A Taste For Death
by P.D. James
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine/No DJ
- ISBN 10
- 039455583X
- ISBN 13
- 9780394555836
- Seller
-
Mulvane, Kansas, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Content appears as new, unopened, unread and unblemished with Very Good, (slightly smudged boards) but displaying no significant surface/edge wear.
Kirkus Review: Like her other recent, long mysteries (Death of an Expert Witness, The Skull Beneath the Skin), James' new novel is absorbing reading, chockablock with arresting characters, edgily compelling conversation, and grainy atmospherics. Also like those books, however, it isn't a first-rate-mystery—and its final chapters, suddenly reaching for ambitious psychological melodrama (reminiscent of Ruth Rendell), show James' talent straining against the genre limitations. Sir Paul Berowne, a former Crown minister who has recently had some sort of religious awakening, is found bloodily dead in the vestry of a humble London church; nearby is the body of a similarly slain tramp. Scotland Yard's first impression? That an unhinged Berowne killed the tramp, then committed suicide. But poet-sleuth Adam Dalgliesh, leading a special squad, is not convinced. And his full-scale investigation focuses primarily on the layered secrets of the grand Berowne household: the dead man's imperious, aged mother; his frivolous, pregnant, unfaithful (second) wife; his estranged, leftist daughter; family retainers, both bitter and doting. Virtually everyone has a motive. . .and an alibi. Meanwhile, too, James offers sympathetic portraits of non-suspects—like the timid spinster and the local waif who found the bodies; or smart young policewoman Kate Miskin, who's determined to leave her down-scale background (including an aging grandmother) behind. Paradoxically, however, neither of the two central figures here—Dalgliesh himself and murder-victim Sir Paul—emerges with comparable sharpness. And there's a sense of anticlimax when the unmasked killer (unsurprising, unconvincing) takes cop Kate as a hostage—in a harrowing yet contrived and lopsided finale. Unlike Dorothy L. Sayers at her best, then, James hasn't quite managed to combine novelistic richness with disturbing, satisfying mystery. (Rendell, less ambitiously, channels her equally complex talents into many small, neat books in different genres.) But, resonating with themes, from family responsibility to class warfare to the perils of ambition, this leisurely, somber investigation is moodily compelling most of the way through—and only disappointing in its fitful, hollow resolutions.
Insurance & handling is included free. Extra Charges/Fees apply on Shipments Outside The U.S. and Expedited Shipments. Oversize and/or heavy books may require additional fees. Will advise.Written 9.07.22 #7079-10.2822 Img.8502
Synopsis
An Adam Dalgliesh MysteryTwo men lie in a welter of blood in the vestry of St Matthew's Church, Paddington, thier throats brutally slashed. One is Sir Paul Berowne, a baronet and recently-resigned Minister of the Crown, the other an alcoholic vagrant. Dalgliesh and his team, set up to investigate crimes of particular sensitivity, are faced with a case of extraordinary complexity as they discover the Berowne family's veneer of prosperous gentility conceals ugly and dangerous secrets.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Eve's Reads (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 7079-10.2822
- Title
- A Taste For Death
- Author
- P.D. James
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine/No DJ
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- 1st Ed 4th Prtg
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10
- 039455583X
- ISBN 13
- 9780394555836
- Publisher
- Alfred A. Knopf
- Place of Publication
- New York, NY
- Date Published
- December 1986
- Pages
- 459 Rough Cut Pages
- Keywords
- Mystery
Terms of Sale
Eve's Reads
Shipping/Handling/Insurance/Tracking Included within the continental U.S. (Free Shipping). Extra Charges/Fees apply on ALL Shipments Outside The U.S. and Expedited Shipments. Oversize and/or heavy books require additional fees. Will advise and will send invoice via Paypal for extra charges.
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