Black Tower (Windsor Selections) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

P. D. James (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 1990 | Series: Windsor Selections

Commander Dalgliesh is recuperating from a life-threatening illness when he receives a call for advice from an elderly friend who works as a chaplain in a home for the disabled on the Dorset coast. Dalgliesh arrives to discover that Father Baddeley has recently and mysteriously died, as has one of the patients at Toynton Grange. Evidently the home is not quite the caring community it purports to be. Dalgliesh is determined to discover the truth of his friend’s death, but further fatalities follow and his own life is in danger as he unmasks the evil at the heart of Toynton Grange.‘More expertise from P. D. James. The writing is excellent, the pitch of final terror beautifully sustained.’ Evening Standard‘She writes like an angel. Every character is clearly drawn. Her atmosphere is unerringly, chillingly convincing. And she manages all this without for a moment slowing down the drive and tension of an exciting mystery.’ Marcel Berlins, The Times

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Time The reigning mistress of murder.

People P. D. James is "the greatest living mystery writer." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

P.D. James was born in Oxford in 1920 and educated at Cambridge High School. Widely acknowledged as "the greatest contemporary writer of classic crime" (The London Sunday Times), she has written twenty books and been awarded major prizes for her crime writing in Great Britain, America, Italy, and Scandinavia. After 30 years in the civil service, including a senior position in the Police and Criminal Justice Departments of Great Britain's Home Office, she held a series of distinguished cultural and literary offices, among them Governor of the BBC, on the boards of the Arts Council and British Council and as a magistrate in London. She is the lifelong President of the Society of Authors. She was awarded the OBE in 1983 and created Baroness James of Holland Park in 1991. In 1999 she was given the Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Award. She has honorary doctorates from seven British universities. James is the widow of a doctor and has two children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

For information on other P.D. James backlist titles, click here. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Chivers Press (April 10, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0862203546
• ISBN-13: 978-0862203542
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,856,184 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

P. D. James is the author of twenty previous books, most of which have been filmed and broadcast on television in the United States and other countries. She spent thirty years in various departments of the British Civil Service, including the Police and Criminal Law Departments of Great Britain's Home Office. She has served as a magistrate and as a governor of the BBC. In 2000 she celebrated her eightieth birthday and published her autobiography, Time to Be in Earnest. The recipient of many prizes and honors, she was created Baroness James of Holland Park in 1991 and was inducted into the International Crime Writing Hall of Fame in 2008. She lives in London and Oxford.

Photo credit Ulla Montan

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Murder In An Unrelentingly Dark Mood, November 14, 2002

By 

Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Black Tower (Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series #5) (Paperback)

P.D. James is reknowned for her ability to combine the psychological novel with the classic murder mystery--but now and then her emphasis on psychology so overshadows her plot that it becomes hard to describe the work as a murder mystery per se. Such is the case with THE BLACK TOWER, a profoundly bleak novel set in an isolated home for "the young disabled," a euphemistic term for victims of slowly progressing but ultimately fatal muscular disease.

The story begins when Inspector Dalgliesh, himself recovering from both a serious illness and a crisis of confidence, is invited to Toynton Grange by the home's elderly chaplin; something is amiss, and the chaplin would welcome Dalgliesh's advice. But when Dalgliesh arrives, he finds his old friend has died a few days earlier. With little to go on except his own suspicion, Dalgliesh slowly, grudingly begins to investigate... and finds one suspicious death after another.

The premise is a classic set up, but in this novel James places Dalgliesh more as an observer of the inevitable than as a detective, and when the solution arrives it does so more by intuition and assumption than by logical deduction. But if this element is weak, the overall novel is very strong: moody to the point of despair, and peopled with painfully pitiful characters, THE DARK TOWER is perhaps one of James' more memorable novels in terms of style alone. Flawed, yes; recommended nonetheless. But be forewarned: you may need prescription medication to escape the sense of depression the novel creates.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars James delves into the creepy--and succeeds, August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Black Tower (Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series #5) (Paperback)

"The Black Tower" is arguably the creepiest of P. D. James's works! In addition to having the highest number of murder victims, the novel has a claustrophobic setting--an isolated nursing home on the Dorset coast--that lends itself well to a level of suspense bordering on terror.

H. R. F. Keating has cited "The Black Tower" as one of the 100 greatest mystery novels of all time. (James's "A Taste for Death" is also on the list.) Interestingly enough, although the element of mystery builds throughout "The Black Tower," its resolution is not as satisfying as in some other works by P. D. James. The reason may be that the motive for the multiple murders does not seem to be as well integrated into the heart of the novel when compared to "Shroud for a Nightingale" and "Original Sin," to name novels that both preceded and followed "The Black Tower."

Still, the remarkable characters and, yes, the element of creepiness make "The Black Tower" a terrific read. The setting is atmospheric and plays a large role in generating the tension that pervades the novel. Bonus: Fans of both detective series in the P. D. James canon will be gratified by the teasing references to Cordelia Gray in this Dalgliesh novel.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Solid Mystery, April 22, 2003

By 

Michael Dea (Calgary, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Black Tower (Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series #5) (Paperback)

Commander Adam Dalgliesh is recovering from a severe illness when he receives an invitation to visit his old friend and mentor Father Baddely. Deciding that a visit to the countryside might give him time to relax and give thought to perhaps giving up his career at Scotland Yard. But there is no rest, as there are a series of deaths at Troynton Grange, and with each death Dalgliesh is drawn inexorably back into his old life, solving murders.
'The Black Tower' is a little less in classical Agatha Christie style as 'The Skull Beneath The Skin', the other PD James novel I have read. The setting for 'The Black Tower' is in a local sanitorium for patients with long-term illness, which provides a suitable sense of dread and decay. James peoples it with several interesting characters. A fine effort.