Thu 27 Feb 2020
Archived Review: P. D. JAMES – Death of an Expert Witness.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[2] Comments
P. D. JAMES – Death of an Expert Witness. Inspector Adam Dalgliesh #6. Scribner’s, hardcover, 1977. Popular Library, paperback, 1977? Reprinted many times since. TV movie: “Death of an Expert Witness,” ITV/PBS, 1983, with Roy Marsden as Adam Dalgleish.
What better place for a murder (fictional, of course) could there be than inside a police forensic science lab? Just imagine the opportunity to fiddle with the evidence! It comes as no surprise that this lengthy (322 pages) tale is filled to he brim with suspects, clues, and plenty of false trails.
On the case is Scotland Yard’s Commander Adam Dalgleish, who seems more personally involved than usual with the other characters, all of whom, as in most of James’s fiction, are forever burdened with the twin weights of worry and misery.
The ending could hardly be called a cheerful one, which is not wholly unexpected, but no self-respecting mystery lover should pass this one by.
February 28th, 2020 at 9:31 pm
All of James virtues and few of her authorial sins on display here.
February 28th, 2020 at 10:26 pm
Right. I am on record as not being a fan of James’s work, and this one (from my review) has all of the flaws I I especially saw in later ones (too long, too dour), but here I really liked the detective work. I’ve been omitting the letter grades I gave back then, but I’ll make an exception in this case: A minus.