Unnatural Causes [Paperback]

P D James (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 20, 2002

Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh was looking forward to a quiet holiday at his aunt's cottage on Monksmere Head. There would be long walks, tea in front of the fire, and, best of all, no corpses. But he reckoned without the discovery of crime-writer Maurice Seton's mutilated body.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'The greatest contemporary writer of classic crime.' Peter Kemp, Sunday Times 'P. D. James is one of the national treasures of British fiction... Each new book gives pleasure not just for macabre crimes or ingenious solutions but its density of experience.' Malcolm Bradbury, Mail on Sunday 'Unlike so many crime writers, James still has the power to move, fascinate and astonish.' Independent 'James... manages to invest even a simple mystery novel with a depth and intelligence that few in her trade can match.' The Times

From the Inside Flap

Maurice Seton was a famous mystery writer -- but no murder from his imagination could equal the ghastliness of his own death. When his grotesquely mutilated corpse is found in a drifting dinghy, ripples of horror spread among his bizarre neighbours: the cruel and cynical drama critic, the celebrated recluse, the rakish young heir, the terrified woman waiting for her killer in a lonely house... It is up to Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh and his extraordinary aunt to discover the shocking truth about Seton's past -- before the plot takes another murderous turn. --This text refers to the Unbound edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 226 pages
• Publisher: Faber & Faber (May 20, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571204104
• ISBN-13: 978-0571204106
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,130,666 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

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most Enjoyable, March 17, 2007

By 

Brett Benner (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Unnatural Causes (Adam Dagliesh Mystery Series #3) (Paperback)

I actually found it her most enjoyable so far, Having now read them in order I was less than impressed with the first, enjoyed the second, but found this third mystery refreshing and utterly enjoyable. Dalgliesh takes a vacation, visiting his aunt whose neighbors are a variety of writers who are a hilarious collection of characters. When one of them turns up dead in a dinghy with his hands chopped off, Dalglieh becomes a reluctant participant in finding the killer among them. Witty and wonderfully written, it makes me anxious to buy the next book!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ignore other reviews; this is a fine James, November 22, 2000

By 

Elsie Wilson (Aberystwyth, Cymru) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unnatural Causes (Adam Dagliesh Mystery Series #3) (Paperback)

Curious that, with such an arresting opening as this book has (a handless corpse floating off the Suffolk coast), i should find it so difficult to get involved with. I think, more than anything, i found it a little tough to tell some of the characters apart at first. Once past that point, however, this became, like just about every other James, the best one she's written. One grows to enjoy the little community she has created, the petty spites and jealousies, the sniping back and forth between these largely unsuccessful (at least in terms of importance) writers, at the death of one of them. Even Dalgliesh, in Suffolk on holiday, so the death is not his case, has trouble in his relationship with the local Inspector in charge of the case, they are overtly polite, but there is tension between them; he cannot hold himself back from doing some investigation on his own, however, and is able to show that murder has been committed, though not prevent another. The actual revelation of method and motive are interesting and unusual, in that James makes use of the murderer's confession to show how it was done. Another classic James and Dalgliesh.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars NOT ONE OF HER BEST, November 20, 2001

By 

MOVIE MAVEN (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unnatural Causes (Adam Dagliesh Mystery Series #3) (Paperback)

To my mind, any book of P.D. James is worth reading, but UNNATURAL CAUSES is simply not one of her best. Yes, the plot is fascinating, if a bit dependent on twists and turns that mean very little, indeed, to the solution of the murders.

Most interesting, as usual with James, is her development of complex characters. Unfortunately, as another reviewer pointed out, almost every one of these characters is, at best, unpleasant and since they are all writers or are connected with professional writers in some way, it seems James has a bit of a chip on her shoulder about her colleagues.

The last 20 pages contain a transcription of a taped confession which ties up all the loose plot knots, but does not, at all, let us in on the effects this confession has on any of the characters except for James' detective, Adam Dalgliesh. This is truly disappointing, especially for a writer who so carefully peoples her novels.

A small note: I do not consider myself a prude and perhaps it is mere political correctness on my part, but I found James' characters' negative comments about homosexuals and one physically challenged character to be in poor taste.