Death in Holy Orders: An Adam Dalgliesh Mystery: 11

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This is one of the best mysteries I've seen in a while, perhaps because it reaches beyond being a simple whodunit and becomes a complex, personal drama. This is relevant to the present situation in that it shows that Dalgliesh has a prodigious memory, that he is a keen observer with a penchant for details, and that he has a sensibility that facilitates his development of relationships, perhaps even with potential suspects. James’s detective is not at all the two-dimensional sleuth of most mysteries, a caricature composed of a bundle of idiosyncrasies. He is a self-effacing professional, secure about his position and happy to have aides make crucial, enlightening discoveries. When asked if he is happy, widower Dalgliesh replies: “I have health, a job I enjoy; enough food, comfort, occasional luxuries if I feel the need of them, my poetry. Given the state of three-quarters of the world’s poor, wouldn’t you say that unhappiness would be a perverse indulgence?”

Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. Commander Adam Dalgliesh, who had spent three summers at St. Anselm's in his youth, offers to poke around. The setting is St. Anselm's, an elite theological college at an isolated location on the coast of Suffolk. Dalgliesh visits Saint Anselm's in a semi-official capacity to follow up the death of a student some time previously as the student's father was not satisfied with the verdict. Whilst there, a visiting archdeacon is murdered. Dalgliesh is assigned the investigation, summoning DI Miskin and DI Tarrant from London to assist, as well as local officers. Initial suspicion falls on one of the priests who run and teach at the college, as the archdeacon was known to be recommending the closure of the college.I usually lose interest half way through. I wanted to see this drama after buying the book by PD James and because i never got round to reading it. I decided to watch the drama. In spite of a good tale, and vivid characters, I couldn't get beyond, (nor should anyone) the defense of child abuse, ("it was only fondling") and the vilification of someone who "dug up" more victims. The fact that the story is so well done makes it worse, in that it carries some legitimacy to the idea of abuse being minimal. The subtext of abuse was not primary to the story, but it was definitely central - you couldn't miss it. No one would permit an defense of racism or rape or any other illegal and immoral activities.

It is ruled an accidental death, but the possibility of suicide -- and, of course, of murder -- can not be excluded. Commander Adam Dalgliesh of New Scotland Yard has been asked by Sir Alred Treeves to take a closer look into the suspicious death of his adopted son Ronald, who suffocated under the cliffs near St. Anselms by an avalanche of sand. Was it an accident, suicide, or murder? Dalgliesh, the son of a rector, has former ties to the school - as a young teen, he spent several happy summer holidays there among the priests and ordinands.You will have been told by now that I have decided to change my plea to guilty. . . . My reason is, of course, to ensure that Raphael doesn’t all his life suffer the stigma of suspicion. . . . I had planned to murder Crampton on a night when I knew Raphael would not be in college. . . . Had I found him in his room, would I have gone ahead with the murder? The answer is no. Not that night, and perhaps never. It is unlikely that all the conditions necessary for success would have so fortuitously come together again. As in Original Sin (1995) and A Certain Justice (1997), James’s achievement is not to pin down individual guilt, but to show the place of crime and guilt and sin in a whole culture. The acting was first class, especially Jesse Spencer character Raphael Arbuthnot. I had only ever seen him in Neighbours. His English accent was very convincing and his acting on whole was nothing short of superb. I have read previous reviewers who mention the paedophile priest. This storyline was only mentioned 3 times in the entire book and was in no way part of the story so do not let you put you off. I was a little surprised when I turned on this Inspector Dalgleish and found out that he is now Martin Shaw and not Roy Marsden. Worse yet, after making the character of Dalgleish so popular, P.D. James apparently told someone she likes Shaw better. How's that for gratitude.