The Lighthouse, P. D. James
The Lighthouse, P. D. James
1 Rating(s)
List: $22.48 | Sale: $15.74
Club: $11.24

The Lighthouse
An Adam Dalgliesh Mystery

Author: P. D. James

Narrator: Charles Keating

Unabridged: 11 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/22/2005

Synopsis

Combe Island off the Cornish coast has a bloodstained history of piracy and cruelty but now, privately owned, it offers respite to over-stressed men and women in positions of high authority who require privacy and guaranteed security. But the peace of Combe is violated when one of the distinguished visitors is bizarrely murdered.

Commander Adam Dalgliesh is called in to solve the mystery quickly and discreetly, but at a difficult time for him and his depleted team. Dalgliesh is uncertain about his future with Emma Lavenham, the woman he loves; Detective Inspector Kate Miskin has her own emotional problems; and the ambitious Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith is worried about working under Kate. Hardly has the team begun to unravel the complicated motives of the suspects than there is a second brutal killing, and the whole investigation is jeopardized when Dalgliesh is faced with a danger more insidious and as potentially fatal as murder.

About The Author

P. D. James was the author of twenty books, many of which feature her detective hero Adam Dalgliesh and have been televised or filmed. She was the recipient of many honors, including the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award and the National Arts Club Medal of Honor for Literature, and in 1991 was created Baroness James of Holland Park. She died in 2014.

Reviews

AudiobooksNow review by CHARLOTTE on 2007-09-01 17:18:55

One can always count on meeting witty, semi-complicated characters in this series. They feel like people you know with feelings you have had. Great mysteries, have enjoyed everyone.

AudiobooksNow review by Jane on 2007-11-25 10:48:39

This book was so slow and boring I only made it as far as the second disc. I suggest that you choose a different book.

Goodreads review by Bionic Jean on November 16, 2024

The Lighthouse is the 13th mystery novel by P.D. James to feature her detective Adam Dalgliesh. The penultimate one in the series, it was published in 2005. This particular novel brings to mind much earlier ones featuring Dalgleish, such as "The Black Tower" from 1975, where the action takes place on......more

Goodreads review by Ken on July 05, 2019

The perfect type of murder mystery in a secluded location with a limited number of suspects, another in the Adam Dalgliesh series that slowly builds the tension that concludes with a strong final section. As famous novelist Nathan Oliver is found hung on the secluded Combe Island of the coast of Corn......more

Goodreads review by Tessa on August 18, 2023

"Pentru el ca poet, frumusetea naturii si a chipurilor omenesti nu fusese niciodata suficienta. Intotdeauna avusese nevoie de atelierul mizerabil de zdrente si oase al inimii, ca si Yeats." Pentru mine orice roman despre faruri si despre Cornwall este un must-read, deoarece indragesc mult farurile ia......more

Goodreads review by Karen on June 22, 2024

Catching Up… It was not uncommon for our 4th Wednesdays Mystery Readers group at the Library, to want to read and discuss this author. She always had a way of keeping us engaged with her stories. And, this one was no different. Especially with Inspector Adam Dalgliesh. So, when this was dropped off a......more

Goodreads review by Blurb on January 22, 2010

Love PD James and obviously she's a great writer, but her books (even though nominally set in the present day) always seem very old-fashioned to me. I feel like you could have almost a PD James drinking game around everything that doesn't seem like it belongs in this century. Like... Take a sip every......more

Quotes

“With her trademark blend of subtle characterization, vivid sense of place and deceptively simple plot, James pulls off another triumph. A beautifully written page-turner from the queen of the genre.”
—Toronto Sun

“An elegant and perceptive writer—rich drifts of prose pile up on the page, descriptive passages are Dickensian in length, ornament and power. . . . James’s many fans will relish The Lighthouse, for all its poise and narrative familiarity.”
—The Globe and Mail

“James’s gifts animate and transform the armature into something exceptional. Her disciplined conventions, her observation of social and class niceties, renew the traditional Franco-British drama of domestic crime. She is a very superior writer of detection.”
—Times Literary Supplement

“James has proven that she deserves her reputation as our leading ‘literary’ crime writer. The Lighthouse confirms that she is also the most enjoyable.”
—Daily Express

Praise for P.D. James:
"A first-rate writer without any qualifying genre tag."
—Newsweek

"[James] ought never to be confused with such practitioners of the murder-in-the-vicarage genre as Agatha Christie. She is subtler, more sophisticated, much more adept at creating character and her social conservatism gives her a much darker view of human nature."
—Martin Levin, The Globe and Mail

"James’s novels are an escape like no other. . . . Masterful writing."
—The Vancouver Sun

"She writes like an angel. Every character is closely drawn. Her atmosphere is unerringly, chillingly convincing. And she manages all this without for a moment slowing down the drive and tension of an exciting mystery."
—The Times (UK)

"[James] suffuses The Murder Room with an intelligence and a perceptivity of human nature that seems casually placed. But that’s part of her genius. A grand design is there, but not readily apparent. Dalgliesh is one of the smartest, gentlest and most restrained cops to ever adorn a page. Moreover, every character, even minor characters, come across as fully realized.
—Winnipeg Free Press

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List