Synopses & Reviews
After publication of his book of poetry, Adam Dalgliesh escapes from the hubbub of London for a remote Norfolk headland and the converted windmill his aunt left him. But Dalgliesh cannot so easily escape from murder.
In Norfolk, a deranged killer prowls the countryside, holding tranquility hostage. Murders proliferate. Is there a connection with the nuclear power station? Not far from it, the killer has left his victims, all women, strangled. Dalgliesh suspects his own neck is very exposed.
Review
"Devices and Desires is P. D. James at better than her best." The New York Times
Review
"[An] intricate, layered mystery [that] may be read as parable....This is dark James, plotted with a slight unevenness but utterly faithful to [James's] deeply and sympathetically plumbed characters." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Though not as fast paced as Shroud for a Nightingale nor as finely plotted as A Taste for Death, this latest novel demonstrates just how well James commands the English language and illustrates her considerable ability to craft and write a novel." Library Journal
Review
"Like the wind-lashed Norfolk headland buffeted by the sea, which is so tangibly evoked, Devices and Desires has an intensely bracing chill." Sunday Times (London)
Review
"The characters are vibrant, the writing distinguished, the descriptions of mood and landscape perfect a haunting Norfolk mist of dread, loneliness and ancient history." Sunday Express (U.K.)
Review
"Brilliant...wonderful. P. D. James plays it again." Larry King, USA Today
Synopsis
When Inspector Dalgliesh moves into a picturesque coastline cottage, he discovers deadly deeds are being perpetrated under the shadow of a nearby atomic power station.
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 involved in the hunt for the murderer, a search that implicates him in the concerns and dangerous secrets of the headland community.
Synopsis
A serial killer stalking women on a lonely stretch of Norfolk coastland that's only one of the passionate offenses awaiting Commander Adam Dalgliesh when he takes up residence in a picturesque windmill cottage left to him by an eccentric aunt. Under the shadow of the nearby and increasingly controversial atomic power station, schemes for blackmail, a lovers' deadly tryst, and an especially cold-blooded murder are being hatched and perpetrated. The motive for all three crimes is desire, but, as Dalgliesh discovers, the devices for achieving each are as complex as the hopes, hurts, and fears enmeshed in the human heart.
About the Author
P. D. James Baroness James of Holland Park is the author of thirteen books, seven of which have been filmed and broadcast on television in Britain and the United States. She spent thirty years in various sections of the British Civil Service, including the Police and Criminal Law Departments of the Home Office, and has served as a magistrate and as a governor of the BBC. She is the recipient of many prizes and honors, and was created a baroness in 1991. Lady James has two daughters and five grandchildren, and lives in London and Oxford.