The Lighthouse

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P.D. James

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Pages: 400 (Hardcover)

ISBN: 0571229182

Pub: Faber and Faber

Pub date: 2005-10-10

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 74542

Editorial Review:

While PD James' The Lighthouse moves satisfyingly in territory that the author has made very much her own -- the classic English crime mystery -- there are several new elements added, proving that Baroness James is not content to rest on her laurels. While Commander Adam Dalgliesh is once again at work, solving a case of murder in a secluded setting, cut off from the rest of the world (James has long been pleased to introduce variations into the beloved crime situations that exercised her predecessors), and while the structure of the novel presents the reader with the usual strongly drawn cast of suspects and victims, there is a new frankness here, with the treatment of sexuality more upfront than would ever have been countenanced in the era of Dorothy Sayers and co. But long-time readers of this most accomplished of British novelists will also be pleased to learn that the things we turn to James for are all satisfyingly in place.
A secluded island off the Cornish coast, renowned for its history of bloody piracy, has become a retreat for under-pressure men and women in the upper echelons of society. But when one of their number is murdered in a grotesque fashion (his body found on the eponymous lighthouse), Adam Dalgliesh is requested to solve the case, but with maximum discretion. However, it is not a good time for Dalgliesh and his team: he himself is going through a fraught period with the woman in his life, Emma Lavenham, while DI Kate Miskin is struggling with similar upheavals in her life. And their Anglo-Indian associate, Francis Benton-Smith, has his own problems in regard to working with Kate. Nevertheless, the team make progress on the island, until a second savage murder threatens to bring chaos.

It's easy to underestimate James' achievement with Dalgliesh and co. So often, long-time series characters betray signs of their authors' growing disinterest, but James has always managed to find new nuances to ensure that we never tire of her cultivated copper. And there's pleasure here in seeing familiar themes orchestrated with such finesse: the difficult, combative figure who alienates a host of people (and thereby set themselves up as a candidate for murder) and, best of all, the cloistered setting -- often a cliché of the genre -- but here, treated with freshness and imagination. --Barry Forshaw

Reader Reviews:

reviewzbks bookclub review...The Lighthouse by P.D. James (1/1 people found this helpful)

This was the first book by P.D. James I read. It has colourful characters and a gentle, calm pace, with moments of tension. The last climax is very well crafted. Adam Dalgliesh is an interesting character, though is not your usual detective. We await the next book.

The Late Night Readers Bookclub thought... (2/2 people found this helpful)

An Adam Dalgliesh mystery set on an island off the north coast of Devon, this whodunit had the fine craftsmanship that we come to expect from James, with atmospheric descriptions of the tiny island and its ill-fated inhabitants. As the mystery unfolds, Adam and his team called in to investigate the untimely death of a famous author, another peril awaits Adam.

Our book club suffered a severe lapse this month, so although we were equally divided 50-50 for and against this novel, in fact, there were only two of us present! We were in agreement that the writing style was good, and that the descriptions of the island and the inhabitants left clear imagery for the reader, but the some of the characters were rather too contrived, to the point of being caricatures in a murder-mystery rather than being believable.

Classic James (3/3 people found this helpful)

I too thought this was among PD James's best. I love the way she builds a group of characters, all with a motive for murder. It soon becomes obvious who will be the first victim, but I didn't guess the identity of the murderer. My husband, though, picked up clues I missed and hence found the book marginally formulaic. Even so, he still enjoyed it.

I found myself reading until one o'clock in the morning, unable to put it down. There's human interest, too, in the lives of the three detectives - enough to make them more real than some of the automatons who inhabit this genre.

For an absorbing and easy read, I'd thoroughly recommend it.

An absolutely superb crime book! (5/5 people found this helpful)

Having read quite a number of P.D. James novels, this one definitely stands out as one her best Adam Dalgliesh books so far. Just about everything is well-timed: the plot is neither too simple nor wildly exagerrated, the number of characters not too large, the attention to detail just right without turning the book into a 1,000-page tome, and above all, the book is full of suspense and keeps the reader guessing until the end, without ever revealing too much too early.

It is just amazing how at the age of 85 Baroness James is still able to produce such stunning books! If you like crime fiction, this one is a must!

The ULTIMATE P.D.James (4/5 people found this helpful)

I have read all of P.D. James's crime fiction novels and for me this was easily the best. Outstanding in characterisation and the plot is crafted with consummate skill. The setting was idyllic and chilling at the same time. How does she manage to convince that all/any of the characters could have done it? All this and the life-problems of the 3 detectives dealt with realistically too.
Gripping and a rewarding read. Brilliant - I can barely wait for Dalgleish to appear in the next one.

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