From the award-winning master of literary crime fiction, a classic work rich in tense drama and psychological insight.On the East Anglian seacoast, a small theological college hangs precariously on an eroding shoreline and an equally precarious future. When the body of a student is found buried in the sand, the boy’s influential father demands that Scotland Yard investigate. Enter Adam Dalgliesh, … Enter Adam Dalgliesh, a detective who loves poetry, a man who has known loss and discovery. The son of a parson, and having spent many happy boyhood summers at the school, Dalgliesh is the perfect candidate to look for the truth in this remote, rarified community of the faithful–and the frightened. And when one death leads to another, Dalgliesh finds himself steeped in a world of good and evil, of stifled passions and hidden pasts, where someone has cause not just to commit one crime but to begin an unholy order of murder. . . .
Praise for Death in Holy Orders
“Gracefully sculpted prose and [a] superbly executed mystery . . . Death in Holy Orders is among [James’s] most remarkable and accomplished Dalgliesh novels.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer
“An elegant work about hope, death, and the alternately redemptive and destructive nature of love.”—The Miami Herald
“Absorbing . . . [James’s] plotting and characterization [are] impeccable.”—Orlando Sentinel
“P. D. James is in top form.”—The Boston Globe
Open the exclusive dossier at the back of this book, featuring P. D. James’ essay on penning the perfect detective novel.
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My husband and I listened to DEATH IN HOLY ORDERS by P.D. James on CD during a cross-country road trip through Big Sky Country—Montana. Even though the speed limit in the wide-open expanse is already high (80 mph in many areas), we found ourselves pressing the accelerator with increasing intensity as the plot thickened with sinister twists and …
I liked this mystery, but it became a little too confusing for me. Too many characters muddied the field. Also, it was a bit too long and lacked the intense suspense to be a page turner. If you like long, complicated mysteries, this is for you.
While some of the Dalgleish stories have resisted my best efforts to enter into them, this one drew me immediately, with its deft observations of young love and older love as well as cloistered life.
Warning: It’s such a page-turner it wrecked my sleep for a few days. 🙂
Wonderful
Wonderful
Another great book by James.
Great couldn’t put it down
While I was really curious about whodunit and the first quarter of the book moved along well enough to hold my interest, I simply couldn’t get through more than half of this book. I don’t mind a bit of description to set the mood or back story to give insight into a character, but when I’m wading through seven pages of description about a single …
A perfect P.D. James novel.
Each paragraph is a microcosm of beautifully constructed sentences of rich vocabulary, poignant to the characters and plot. James give her characters life – and death – in the English landscapes and traditions she describes.
I love all of PD James’s books. She was a talented writer.
As a longtime reader of PD James, I found this book did not ‘gripe’ as others. It was difficult to follow how the investigation developed. In th end, I was able to piece together the facts of the investigation, but her other novels have been more satisfying.
Love these books & the characters in this small town. Always keep me reading. Can’t put the book down.
P D James at her best. She is a painterly writer; lovers of the use of language AND a love of English mystery will delight in this novel.
Pure PD James. Great off kilter characters.
Appalling view of child sexual abuse as stated by characters in novel. There was too much sympathy for the perpetrator and not enough for his victims.
As ever for a PD James novel a good read.
Love the PD James novels. Her characters seem to walk off the page and into my world.
Love PD James
PBS/BBC America TV series VERY GOOD!!! book BLAH!!!
I started reading P D James after watching a TV adaption of one of her books. She is a masterful story teller.
Wonderful (as usual!)