A Touchstone British Murder Mystery

books:


	• Death of an Expert Witness (Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series #6) P. D. James Touchstone, 2001 - 368 pages average customer review:based on 14 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Haiku Review - 4 1/2 stars

scientist murdered
many suspects, one killer
thrilling to the end

Lacked A Punch

I find P.D. James' stories adapt better to television than they do novels. She is a fine writer and I admire the heck out of her ability to render a story's setting as important (and usually moreso) than any of the characters who inhabit the spaces of her creations. However, in this novel, as in the three others I've read, I felt slightly bored because it was as if the settings, being so lovingly, artfully described, overpowered the events and cried out for adaptation to the screen, and simply failed when confined to the single dimension of the flat page. James is a better screen writer than a novelist. She tells a fine story and tells it with imagination, but I can't help but confess, I find her books a little slow moving and dull. Here I wanted to find out more about the crime lab and its experiments. I also wanted to follow the life of the young girl who is the featured character at the very start, but alas, she drifts into the background soon after the opening pages, and we don't encounter her again except as a prop at the very end. I think Death of an Expert Witness needed a few more sub-plots and deviations from the main story. It was too little mystery and too much verbiage. Sorry...

for more information click here

Great Introduction into P.D. James

This was the first P.D. James book I read and am now hooked. Her writing style is wonderful and the way she builds her characters are amazing. Wonderful twists and turns along the way as you find things out with her detective Adam Danglish. I would recommend this book and all P.D. James books to anyone who loves a good mystery.

A Touchstone British Murder Mystery

Perfect. In this sixth of her Adam Dalgliesh mysteries, the author has achieved a flawless blend of the requisite elements. Dalgliesh is now a fully developed character and is given a sidekick that provides a fine complement to Dalgliesh's naturally dark character. I would also note without any spoilers that a grasp of Dalglish's background adds greatly to the enjoyment of the work. Our author is now able to avoid providing excessive and distracting detail regarding her protagonist as well as provide themes and plot lines that resonate with the Inspector's experience. Suffice it also to say that there is a strong and unifying theme running throughout the book that neatly ties everything up in an edifying and powerful manner. As befits first-rate fiction (of any genre), the book provides a worthwhile lesson in the nature of the human condition.

In short, a Forensic Biologist is whacked over the head with a mallet in his own police laboratory. Thus, the investigation of other murders must be put on hold while the police sort out their own business. The setting is well-matched to the events, the characters are diverse and excellently drawn, the plot moves nicely--but what sets this book apart are the constant red herrings. Upon encountering what appears to be a significant clue, you have not yet finished congratulating yourself on solving the mystery before your speculation is revealed to be flawed.

What makes this a masterwork is that the diversions and complications appear entirely natural. Nothing is out of place and the book is seamless in its relentless march to the ultimate revelation, the tragedy of which is developed in much greater detail than in prior works.

Thus far, my favorite P.D. James mystery. Highly recommended.

for more information click here

Near Perfect

This is my third James novel. The present work was written over 30 years ago by a James in her prime. It is short and compact; and, it has a nicely balanced structure with good characters. It is written with straightforward and simple prose and it is a compelling read that is hard to put down. In short, it is what one can describe as a masterpiece as are some of her other early novels.

The book opens with the literary hook: a murder in a field in the countryside. But it quickly switches to a second murder in a science laboratory.

The novel has an interesting set of characters, and as in other James novels, there are half dozen suspects with various financial and emotional motivations to be involved with the killings. The mystery unfolds slowly, and the reader is given a few clues just ahead of the Dalgliesh. By the way, Dalgliesh does not play a dominant role in the book.

Readers will not be disappointed, and the book demonstrates the fame and ability of James as a crime writer. Most will want to keep the book and set it aside to read again in the future. Also, the book demonstrates again that more is not always better than less. In the elaborate 550 page slow moving story told in The Murder Room, the author has a 95 page introduction and no crime until around page 130. We wait as Dalgliesh does not enter the investigation until almost page 200. Thankfully, all of that type of writing is missing here. The story is well underway and the reader is fully engaged by page 10. James tells a well balanced and a compelling tale in half the space.

This is a masterpiece.

for more information click here

reviews: page 1, 2, 3

An evil-tempered forensic scientist is put to death, putting many of his colleagues out of misery. Commander Adam Dalgliesh must exhume the secrets of Dr. Lorrimer's laboratory in order to lay bare the murderous motive hidden in one human heart.

Death of an Expert Witness led Newsweek to crown P. D. James "the new queen of crime."

hot or not? What's your opinion? Write a review and share your thoughts!

recommendations

The most attractive heroines/heroes in superb contemporary series
Those special books......... by female authors
Detectives: Adam Dalgliesh
P.D. JAMES MYSTERY BOOKS
Guide to P.D.James

dalgliesh

Death in Holy Orders
A Taste for Death
Death in Holy Orders (Unabridged)
Innocent Blood (Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series #7)
A Time to Be in Earnest: A Fragment of Autobiography (Commander Adam ...

mystery

Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (Portfolio Edition)
Two-minute Mysteries (Apple Paperbacks)
The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails ...
Mystery of History Vol 1 (Mystery of History)

witness

Ninth Witness (A. D. Chronicles, Book 9)
Witness
Witness
Anthropology for Christian Witness
The Witness of the Stars

search for books
death of an, adam, dalgliesh, death, expert, mystery, series, witness

Impressum / about us