Devices and Desires - Hardcover

P. D. James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0394580702 ISBN 13: 9780394580708

Publisher: Alred A. Knopf, 1990

Synopsis

A serial killer of women is on the loose on the Norfolk coast in a community overshadowed by the Larksoken nuclear power station. Commander Dalgliesh, who is staying at his aunt's converted windmill, becomes in-volved in the hunt for the murderer, a search that implicates him in the concerns and dangerous secrets of the headland community.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

About this title

About the Author

P.D. James was born in Oxford in 1920. She spent 30 years in various sections of the British Civil Service, including the Police, where she was involved with the forensic science service, and the Criminal Policy department. She was also the first woman Director of the BBC. Over the years, she has received numerous awards, including the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Edgar Allan Poe Award. In 1983 she received the OBE, and she was created a life peer in 1991. She lives in London.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap

ler of women is on the loose on the Norfolk coast in a community overshadowed by the Larksoken nuclear power station. Commander Dalgliesh, who is staying at his aunt's converted windmill, becomes in-volved in the hunt for the murderer, a search that implicates him in the concerns and dangerous secrets of the headland community.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Reviews

James ( A Taste for Death ) sets her 11th novel on Larksoken, a remote windswept headland in Norfolk, where the presence of a huge nuclear energy plant serves as a metaphor for the power of the past to rule over her characters. Commander Adam Dalgliesh of New Scotland Yard, in Larsoken to settle an estate left him at the death of a relative, is drawn into the investigation of a serial killer, the Whistler. Dalgliesh's neighbors include the power station's director, Alex Mair; his elegant sister Alice, a cookbook author; acting administrator--and Alex's former lover--Hilary Robarts; and anti-nuclear activist Neil Pascoe. The next signature killing , of the widely disliked Robarts, turns out to have occurred hours after a young man who firmly establishes his identity as the Whistler commits suicide. The question of who murdered Robarts, then, centers around motive. This intricate, layered mystery may be read as parable: we can escape the consequences of our choices, political and personal, no more than we can shed our private histories. This is dark James, plotted with a slight unevenness but utterly faithful to her deeply and sympathetically plumbed characters. 175,000 first printing; BOMC and QPB main selections.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

While the serial killer known as the Whistler goes about his grisly business in the area around the Larksoken Nuclear Power Station, Commander Adam Dalgliesh comes to Norfolk to settle his aunt's estate. Slowly, through masses of dialog and ruminations by most of the characters, the complex plot unfolds into the usual Jamesian tangle of human relationships and subplots. The story takes shape as James unwraps each nuance of personality, each intricate piece of the puzzle. Though not as fast paced as Shroud for a Nightingale (LJ 1/1/72) nor as finely plotted as A Taste for Death ( LJ 10/1/86), this latest novel demonstrates just how well James commands the English language and illustrates her considerable ability to craft and write a novel. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/1/89; BOMC and Quality Paperback Book Club main selections.
- Jo Ann Vicarel, Cleveland Heights-University Heights P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Alred A. Knopf
• Publication date: 1990
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0394580702
• ISBN 13: 9780394580708
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 433