Black Tower by P. D. James

Black Tower (Adam Dalgliesh Mystery, #5) (Adam Dalgliesh) (Inspector Adam Dalgliesh Mystery)

by P. D. James

Unsettled by a brush with death and disenchanted with his job in the Force, Commander Adam Dalgliesh responds to an invitation to visit an old family friend, the chaplain at a private home for the disabled in Dorset. On arrival he discovers that his host has died suddenly.

Reviewed by wyvernfriend on

3 of 5 stars

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Dalgleish finds out that what's wrong with him is a bad bout of mononucleosis, it's nothing fatal and he should take some time to rest. At the same time he receives an invite from an elderly friend to visit him as he wants to pick his brains about something. Dalgleish is shocked when he arrives that his friend is dead. His friend is living in a group of cottages associated with a house that is now a home for people with degenerative illnesses. Shortly before Dalgleish's friend, Father Baddeley, died, another person in the house also died and as further residents start to have accidents, Dalgleish starts to ask questions and resolves his questions about his career.

The resolution somehow was both rushed and slow and I was kinda impatient at that stage about what was going on with the characters and the situations, and had a fairily good idea who was responsible but was more curious about why. The reason felt somewhat thin, as if she had determined who was the murderer but not why and had to tack on the reason.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 1 May, 2012: Finished reading
  • 1 May, 2012: Reviewed