The Lighthouse

Author: P.D. James

List Price: $25.95 

Pages: 352

Publisher:  Knopf (November 22, 2005)

Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.7 x 1.4

ISBN: 030726291X   

British master James's 13th Adam Dalgliesh mystery, like its two predecessors¹, The Murder Room (2003) and Death in Holy Orders (2001), focuses at first on a hostile character who threatens to shatter a longstanding way of life. Acclaimed² novelist Nathan Oliver incurs³ the wrath⁴ of his fellow residents on Combe Island, a private property off the Cornish coast used as an exclusive retreat by movers and shakers in many fields.

When Oliver is murdered, Scotland Yard dispatches Dalgliesh and two of his team to Combe, where the commander checks alibis⁵ and motives⁶ in his trademark⁷ understated manner. Because the detective's new romantic attachment⁸ is more of a backstory than in The Murder Room, it intrudes⁹ less on the murder inquiry¹⁰. The solution, which hinges on the existence of an unknown child, is less than fully¹¹ satisfactory and also borrows elements from some of James's recent plots. Devotees more interested in her hero's personal growth than his deductive technique will find much to enjoy.

Book review

This is James' eighteenth book, and is one of Adam Dalgliesh series.

On the eve of a special weekend with his new love, Emma Lavenham, Dalgliesh is summoned to handle an especially delicate case at short notice. He and his team, D.I. Kate Miskin and Sargeant Benton-Smith, are to fly by helicopter to remote Combe Island to investigate the suspicious death of a prominent author, and report back immediately. The island is needed for a secret conference and it must be shown to be secure.

The dead man, aging novelist Nathan Oliver, had been found hanging from the rails of the lighthouse. The few residents and guests on the island all had reason to dislike him, but no real obvious motives for murder (the bruising¹² on his neck does prove it to be murder).

The manager, the accountant/priest, the housekeeper¹³, the cook, the boat captain, the handyman, the maid, the last descendant of the family who owned the island and her valet, the teenage maid, the two guests, and the novelist's middle-aged¹⁴ daughter and his personal copy editor...who could have hated him so much?

Another tragic¹⁵ death happens before the mystery can be solved; and a SARS outbreak takes out Dalgliesh, quarantines the island, and leaves Miskin and Benton-Smith on their own and in charge.

This book is another success for James--a wonderful location and her usually superbly drawn¹⁶ and realistically motivated characters make it a must-read this winter.