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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
James continues to dominate the genre!, 8 May 2006
It's not as it appears to be, Adam Dalgliesh ponders. The erstwhile, inimitable, and highly respected detective (and poet) of Scotland Yard is dispatched with his two team members to investigate a death on the island of Combe.
Having danced around and with MI-5 in levels beyond most policemen's pay grades, Dalgliesh knows there's more to this scene than meet the eye.
In Dame P.D. James' thirteenth Dalgliesh book, readers can (rightfully so) expect "more of the same" from both the author and her policeman--intriguing story, excellent characterizations, and riveting plot. It's vintage P.D. James and long may she rule.
Combe is an island off the Cornish coast, with a long and rich history of isolation, peace, and even intrigue. Famed--and cranky, even impossible--novelist Nathan Oliver is found hanged at the landmark Combe lighthouse. Scotland Yard (and Dalgliesh) is taking no chances, as Combe is a haven for secrecy, especially in high diplomatic circles (and Dalgliesh knows of such circles from previous encounters).
And in traditional James style, there is much, much more than meets the eye. The dead man is far from being beloved, even by his own daughter who's on the island with him, as they ponder his next novel. Character after character, it is revealed, has more than a basic motive to kill him. The police waste no time in ascertaining that Oliver's death is not a suicide but a murder. But who's the guilty one?
Dalgliesh and his two assistants (Miskin and Benton-Smith) set out diligently--and, of course, brilliantly--and as the pace picks up noticeably, clues fall into place and, needless to say, Dalgliesh wins again. But that's a foregone conclusion to the multitude of James fans. Adam doesn't fail. Period.
That said, of course, the brilliance of James' writing always leaves one in awe; already readers are ready for the next installment of the Dalgliesh genre. No one's better than James.
Still, aside from the "whodunit" approach, James manages to keep the pace with the nuances and subtleties of the characters' personal lives. For many readers' satisfaction, James has toned down Dalgliesh's "love life" (after all, who really cares--just get on with the man we all love to watch brilliantly--and sensitively--solve the cases, one by one.). James is superb and doesn't need the inane distraction here. The inter-play between Miskin and Benton-Smith are more appropriate, as Dalgliesh's subordinates come and go anyway.
An excellent read (Don't forget your dictionary, however, as James, as ever, gives us an adventure, too, into extending our vocabulary. Just keeping up with her, even with a dictionary, is a joyous ride! Her literary allusions are also pleasures to read.).
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Emotional Awakening of Commander Dangliesh, 1 Dec 2005
"The call could hardly have come at a less convenient time. After a month of working a sixteen-hour day tiredness had caught up with him, and, although he could mange tiredness, what he longed for was rest, peace and, for two blessed days the company of Emma. He told himself he only had himself to blame for the spoilt weekend. He wasn't compelled to undertake a possible murder investigation, however politically or socially important that victim or challenging the crime."Thus Adam Dalgliesh has set the scene for portraying a little emotion in his life, and how he makes decisions. We come to realize that Commander Dalgliesh is a human after all. He does love Emma and he does worry that she may not love him as he does her. The worries of professional man wrapped up in his life and how to separate the two so that he may enjoy what really matters. Commander Dalgliesh decides he must take this assignment and comply with his Superior’s request, fly to Combe Island off the Cornish coast of England. A suspicious death has occurred on this most elite island. He calls Detective Inspector Kate Miskin and his new Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith, and they helicopter off to solve a mystery that is one of the best that PD James has written.. What they find is a lovely, remote island that is populated by people who all have their own mysteries to hide. It appears that a famous author, Nathan Oliver has been found hanging from the lighthouse and he is dead. Was this suicide or was this murder? That is exactly what
Adam Dalgliesh and Kate and. Benton are there to find out In the midst of the investigation, one of the occupants of the island becomes critically ill and the diagnosis is SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. The symptoms are suspiciously similar to what Commander Daggles has been experiencing and as he becomes more ill he is taken to the infirmary where he is put in isolation. Kate Miskin and Benton-Smith must now take on this investigation, and this is a very important career move for Kate Miskin. She has a chance to show that she can carry this investigation to the conclusion. The cast of characters also isolated at the island become a little frantic when another murder is uncovered. The tension peaks and Kate and Benton-Smith must rise to the occasion. PD James has given voice and emotion to Commander Adam Dagliesh. Will he lose the affection of his beloved Emma by taking on this case? Detective Inspector Kate Miskin also finds this investigation an emotional rollercoaster. Her past life and loves come to the fore, and can she rise to the occasion of leading the investigation and solving these difficult crimes? Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith has so far not shown that he can be part of a team, and can he really work with a woman who is his superior? PD James has written a superb novel. One of her best, in my mind. It is brilliantly thought out, and the suspense and tension keep us hanging on tenter hooks. Highly recommended. prisrob
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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
P.D. James - The Lighthouse, 21 Oct 2005
P.D. James is one of world's most respected mystery-writers. She is one of the last, and certainly the greatest, of the world's writers of classic detective mysteries. She's the last because the genre has largely gone out of fashion (mostly due to the limited range of things which can be done within it), and she's the greatest because she alone still stands diligently by it and does find new and innovative things to flex the form. She single-handedly imbues the golden age detective story with a muscular and persuasive strength that means her variations, almost alone, are able to stand up to the new forms of crime fiction. Not just that: any kinds of fiction. The privately owned island of Combe, just off the Cornish coast, has been turned into a place of rest and sanctuary for people - necessarily rich ones - who wish to escape the stresses of their normal every-day lives. As such it is insular, offers almost unlimited privacy, and has a very small staff. Immediately, here is the classic James setting: isolated, full of history, slightly sinister, coming complete with a small clutch of interesting suspects. It's obvious, then, that when acclaimed - and abrasive - writer Nathan Oliver starts trouncing around the island antagonising the other residents and guests, that a murder is going to occur some-time soon... And so it does. One misty morning Oliver is found hanging from the top of the island's lighthouse. And there's no shortage of people who may have wanted him dead... Nathan was not a popular character. Manipulative for the purposes of his fiction (he loves to observe in order to write... the worst of these instances when he tipped retired priest and ex-alcoholic Adrian Brodey off the wagon and into turmoil) and selfish, he's made himself no fans. He's been trying to oust elderly Emily Holcombe, last of the Holcombe family, from her cottage and is demanding it for himself. He's caused a heated fracas with another visitor, Dr Mark Yelland, a research scientist a character in Oliver's new book bears a strikingly unpleasant resemblance to. He's forbidden his daughter's marriage to his copy-editor, and has created a whole host of other petty enmities. The question, though, is any of them important enough to be a motive for murder? Or is it something else entirely? Despite James's huge acclaim and popularity, The Lighthouse is not her greatest book. She never fails to create and interesting mystery peopled with interesting suspects, and hasn't here; she never fails to write intelligently and well, and hasn't here; she never fails to engage or provide enjoyment, and hasn't here. But this novel is less inspired than many of her greatest mysteries (A Certain Justice, Original Sin, Innocent Blood), and to an extent there's a feeling of her going through the motions of the form she has made her own: creating the batch of intriguing suspects, giving them each a hazy and interesting past, coming up with a mysterious and claustrophobic setting in which to house the mystery, and giving that too an interesting and hazy past (Combe island has been home to everything from pirates to German soldiers), and then boxing everything together with a nasty murder and an elusive mystery. It's possibly just me, but before she's always managed to provide something extra as well, on top of the mystery, (the philosophical aspects of theology in Death in Holy Orders, for example, or even just an incisive portrait of an enclosed society and the people in it) but here that doesn't really seem to be there. There's a mystery, a bit of history, and that's pretty much it. Dalgliesh, too, is less engaging than in past outings (and he's never been my favourite detective anyway; he's a bit of a dull fish, really). He's a bit vague, a bit distracted by his [annoying] love-interest, Emma Lavenham, whom he proposed to in the previous book. He does far too much moping for my liking. True, it makes him a rounded and realistic character, but he's not really as interesting while doing it (though, as a positive, it's good to see this new, uncertain side of him). The two great successes of the book are the portrait of Combe, which is atmospheric as always (even if it's not as grippingly sinister as usual), and the character of Nathan Oliver, who completely dominates the book even though the victim. He's not a pleasant person at all, but he's a completely fascinating one, and it's down to the force of his personality that the reader stays interested during the middle of the book when things get a bit dull. Worry not, though: there are one or two pivotal happenings at about page 200 that breathe new life into the story completely. Overall, The Lighthouse is a success, but not a big one. It seems a little perfunctory at times, but there's certainly still enough here to make the thing worth buying. Longstanding fans will buy and enjoy as ever, but newcomers should look elsewhere. As ever, James provides a good mystery with a sensible solution, though. I thought I knew whodunnit, but they died on page 250.
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