Every time I read a P. D. James novel, I wonder why I don't read them more often. They are the reading equivalent of luxuriating in a deep, soft, pillow-top bed and eating chocolate covered cherries. I love James' writing, her insistence that the mystery genre can be literary and still adhere to the genre's requirements. Devices and Desires was no different.But it was different. An Adam Dalgliesh novel, this detective is not the lead detective on the case in Larksoken, East Anglia. Dalgliesh is on a two-week holiday to decide what to do with the house his aunt left to him. James plunges the reader immediately into the world of the Headland, the area nearest the ocean and home to a select group of intriguing characters, all with their own motives for being there and behaving the way they do. Dalgliesh observes, serves as a sounding board for the lead detective on the serial killer case, but generally tries to keep his distance. This was a very different strategy to take for the character who is normally the main character. I missed him. I didn't really care much for the lead detective or his sergeant.Oh, but what a rich cast of Headlander characters! What I really love about James is that she takes her time in fleshing out each character, his or her motives, desires, psychology, and how all that is reflected in the way they arrange their homes and the clothes they wear. She details almost to the extreme a character's physical characteristics, her wardrobe, demeanor, and living environment. This is clearly not James' first novel -- a first novelist would never be able to get away with so much description. But I found myself loving that kind of attention and care.I had seen the TV movie of this novel twice years ago but could not recall how the murder mystery was resolved. James does an excellent job of misdirecting the reader, especially when the lead detective is going off on a wrong-headed tangent. I was surprised when I came to the resolution that I had suspected that character from the beginning, mostly because of her childhood experiences. There were still plenty of suspects to eliminate. One thing that nagged at me a couple of times -- James dropped in explanations for a character's behavior that came out of the blue, that were not built up over time, as well as dropping in characters out of the blue who were crucial to resolving the mystery. This could be jarring at times. Highly recommend this novel, however, especially for lovers of literary mysteries. I'm looking forward to reading her next one....
This twenty-year-old novel proves once again that P. D. James is truly a master of the mystery genre. In this installment of the Adam Dalgliesh mystery series, her protagonist finds himself on England's sparsely populated headlands to attend to matters of his deceased aunt's estate. Meanwhile England's latest serial killer is on the loose. And his latest victim is an employee at the near-by nuclear power plant that dominates the headland. Though Dalgliesh is off-duty while out in the country, his proximity to events, and his discovery of what seems like the latest victim while walking along the beach involves him in the mysterious events.This book, like all of James's mysteries, is filled with well-developed characters that give verisimilitude to her stories, that give real humanity to the victims, to those touched by the killings, and even to the suspects. This serves both to give depth to the narrative and to heighten the tension of the mystery, as it makes suspects more interesting but also keeps you guessing as to who the real perpetrator may be. Devices and Desires also contains some great dialogue that probes deeper issues, such as the detective's relationship to death, or the possible continuing relevance of the category of sin, or the possibility of justice in a world full of twisted devices and desires that enmesh our lives.This mystery does not disappoint. It is well written, thoughtfull, and entertaining, and comes to a satisfying conclusion. I highly recommend it.
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In a 1995 interview in the Paris Review, P.D. James gave celebrated American crime writer Dashiell Hammitt credit for the vigor of his language, the wise-cracks and one-liners. She was sure from childhood she wanted to be a writer because of her tendency to think in the third person, always telling her siblings original stories from her narrative thought-life.Because of her love of detective novels, she chose the genre to begin her writing career when she was in her early forties. She preferred the narrative drive, pace, and resolution of the detective novel. James chose the genre because it is easy to write badly, but difficult to write well. "In eighty thousand words you have to create a puzzle, an atmosphere, a setting and characters while saying something serious about men and women and their relationships and the society in which they live."Her words describe the 8th Adam Dalgliesh mystery, DEVICES AND DESIRES with multiple inward, complex relationships infused with secrets, the outward threats of a serial killer who has murdered seven women, and the issues presented to society of alternative energy sources. Written in 1989, the author presents the benefits and dangers of nuclear energy, the threat of computer hacking, and the goals of modern terrorist warfare.In the Paris Review interview, James is asked if she thinks all great novels are detective stories. The author agrees and sites Jane Austen's portrayal of relationship resolutions as examples. James is religious, embracing all paths to spirituality. She has said that religion devoid of mystery is nothing. Seeing the primary position of mystery in her life translates into hours of enjoyment for her devoted readers. Highly Recommended!
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inspector dalgliesh again - but a minor parta murderer is on the loose in a remote area of the norfolk coast. known as the whistler it is possible that he is the same as a murderer in london dalgliesh is in the norfolk village sorting out the affairs of his aunt and the bodies are mounting. a nuclear power station blots the landscape and it is very difficult to believe that one village can house so many characters with secrets they wish to keep hidden excellent characterisation and also landscape description work it out if u will - here r over 500 pages of small print paper back to wade thru! was made into a 6 part tv series starring susannah york and roy marsden amoung others bev
—Bev Taylor
Title phrase is used when Meg asks if the small voice could be ours, not God. "Can we ever break free of the devices and desires of our own hearts?" p 400. Later Meg realizes Alice, Hilary's killer, intended Meg to die too. "Here the past and the present fused, and her own life, with its trivial devices and desires, seemed only an insignificant moment in the long history of the headland" p 433. Boring, meanders, sidetracks. Suddenly terrorist Operation Birdcall causes Caroline to panic when admirer checks on her lies, pull naive Amy (and herself) to drown, gory death. Every victim has last hours listed in detail. The serial killer is not any of those proposed. Pink herrings are part of investigation, Bumbler track shoes, not Oliphant's pregnant wife. "The question is, why"" p 299. Questions are asked irrelevant to murders.
—An Odd1
