Death in Holy Orders (Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series #11) (Paperback)

~ P. D. James (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"There are very few thriller writers who can compete with P. D. James at her best ... One of the things that sets P. D. James apart from other writers in this genre is the intellectual assurance of her work. This is manifest in her use of language - she writes beautifully - but also in the light touch with which she displays her learning ... DEATH IN HOLY ORDERS is pure pleasure." --Charlotte Joll, The Spectator


"DEATH IN HOLY ORDERS is a page-turner ... but it is also so well-written that you linger over James's beautifully-observed descriptions of characters or scenes ... More, please, P. D. James." --Rosita Boland, The Irish Times


"James transcends the crime genre, in that hers are fully evolved novels and not just murder mysteries. They are packed with argument and insight and detail." --Victoria Glendinning, The Daily Telegraph


"This is a thoroughly satisfactory, gripping and exceptionally well-written novel." --Anne Chisholm, The Sunday Telegraph


"James is a natural storyteller when it comes to pace and atmosphere." --Sarah Dunant, The Times


"Adam Dalgliesh's latest outing possesses the confident interplay of classical discipline, contemporary morality and strong evocation of place that had hitherto distinguished James's novels. Writing for the most part within the conventions of the detective story, she has again proved its constraints to be a liberating force for the creative imagination, drawing on accepted generic elements to produce a thoughtful, beautifully-written book which is far more complex than the sum of its parts." --Nicola Upson, The Observer


"This is a grand, gothic novel of gut-wrenching suspense, satisfying at all levels. (...) Here is a novel which goes beyond mere enjoyment." --Frances Fyfield, The Sunday Express


From the Hardcover edition. -- Review

Review

"There are very few thriller writers who can compete with P. D. James at her best ... One of the things that sets P. D. James apart from other writers in this genre is the intellectual assurance of her work. This is manifest in her use of language - she writes beautifully - but also in the light touch with which she displays her learning ... DEATH IN HOLY ORDERS is pure pleasure." --Charlotte Joll, The Spectator


"DEATH IN HOLY ORDERS is a page-turner ... but it is also so well-written that you linger over James's beautifully-observed descriptions of characters or scenes ... More, please, P. D. James." --Rosita Boland, The Irish Times


"James transcends the crime genre, in that hers are fully evolved novels and not just murder mysteries. They are packed with argument and insight and detail." --Victoria Glendinning, The Daily Telegraph


"This is a thoroughly satisfactory, gripping and exceptionally well-written novel." --Anne Chisholm, The Sunday Telegraph


"James is a natural storyteller when it comes to pace and atmosphere." --Sarah Dunant, The Times


"Adam Dalgliesh's latest outing possesses the confident interplay of classical discipline, contemporary morality and strong evocation of place that had hitherto distinguished James's novels. Writing for the most part within the conventions of the detective story, she has again proved its constraints to be a liberating force for the creative imagination, drawing on accepted generic elements to produce a thoughtful, beautifully-written book which is far more complex than the sum of its parts." --Nicola Upson, The Observer


"This is a grand, gothic novel of gut-wrenching suspense, satisfying at all levels. (...) Here is a novel which goes beyond mere enjoyment." --Frances Fyfield, The Sunday Express


From the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (April 22, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345467493
• ISBN-13: 978-0345467492
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #526,072 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Keeps you guessing!!, October 19, 2003

By	Lesley West (St James, Western Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is the first P.D. James book that I have read and clearly I have been depriving myself of some very thrilling and cleverly constructed murder mysteries, which do more than keep the reader turning the pages. This is a well constructed murder/mystery, with not just one death, but 4! The book opens with the death of a young man training to be a priest in an isolated seminary on the rugged English coast. Is it suicide? Murder?

Despite a coroner's inquest, the super competent Inspector Dalgleish comes to investigate further, at the request of the man's father. While there he beomes emborioled in the other deaths, only one of which is obviously murder, committed while he is staying at the seminary. Are all of these deaths connected, and why would anyone want all of these people dead?

This is a really complex story, with nearly all of the characters having some reason to either hate the murdered man, or reason to implicate someone else. I didn't guess who the murderer was until the author wanted me to, and I think that this is fantastic in really good murder mysteries (I hate working out who did it in too short a period of time).

The reason I have given this fine book 4 stars (well, really 4.5) is that I wasn't really convinced with the motive for the murder when it was finally solved. I guess it was plausible, but nowhere as strong as I had expected. As for the other deaths, well you'll have to read the book to work it out! It is well worth reading, and I shall find more of Ms Jame's books to devour!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best mysteries I've read recently, September 4, 2003

By	M. C. Crammer (Decatur, GA USA) - See all my reviews

P.D. James is a masterful writer, and this pageturner is surely one of her best. The plot involves a series of deaths in a very small gated Anglo-Catholic seminary in an isolated area on a rugged coast -- there are a limited number of people to consider as the possible killer, and the fact that so many are priests or ordinands makes the situation more difficult. Given the number of people at the seminary at the time of the central murder, however, the list of suspects is quite long and at times difficult to keep track of. There are enough red herrings in this mystery to make a large fish stew. Adam Dalgliesh, the poet-detective, is staying at the seminary, poking around about the previous mysterious death of one of the students, when an unpopular official from the Church is murdered. There are candidates galore for the killer, and some of those candidates have secrets of their own that may or may not have anything to do with the murder. And do the deaths connect? It gets very complicated, so much so that I considered taking notes of the possible killers and their motives. James is great at developing characters and setting -- so much so that you felt like you were there.

My only complaint is that the motive for the killing did not seem sufficient to me. I really can't say more without revealing too much. Otherwise, this is an excellent book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very civilized, very good., September 18, 2005

By	Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This is a quintessentially British mystery, old-fashioned, and reminiscent in plot style to Agatha Christie, with a murder and all the action taking place inside a closed community. One of the priests or ordinands within a small, remote, High Church seminary must have committed a murder, or two, or three. Commander Adam Dalgliesh, who spent several summers at St. Anselm's as a boy, returns to investigate the death of the young son of an extremely wealthy man, and in short order, additional deaths occur.

A Rogier van der Weyden altarpiece, a treasure trove of ecclesiastical silver, Pre-Raphaelite paintings, and other priceless art objects owned by the about-to-be-closed seminary, provide a possible financial motive for murder, while an incestuous relationship, a secret marriage, a paralyzing fear of the future, and even pedophilia by a much-loved priest are among the psychological motives.

Politeness and "civilized" behavior play a greater role here than they do in many, more "modern" mysteries. There is no graphic sex, no profanity, and no scenes of violence--just the effects of the violence. We see the priests and ordinands only within their circumscribed lives, and there are no scenes that suggest that any of them have any sense of humor or any real need for fun. Although James conveys enough psychological astuteness that her characters do not feel flat, there are at least eight or ten who could have committed the murder and for whom very substantial background information is given.

The reader must follow all of them, along with an equally large number of red herrings, for four hundred pages before the plot is resolved, somewhat anticlimactically. That, combined with maddeningly detailed, physical descriptions of the rooms of the seminary, made this a four-star experience for me, rather than five-star. Mary Whipple