim is the administrative head of the place, a miss Bolam. She is killed in the records room with a chisel through her heart. Dalgliesh draws this case and he sets out to investigate. As usual, a fairly decent amount of red herrings and suspects with motives keeps the story interesting.
This book is a bit dated, obviously. Consider that electro-shock therapy was used here as well as the administration of lysergic acid (yup, good old LSD) to get people to "loosen up" and shed their inhibitions so that the doctors could get to the roots of their problems. Hmmm.
Not a bad read, and I would recommend it to people who read British mysteries or who have decided they want to read this series.
#2 Adam Dalgliesh series
November 16, 2020
I didn't like this one as well as the first in the series. I did like Dalgliesh himself, and I learning a few more facts about his life, and the way he thinks. I also liked solid, reliable Inspector Martin. But the supporting cast of characters was less interesting. I was less interested in the the staff of a psychiatric clinic than a small group of family and friends in a country village. In fact, I was only mildly interested in a couple of the doctors (Dr. Steiner and Dr. Saxon), but they aren't really major characters.
It's well written, it just didn't pique my interest in quite the same way as its predecessor, which I thought was really very well done.
I will be reading the next one though.
It's well written, it just didn't pique my interest in quite the same way as its predecessor, which I thought was really very well done.
I will be reading the next one though.
February 8, 2021
Why do I keep reading James when she annoys me? Well, because when she’s good, she’s very good. Isolated scenes in this book are terrific: the Dalgliesh interviews with Fredrica Saxon, Louise Fenton, and Nagle in his studio; the tension (and the cat) during the climactic scenes; even the Committee meeting, which reads like a short novel by C. P. Snow. She obviously knows this milieu very well.
Still, the first half is rather ramshackle, the detection seems miraculous, and the murderer unconvincing. It’s missing another rewrite. And I am too hard on her. But she’s very good. When she’s good.
On second thought, I will round this one up to four stars.
Still, the first half is rather ramshackle, the detection seems miraculous, and the murderer unconvincing. It’s missing another rewrite. And I am too hard on her. But she’s very good. When she’s good.
On second thought, I will round this one up to four stars.
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