A Taste for Death

Rating:
Summary: TOO MANY WORDS
Review: P.D. James is clearly a very knowledgable writer, and thus had a very clear idea of the innerworkings of the British legal/criminal justice system. Her character, Adam Dalgliesh, was a major operative within the system. He was very delightful-almost like Lord Peter Wimsey from Dorothy L. Sayers' series featuring him. What impressed me about him is his willingness to accept a woman, Kate Miskin, on his investigative team. He was always very respectful of her, and commented on her intelligence. The only thing I did not enjoy about the book were its lengthy descriptions about everything. I know that description is important, but do we really need to know every gory detail about somebody's outfit or bedroom if it doesn't pertain to the mystery? Overall, though, I enjoyed this book very much. It allowed me to play along, which is something I enjoy doing when I read mysteries.

Rating:
Summary: Well Crafted!
Review: This book is excellent. I was very touched by P.D. James's ability to express emotions in this book. I was drawn in by almost all the character. I felt like I was a part of the investigation during the whole book.

Rating:
Summary: Well Crafted!
Review: This book is excellent. I was very touched by P.D. James's ability to express emotions in this book. I was drawn in by almost all the character. I felt like I was a part of the investigation during the whole book.

Rating:
Summary: A very intelligent mystery
Review: This is a terrific book. The first 100 pages are a bit slow, but then you get into the book, and it's really good. Very English, not that exciting but very... interesting (I can't really find the right word...I'm from Sweden). There's not much action, but who needs action when you have PD James' English ways, dry humor, and the great Adam Dalgliesh?

Rating:
Summary: Very hard to put down
Review: This is the first P.D. James novel I have read and I loved it. It is one of those books that you become so involved in that you are left exhausted when you finish it, or at least I was. Maybe that was from sitting on the edge of my seat. From the very first paragraph where the reader is introduced to the spinster, Miss Wharton, and her young friend Darren and they discover the bodies in the church I was drawn into this story and found it very hard to put the book down. So many twists and turns along the way. And even though the reader knows the answer to the question of "who done it" before the end of the book it is still filled with unexpected plot twists that will definitely take the reader off guard right up to the end. A thoroughly engrossing story and I can't wait to start another one by this talented author.

Rating:
Summary: Not James at her best by any means
Review: This marked a low point in James's mysteries: her obsession with Victorian architecture seems of much greater interest to her than the characters (Sir Paul not only lives in a Soane mansion but he is murdered in an architecturally significant church), and the suspects are all so universally loathsome you wind up not caring who did it in the end. James seems even to take special relish in Lady Ursula's hateful snobbishness and misanthropy. A bad place to start with the Adam Dagliesh novels, when there are so many finer earlier ones (DEATH OF AN EXPERT WITNESS) and even later ones (A CERTAIN JUSTICE).

Rating:
Summary: An excellent mystery and a wonderful read
Review: This ranks as one of P.D. James' finer achievements. One of her longest novels both in scope and number of pages, A TASTE FOR DEATH once more proves James' talent for devising an intricate detective story and filling it with well-crafted characters and some of the most beautiful prose ever written. The story revolves around Commander Adam Dalgliesh's investigations into the murders of two men who have been found, their throats slit, in the vestry of a church. The plot is complex and, in addition to the intrigue of the mystery, explores questions of politics, society, and morality. This is a wonderful novel with an explosive climax, certain to be a treat for both Dalgliesh fans and lovers of contemporary literature.

Rating:
Summary: Adam Dalgleish, oh yeah!
Review: What's not to love about this complex detective with a tragic past? With each new mystery in the Dalgliesh series, P. D. James plumbs his depths and reveals new aspects of his characters for her devoted readers. This time, two bodies, throats slashed, are discovered in a London church, one a nob, the other a tramp. Then more dead bodies turn up. Turns out Dalgliesh knows at least one of them personally, and through his compassion for all the victims we learn more not only about them but also about the man investigating the case. Top notch stuff. If there is such a thing as a literary thriller, P. D. James invented it.