Devices and Desires

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Featuring the famous Commander Adam Dalgliesh, Devices and Desires is a thrilling and insightfully crafted novel of fallible people caught in a net of secrets, ambitions, and schemes on a lonely stretch of Norfolk coastline. • Part of the bestselling mystery series that inspired Dalgliesh on Acorn TV

“Taut.... Absorbing.... Better than her best.” —The New York Times Book Review

“A masterful writer.... Devices and Desires seems to be that highly prized work–a terrific tale of suspense and detection that also delivers the satisfaction of a mainstream novel.” —The Wall Street Journal

Commander Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard has just published a new book of poems and has taken a brief respite from publicity on the remote Larksoken headland on the Norfolk coast in a converted windmill left to him by his aunt. But he cannot so easily escape murder. A psychotic strangler of young women is at large in Norfolk, and getting nearer to Larksoken with every killing. And when Dalgliesh discovers the murdered body of the Acting Administrative Officer on the beach, he finds himself caught up in the passions and dangerous secrets of the headland community and in one of the most baffling murder cases of his career.

PD James Observations Beyond Plot

Beyond the satisfyingly intriguing plots of her “who-dunnits,” I enjoy most the insightful and entertaining observations on people’s inner and outer lives that PD James provides throughout her stories. She makes the settings come alive as well and play a vital part.

Not my favorite

I usually love the details but this time it was too easy to get confused. Not sure if too many characters and subplots or if reader didn't help me tell them apart. I was losing track of a lot of it.

Adam Dalgliesh is a secondary character

What was most disappointing about P. D. James’s story?

This is as well written as any of her other books, but if you want to watch Adam Dalgliesh solve a case, this book is a little disappointing. He is central to the storyline, but not a central character.

What about Penelope Dellaporta’s performance did you like?

I really enjoy her reading of these books. She does an excellent job.

Windmill of My Mind

Although I liked A Taste of Death better than this title, this was a fine tale. Adam Dalgliesh goes to settle his Aunt Jane’s estate and stays in her windmill home. Of course, he encounters murder. The philosophical passages are absorbing. Dalgliesh is as perceptive as the listener would expect. There is one episode that I would have preferred left out. See if you can determine which one. Listen with mostly pleasure!

Well done.

I love P. D. James and this is one of her very best. Thank you Ms. James.