Rating: 
Summary: Sink into the subtly sinister and claustrophic setting!
Review: A Murder occurs during a nurses training demonstration. From that moment, you will be committed to the story. This story is a wonderful classic British who-dun-it. But it is so much more than that. Like all P.D. James novels, you'll find yourself caught up by the characters as layer by layer their good and bad intentions are revealed. The author never designs her novels with cardboard characters. Each player is complex, usually with faults, but so human and fallible, they are never one dimensional villians. This book stands out among all of her novels for two reasons. One is the atmosphere she creates, the claustrophic tense nurses training house, surrrounded by storms, driving rain, and falling tress. This all contributes to the high tension maintained throughout. The second reason is the mystery's solution. One of her most shocking and intense endings This is an outstanding book. If youre lucky...read it while snowed in with the phone lines down, and refuse to let the world outside interrupt theis intense and wonderful reading experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Topping
Review: A well-plotted detective story with more than a hint of the thriller to it, it rises well above the run of the mill books of that genre, not simply in the excellence of execution (no pun intended) but through extraordinarily sensitive characterisation. James draws a convincing and intoxicating picture of female nurses in a provincial hospital, we can smell the disinfectant, feel the strong wills, sexual repression and envy that abound but also the dedication and devotion. Adam Dalgleish and his horny Sargeant explore this world in a way at once believable and shocking. Very good stuff, much to be recommended.
Rating:
Summary: One of James' best
Review: Adam Dalgliesh investigates the murders of two young student nurses at Nightingale House, the former by intra-gastric poisoning, the second by nicotine poisoning. His detective work leads him into a chilling world of deception, long-buried secrets, repressed sexuality, and blackmail among an almost exclusively female list of suspects.This is James at her most provocative, her most intriguing, and her most thrilling. The plot is one of her most brilliantly conceived--not only are there plenty of well-laid clues and red herrings, but the murderer's true identity comes as a surprising twist. James' plot construction is even more sound than usual--everything fits perfectly. But anyone who reads a James novel knows that there's more to her books than just a satisfying mystery. She offers the reader a lot to think about--the motive behind the murders is both shocking and thought-provoking, and Dalgliesh is written with great sensitivity and complexity as a human being! . His subordinate, Sergeant Masterson, is a rather unsavory but interesting character, and the suspects are all extremely well-developed and vividly drawn. The setting, a dark, lonely nurse training school with a frightening history, creates atmosphere and adds suspense to an already suspenseful plot. Read this book--you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Such a Pleasure to Read
Review: Adam Dalgliesh was called in to investigate the murders (or were they suicide or mischief?) of two student nurses. We follow Adam Dalgliesh through a tunnel of twists and turns as he set his intelligence and determination to crack the case to work. There are enough suspense in the book to keep the heart pumping. Don¡¦t be in a hurry to flip the pages though, take time to relish at the pleasure of the prose, weaved beautifully into the story.
Rating:
Summary: Such a Pleasure to Read
Review: Adam Dalgliesh was called in to investigate the murders (or were they suicide or mischief?) of two student nurses. We follow Adam Dalgliesh through a tunnel of twists and turns as he set his intelligence and determination to crack the case to work. There are enough suspense in the book to keep the heart pumping. Don¡¦t be in a hurry to flip the pages though, take time to relish at the pleasure of the prose, weaved beautifully into the story.
Rating:
Summary: superb mystery; superb writing; superb characterizations
Review: As always with PD James, the mystery form is marvelously supported by superb writing. The famous Adam Dalglish is somewhat tangential to this mystery, which deals with the legal system and law courts of Great Britain. Fascinating details for the legally trained. Strong female characterization, although the victim is both admirable and despicable.
Rating: 
Summary: interesting setting, strange plot
Review: I enjoyed the setting of the novel. The nurses training school in England was so different from any other place I had read about. The workings of the school and the heirarchy of the staff were fun to read about. The characters were very complicated behind the scenes but appeared very simple at first. Much of the novel is complicated behind the scenes. Not enough actually happens in the present tense for us to read about while it occurs. The most intriguing occurences are told to us afterward. As always, PD James keeps me turning the page, but this time I was left saying, "So what?"
Rating:
Summary: interesting setting, strange plot
Review: I enjoyed the setting of the novel. The nurses training school in England was so different from any other place I had read about. The workings of the school and the heirarchy of the staff were fun to read about. The characters were very complicated behind the scenes but appeared very simple at first. Much of the novel is complicated behind the scenes. Not enough actually happens in the present tense for us to read about while it occurs. The most intriguing occurences are told to us afterward. As always, PD James keeps me turning the page, but this time I was left saying, "So what?"
Rating: 
Summary: Oh no!
Review: I feel so bad for PD James and so horrible for disagreeing with other readers but this novel was sub-par at best. It was incredibly predictable and very poorly written given PD James' talent. I gave it 1 star because I know she is capable of so much better! But as they say, every author has one bad book in them... this means I can enjoy all her others...
Rating:
Summary: Chilling Read
Review: I was not able to put "Shroud for a Nightingale" down. I have ready many of PD James' books. This one tops my list. Her character portraits are superb and so is the action. The cast of characters are diverse. The setting sinister. I'd call this a must read!
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