Devices and Desires
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Review
" Taut. . . . Absorbing. . . . Better than her best." - "The New York Times Book Review"
" I have often thought of mysteries as the sorbets of literature, something light and tangy to clear the palate between more serious courses. The books of P.D. James, however are more substantial fare, fulfilling as well as delicious, and Devices and Desires is no exception." - "The Washington Post Book World"
" A masterful writer . . . Devices and Desires seems to be that highly prized work- a terrific tale suspense and detection that also delivers the satisfaction of a mainstream novel." - "The Wall Street Journal"
" Brilliant . . . wonderful. P.D. James does it again." - "USA Today"
" Her stories are so engrossing that it is difficult to read slowly enough to pay attention to the remarkable writing. But in Devices and Desires, she is so at the top of her form that to rush though would itself be a crime." - "The Kansas City Star"
" Undiluted pleasure." - "Newsday"
" Vintage P.D. James. . . . Devotees of Britain' s Queen of Crime will be enthralled . . . showcasing lyrical prose abounding with vivid imagery, suberbly delineated characters, and a labyrinthine puzzle. . . . It' s impossible to resist this haunting, dark tale." - "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel"
" We' re glued to P.D. James' s beautifully spun whodunit. . . . The master' s shivering touch is intact." - "Glamour"
" A cleverly crafted book that readers may very well stay up all night to finish. . . . She exposes themurderously repressed rage beneath the clam surface of typical middle-class Britishers." - "Boston Herald"
" The greatest living mystery writer . . . weaves a dazzling array of psychological profiles into a gently ironic examination of human life and the ' relative value' we ascribe to it." - "People"
" James at her best . . . a superb tale of murder." - "Booklist"
" Devices and Desires may be her best yet. . . . The plot is superb, with the larger moral issues of a nearby nuclear power station and the thickly interwoven lives of characters lending measured gravity to the sensational murder story. And the prose style is a dream." - "The Seattle Times"
" Un-put-downable. . . . P.D. James is never content with just a formulaic detective story. She takes the whodunit to deeper levels." - "New Woman"
" James is one of Britain' s best writers in the genre. . . . Devices and Desires brings the classic whodunit as far as it can go." - "The Detroit News"
" The best book she' s written. It has literary merit that detective works seldom attempt . . . everything fits beautifully." - "The Sacramento Bee"
" No other mystery writer- and few writers period- offers such a rich bounty. . . . Devices and Desires is superb. It is what good writing- and reading- is all about. James has used all her powers to produce her best work yet. Her fans- old and new- will be overjoyed." - "Fort Worth Star-Telegram"
" James once again gives us a convincing portrait of contemporarysociety, while at the same time she scrupulously observes- and smartly updates and complicates- all the mystery genre conventions." - "San Diego Magazine"
" Demonstrates just how well James commands the English language. . . . The complex plot unfolds into the usual Jamesian tangle of human relationships and subplots. The story takes shape as James unwraps each nuance of personality, each intricate piece of the puzzle." - "Library Journal"
" I have often thought of mysteries as the sorbets of literature, something light and tangy to clear the palate between more serious courses. The books of P.D. James, however are more substantial fare, fulfilling as well as delicious, and Devices and Desires is no exception." - "The Washington Post Book World"
" A masterful writer . . . Devices and Desires seems to be that highly prized work- a terrific tale suspense and detection that also delivers the satisfaction of a mainstream novel." - "The Wall Street Journal"
" Brilliant . . . wonderful. P.D. James does it again." - "USA Today"
" Her stories are so engrossing that it is difficult to read slowly enough to pay attention to the remarkable writing. But in Devices and Desires, she is so at the top of her form that to rush though would itself be a crime." - "The Kansas City Star"
" Undiluted pleasure." - "Newsday"
" Vintage P.D. James. . . . Devotees of Britain' s Queen of Crime will be enthralled . . . showcasing lyrical prose abounding with vivid imagery, suberbly delineated characters, and a labyrinthine puzzle. . . . It' s impossible to resist this haunting, dark tale." - "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel"
" We' re glued to P.D. James' s beautifully spun whodunit. . . . The master' s shivering touch is intact." - "Glamour"
" A cleverly crafted book that readers may very well stay up all night to finish. . . . She exposes themurderously repressed rage beneath the clam surface of typical middle-class Britishers." - "Boston Herald"
" The greatest living mystery writer . . . weaves a dazzling array of psychological profiles into a gently ironic examination of human life and the ' relative value' we ascribe to it." - "People"
" James at her best . . . a superb tale of murder." - "Booklist"
" Devices and Desires may be her best yet. . . . The plot is superb, with the larger moral issues of a nearby nuclear power station and the thickly interwoven lives of characters lending measured gravity to the sensational murder story. And the prose style is a dream." - "The Seattle Times"
" Un-put-downable. . . . P.D. James is never content with just a formulaic detective story. She takes the whodunit to deeper levels." - "New Woman"
" James is one of Britain' s best writers in the genre. . . . Devices and Desires brings the classic whodunit as far as it can go." - "The Detroit News"
" The best book she' s written. It has literary merit that detective works seldom attempt . . . everything fits beautifully." - "The Sacramento Bee"
" No other mystery writer- and few writers period- offers such a rich bounty. . . . Devices and Desires is superb. It is what good writing- and reading- is all about. James has used all her powers to produce her best work yet. Her fans- old and new- will be overjoyed." - "Fort Worth Star-Telegram"
" James once again gives us a convincing portrait of contemporarysociety, while at the same time she scrupulously observes- and smartly updates and complicates- all the mystery genre conventions." - "San Diego Magazine"
" Demonstrates just how well James commands the English language. . . . The complex plot unfolds into the usual Jamesian tangle of human relationships and subplots. The story takes shape as James unwraps each nuance of personality, each intricate piece of the puzzle." - "Library Journal"
"From the Trade Paperback edition." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
Stunning paperback repackages celebrating the world's pre-eminent crime writer and over forty years of detective fiction.
--This text refers to an alternate
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I REALLY enjoyed this book! Although I am fairly new to P.D James, "Devices and Desires" is my favourite one so far (I have also read "Original Sin", "Shroud for a Nightingale" and "Murder Room") The author's descriptions of the Norfolk landscape are so atmospheric and they set the tone for this dark novel. I thought the first murder was written in brilliant, chilling detail, in fact the description of the "Whistler" was scary, frankly!
I liked the way the novel progressed at an organic rate and it flowed well. I also liked James' exploration of nuclear power and the effect of Larksoken as an accepted part of the landscape, albeit grudgingly by some.
It was also refreshing to have Dalgliesh isolated from his London home and placed in a much less familiar territory. I was quite pleased there were no references in this book to his love life, as in "Muder Room"- which I felt detracted from the story and was of little interest.
I would highly recommend this book!
I liked the way the novel progressed at an organic rate and it flowed well. I also liked James' exploration of nuclear power and the effect of Larksoken as an accepted part of the landscape, albeit grudgingly by some.
It was also refreshing to have Dalgliesh isolated from his London home and placed in a much less familiar territory. I was quite pleased there were no references in this book to his love life, as in "Muder Room"- which I felt detracted from the story and was of little interest.
I would highly recommend this book!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
P.D. James does not write for the impatient or the restless. Her extraordinary knowledge of and advanced use of the English language, are for the reader who enjoys to dwell on intricate and almost philosophical descriptions, not only geographically and materialistically, but of the human mind in all its variety of moods.
"Devices and Desires" is a typical example of Ms James' writing. Slowly and meticulously the reader is drawn into the story. The introduction of the many participants, the questions as to their part in - or rather importance to - the mystery at hand, invites curiosity as well as confusion as loose threads keep popping up and no significant pattern has as yet emerged.
Commander Adam Dalgliesh remains for a long time a bystander on holiday at his late aunt's cottage, while the local police are handling the case of "the Whistler", a mass murderer of young women in the community of Larksoken on the cost of Norfolk.
The first hundred pages of the book comes through as a sort of introduction, painstakingly introducing the surroundings and participants in the drama. However, after the Whistler strikes again and claims his fifth victim, Commander Dalgliesh is eventually drawn into the investigation and the pace of the story is slowly accellerating and the stage finally set.
At this point, the patient reader is most certainly hooked and ready to enjoy yet another murder investigation superbly crafted by a master story teller.
It is a dark story. Images and threads are drawn back to horrendeous events of the past, and as the story unfolds, it appears that the Whistler is not the only murderer at loose. The remote headland scenery on the Norfolk coast in the shadow of a nuclear power station, with only a few old cottages scattered around, hardly seems the most inviting habitat where to settle, and creates a becoming atmosphere for the evil at work.
When the mystery is finally solved, the pieces of the puzzle fall surprisingly easily together. Yet, as the case is closed, the true facts are never revealed and the official explanation is convenient and acceptable both to the public and all parties involved.
This is not my favourite P.D. James book. There is too much human suffering and distress in people's blind groping for happiness in the most unlikely places, in addition to the dark effect surrounding it all. Also, Adam Dalgliesh's somewhat pheriperal role does somewhat diminish my pleasure in the book. Hence the four stars.
Still, one is drawn to follow each step until all is told and the last chapter closed. P.D.James is undoubtedly the Queen of the mystery genre.
"Devices and Desires" is a typical example of Ms James' writing. Slowly and meticulously the reader is drawn into the story. The introduction of the many participants, the questions as to their part in - or rather importance to - the mystery at hand, invites curiosity as well as confusion as loose threads keep popping up and no significant pattern has as yet emerged.
Commander Adam Dalgliesh remains for a long time a bystander on holiday at his late aunt's cottage, while the local police are handling the case of "the Whistler", a mass murderer of young women in the community of Larksoken on the cost of Norfolk.
The first hundred pages of the book comes through as a sort of introduction, painstakingly introducing the surroundings and participants in the drama. However, after the Whistler strikes again and claims his fifth victim, Commander Dalgliesh is eventually drawn into the investigation and the pace of the story is slowly accellerating and the stage finally set.
At this point, the patient reader is most certainly hooked and ready to enjoy yet another murder investigation superbly crafted by a master story teller.
It is a dark story. Images and threads are drawn back to horrendeous events of the past, and as the story unfolds, it appears that the Whistler is not the only murderer at loose. The remote headland scenery on the Norfolk coast in the shadow of a nuclear power station, with only a few old cottages scattered around, hardly seems the most inviting habitat where to settle, and creates a becoming atmosphere for the evil at work.
When the mystery is finally solved, the pieces of the puzzle fall surprisingly easily together. Yet, as the case is closed, the true facts are never revealed and the official explanation is convenient and acceptable both to the public and all parties involved.
This is not my favourite P.D. James book. There is too much human suffering and distress in people's blind groping for happiness in the most unlikely places, in addition to the dark effect surrounding it all. Also, Adam Dalgliesh's somewhat pheriperal role does somewhat diminish my pleasure in the book. Hence the four stars.
Still, one is drawn to follow each step until all is told and the last chapter closed. P.D.James is undoubtedly the Queen of the mystery genre.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
PD James is often compared to Ruth Rendell, sometimes they are almost spoken of in the same breath. Certainly they are female crime writers, both of mature age and both ennobled. Apart from that, in my opinion there is not much common ground.
Adam Dalgleish, James' detective, is solitary, learned, contemplative, often struggling to commit to some woman or other.Rendells' Wexford however, is a family man through and through,'uxorious' as Rendell likes to say and rather than having his learning lying lightly upon him, it sometimes seems as though he has swallowed the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Dalgleish knows a lot, in this book he is familiar word for word with an obscure passage from the bible. a quotation about the nature of time, a philosphical theme running through the novel.
Here we find Dalgleish once again upon the wild and windy East Anglian coast, this time in Norfolk, in a place cleverly contrived from a mixture of Sizewell and Dunwich and then removed further up the coast. The action takes place on an exposed headland in the shadow of a nuclear power station and the atmosphere is lovingly described. We have a serial killer on the loose, the terrifying Whistler and then we have murder on the very headland itself. The Whistler strikes again, or does he?
James brings together several plots and themes in a slow burning way. Her vocabulary is more varied than Rendell's her prose denser, she is fruit cake to Rendell's Victoria sponge, this is not a criticism of either, I like both kinds of cake, I am just saying that James prose is not always easy, it requires concentration and needs to be taken slowly. Not every one is going to like Adam Dalgleish I can envisage some people finding him an incredible bore but I prefer his cool gentlemanly ways to good old Wexford. Dalgleish is positively sexy and I cannot say that about Wexford although I am aware that there are those who disagree!
Adam Dalgleish, James' detective, is solitary, learned, contemplative, often struggling to commit to some woman or other.Rendells' Wexford however, is a family man through and through,'uxorious' as Rendell likes to say and rather than having his learning lying lightly upon him, it sometimes seems as though he has swallowed the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Dalgleish knows a lot, in this book he is familiar word for word with an obscure passage from the bible. a quotation about the nature of time, a philosphical theme running through the novel.
Here we find Dalgleish once again upon the wild and windy East Anglian coast, this time in Norfolk, in a place cleverly contrived from a mixture of Sizewell and Dunwich and then removed further up the coast. The action takes place on an exposed headland in the shadow of a nuclear power station and the atmosphere is lovingly described. We have a serial killer on the loose, the terrifying Whistler and then we have murder on the very headland itself. The Whistler strikes again, or does he?
James brings together several plots and themes in a slow burning way. Her vocabulary is more varied than Rendell's her prose denser, she is fruit cake to Rendell's Victoria sponge, this is not a criticism of either, I like both kinds of cake, I am just saying that James prose is not always easy, it requires concentration and needs to be taken slowly. Not every one is going to like Adam Dalgleish I can envisage some people finding him an incredible bore but I prefer his cool gentlemanly ways to good old Wexford. Dalgleish is positively sexy and I cannot say that about Wexford although I am aware that there are those who disagree!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Thrilling read
A very detailed, descriptive read which places the reader right in the centre of the plot. As always, another classic from PD James, with enough twists and turns to keep you going... Read more
Published 6 months ago by JDA
A great whodunnit
I picked this up in a second hand shop whilst waiting for a hair appointment. I'd never read anything by Pd before, and I was not sorry to give her a go. Read more
Published 7 months ago by cross-chrissy
P. D. James best book
I agree with the other reviewer, Kim, this definitely is P. D. James' masterpiece.
But I don't understand why there are only 7 reviewers (Diana Gabaldon books have more than... Read more
But I don't understand why there are only 7 reviewers (Diana Gabaldon books have more than... Read more
Published 7 months ago by C. Mathieu
A masterpiece
This was the first PD James I ever read. It was given to me by Mum on a summer holiday the summer I turned 16 and I remember lying for hours on the beach, completely engrossed in... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Kim
Under a Norfolk sky
Adam Dalgleish is spending time on the Norfolk coast sorting out the property he has inherited from his aunt. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Clive A. H. Still
5star start, 3star ending
I'm a sucker for a murder mystery, so it's surprising that this was my first PD James. I was not disappointed. Read more
Published on 12 Dec 2009 by daisyrock
A thoroughly readable book
This is a very good book, extremely well-written, as is always the case with PD James. The prose is elegant, flowing and eminently readable. Read more
Published on 18 Jun 2004 by M. V. Clarke
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