The Black Tower
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"People"
P. D. James is "the greatest living mystery writer."
--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
Paperback
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Set on a lonely stretch of the Dorset coast in the mid-Seventies, The Black Tower is an unusual crime thriller. Although it functions perfectly well as a conventional whodunit, it's also a modern gothic, and, like its predecessors in that genre, it's a meditation on mortality and human frailty. Much of the book's power derives from James's scrupulous exploration of the character and states of mind of her hero. The poet-policeman, Commander Adam Dalgleish, is a subtle and compelling creation, and his substantiality helps to ground a plot that might otherwise seem to teeter on the brink of melodrama.
The tone is set with the 'resurrection' of Dalgleish, who as the book begins is recovering from a serious illness, which initially had been misdiagnosed as mortal. This brush with death has had a profound psychological impact on Dalgleish, and his decision to make his convalescence coincide with a duty visit to an old acquaintance seems from the first an attempt to postpone a confrontation with his own unanswered questions.
Disenchanted with policing Dalgleish may be, but when he is confronted with the merest suspicion of foul play, his instincts reassert themselves in spite of his inclinations. The atmosphere of illness, frustrated hopes, and impending disaster gathers force with every page as Dalgleish, against his will, is drawn deeper into the poisoned community of Toynton Grange.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
The novel is certainly well written and is an intelligent thriller. As one would expect from PD James, the characters are intereting and well rounded. I particularly liked the ending where she plays a little game with the reader, casting just a scintilla of doubt about whether Dalgleish really did experience it all. But what I did not like was the continuous stream of typographical errors, many of them originating from what I assume was the scanning of the text into the kindle format. For example, cliff might become diff and so on. It is this sort of irritating error that makes one prefer the real, paper artefact.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
what a fantastic book. One of my absolute favourite adam dalgliesh mysteries. The classic 'whodunnit', the surprise ending will satisfy, and getting there is exciting too!
you will not be disappointed!
you will not be disappointed!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
It Hasn't Aged Well....
In my younger days I loved the TV interpretations of the Commander Dalgliesh series, but was disappointed at how poorly this book has aged. Read more
Published 28 days ago by Galning
The Black Tower
The story is unpreditable, one can feel the desolation and cold mist surrounding the characters. The atmospheric and bleak setting draws the reader to keep turning the pages
Published 2 months ago by Pages
A ggod Read
I bought this book because we live near the Clavell tower at Kimmeridge Bay where this book was written around. It is a good read
Published 17 months ago by Mans96
p d james
service from Amazon great as ever.
Book was for a book group and resonably good not one of my favourites.
Book was for a book group and resonably good not one of my favourites.
Published 18 months ago by alemap mool
A Great Read
I have always enjoyed the Adam Dalgleish series on T.V and have just started to read the books.The Black Tower is a real cliffhanger and has you wrong-guessing up to the last... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Mrs. Jean Seath
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