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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
This is the sixth book in PD James's Adam Dalgliesh series. I don't have much to say about this book. It isn't one of my favorites of the series, but it is a solid entry. There wasn't any standout characters for me as there have been in previous novels which could be why I didn't quite get into it. However, I still like this a lot more than I did the third entry into the series, Unnatural Causes.
This book follows Commander Dalgliesh and DS Massimo as they investigate the death of an unpopular, but brilliant forensic pathologist.
One of the main reasons that I began to read PD James was that while I think her writing is gripping and really pulls you into the mysteries, with a few exceptions, I really wanted to see her progression with female and queer representation in her books. As you go through her library you can see how Miss James changes the way she handled the representation for both women and the queer community.
I think this is one of the better representations she's had so far for both female and queer characters. It grows with every book and I am curious to see how well she's able to represent both of these groups in her later work as I read. ( Please note I am talking about representation for the time that it is written. It is in no way great rep for current times, and I wish it were way better, but I do read with that critical thinking hat on.)
The mystery here is a bit of a locked room mystery so that gives it some intrigue, and the reveal of what happened wasn't cheesy, but it is definitely not one of the top ones so far in the series for me.
Recommend though.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
This is the sixth book in PD James's Adam Dalgliesh series. I don't have much to say about this book. It isn't one of my favorites of the series, but it is a solid entry. There wasn't any standout characters for me as there have been in previous novels which could be why I didn't quite get into it. However, I still like this a lot more than I did the third entry into the series, Unnatural Causes.
This book follows Commander Dalgliesh and DS Massimo as they investigate the death of an unpopular, but brilliant forensic pathologist.
One of the main reasons that I began to read PD James was that while I think her writing is gripping and really pulls you into the mysteries, with a few exceptions, I really wanted to see her progression with female and queer representation in her books. As you go through her library you can see how Miss James changes the way she handled the representation for both women and the queer community.
I think this is one of the better representations she's had so far for both female and queer characters. It grows with every book and I am curious to see how well she's able to represent both of these groups in her later work as I read. ( Please note I am talking about representation for the time that it is written. It is in no way great rep for current times, and I wish it were way better, but I do read with that critical thinking hat on.)
The mystery here is a bit of a locked room mystery so that gives it some intrigue, and the reveal of what happened wasn't cheesy, but it is definitely not one of the top ones so far in the series for me.
Recommend though.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Open letter to P.D. James:
You are smart.
Stop trying to prove it.
THX!
Also:
I really feel like there's a good mystery somewhere in that brain of hers. Reading this book was peeling back layers of mediocre material to arrive at something good; ultimately, the central crimes were interesting. But she diluted the effect with too many obvious red herrings, too many equally potent motives, too many unnecessary details and, perhaps most importantly, not enough trust in the reader (for example, when the truth comes out, it's not necessary for the killer's confession to allude specifically to every shred of evidence uncovered in chapter 2). The effect is a strong impression of contrivance.
Also:
It's like she's overthinking it. Can I make it easier?
DO!:
- Give Adam Dalgliesh an interesting flaw and, for mercy's sake, take away the poetry-writing habit.
- Move the discovery of the first body up earlier than page 170, OR, make the first 170 pages interesting.
- Make the officers intelligent detectives, not detecting psychoanalysts.
DON'T!:
- Write a chapter from the point of view of every single character.
- Describe the motive of every character save one. GEE WHO IS THE KILLER.
- Make your star detective a poet. Sorry to be repetitive, but I really can't stress this enough.
You are smart.
Stop trying to prove it.
THX!
Also:
I really feel like there's a good mystery somewhere in that brain of hers. Reading this book was peeling back layers of mediocre material to arrive at something good; ultimately, the central crimes were interesting. But she diluted the effect with too many obvious red herrings, too many equally potent motives, too many unnecessary details and, perhaps most importantly, not enough trust in the reader (for example, when the truth comes out, it's not necessary for the killer's confession to allude specifically to every shred of evidence uncovered in chapter 2). The effect is a strong impression of contrivance.
Also:
It's like she's overthinking it. Can I make it easier?
DO!:
- Give Adam Dalgliesh an interesting flaw and, for mercy's sake, take away the poetry-writing habit.
- Move the discovery of the first body up earlier than page 170, OR, make the first 170 pages interesting.
- Make the officers intelligent detectives, not detecting psychoanalysts.
DON'T!:
- Write a chapter from the point of view of every single character.
- Describe the motive of every character save one. GEE WHO IS THE KILLER.
- Make your star detective a poet. Sorry to be repetitive, but I really can't stress this enough.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
What an expert writer P. D. James was! Her books are often a challenge in the beginning, with so many characters to keep straight, all seemingly tangentially connected to the crime. But then she slowly weaves everything together under Adam Dalgleish’s painstaking gaze and, in the end, he has prepared the way for justice. In this case, the setting is Hoggatt’s, the premier forensic laboratory outside London, with its many highly educated and intense doctors, biologists, and other specialists and their many peccadilloes. When one of their number is murdered, there are as many reasons to hate him as there are staff members, and Dalgleish and his assistant Massingham have to separate truth from lies and what the lies are covering up. James’s clever idea to set a murder inside a forensic laboratory gives her plenty of opportunity to write about biological evidence, and she does a nice job of exploring where science fits in detection. Aspiring scientist Brenda Pridmore explained what she learned from lab director Dr. Howarth: If scientists’ experiment fail, he explained, “the scientists have to find another theory to fit the facts… With science, there’s this exciting paradox, that disillusionment needn’t be defeat” (223). But in the end it is intuition and careful induction on Dalgleish’s part that reveal the crime.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I don’t know anything about P D James, and I haven’t read anything else by her, but I thought this was a fine murder mystery. It was a bit long winded at the beginning, getting to the actually murder part, but it was okay and I liked the development of the characters which built up well into the whodunit ending.
The writing style was good but it wasn’t my favourite mystery book.
The writing style was good but it wasn’t my favourite mystery book.
May 8, 2023 Update Trailer is up for Season 2 of the new series of Dalgliesh (2021-) with Bertie Carver as Inspector Dalgliesh, see on YouTube here. Season 2 will cover books #6 Death of an Expert Witness, #10 A Certain Justice and #12 The Murder Room. Dalgliesh has DS Kate Miskin as one of his main assistants in the new TV series already in Season 1, unlike the books, where she came in later.
Laboratory Lust
Review of the Sphere Books paperback (1978 orig./1986 reprint) of the Faber & Faber hardcover original (1977)
The tight security procedures at the laboratory would seem to indicate that the murderer had to be someone with inside knowledge of its workings. Due to the way Lorrimer belittled or resented his colleagues, there are no shortage of suspects. It also becomes evident that the murderer had to have a special set of skills in order to exit the laboratory after the crime. This was probably the most significant clue (it was only mentioned briefly in passing) to the solution which begins to be clear when witnesses are able to narrow down the time frame of the crime. But then there is yet another murder.
Front cover of the original Faber & Faber hardcover edition (1977). Image sourced from Wikipedia.
I read Death of an Expert Witness as part of my continuing 2022 binge re-read of the P.D. James' Adam Dalgliesh and Cordelia Gray novels, which I am enjoying immensely. James is truely at the height of the Silver Age of Crime authors and puts most modern mystery writers to shame with her extensive character backgrounds and plots often set in confined communities where an atmosphere of paranoia and foreboding reign, until the cool, often detached detection of Dalgliesh is able to arrive at a clarifying solution.
Trivia and Links
* In Book 1, Adam Dalgliesh was a Detective Chief Inspector, in Books 2 to 4 he is a Detective Superintendent and in Books 5 to 14 he is a Detective Commander.
Death of an Expert Witness was adapted for television in 1983 as part of the long running Dalgliesh TV-series for Anglia Television/ITV (1983-1998) starring actor Roy Marsden as Commander Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard. You can watch the 7 episodes of the 1983 adaptation starting with Episode 1 on YouTube here. The adaptation is reasonably faithful to the novel.
The new Acorn TV-series reboot Dalgliesh (2021-?) starring Bertie Carver as Adam Dalgliesh has adapted Death of an Expert Witness (Dalgliesh #6) as Season 2 Episodes 1 & 2. Season 1 adapted Books 4, 5 & 7. See the Season 2 trailer here.
Laboratory Lust
Review of the Sphere Books paperback (1978 orig./1986 reprint) of the Faber & Faber hardcover original (1977)
I used to think that we can have almost anything we want from life, that it's just a question of organization. But now I'm beginning to think that we have to make a choice more often than we'd like. The important thing is to make sure that it's our choice, no one else's, and that we make it honestly. But one thing I'm sure of is that it's never a good thing to make a decision when you're not absolutely well. - Adam Dalgliesh gives advice during Death of an Expert WitnessDetective Commander* Adam Dalgliesh and his assistant DS John Massingham, both of Scotland Yard CID, are called out to investigate the death of Dr. Edwin Lorrimer at the East Anglia Forensics Laboratory. Lorrimer was chief of the biological department of the laboratory and did not get along well with his colleagues. He was also recently overlooked for promotion to the position of Head of the Laboratory with the hiring of an outsider, Dr. Howarth.
The tight security procedures at the laboratory would seem to indicate that the murderer had to be someone with inside knowledge of its workings. Due to the way Lorrimer belittled or resented his colleagues, there are no shortage of suspects. It also becomes evident that the murderer had to have a special set of skills in order to exit the laboratory after the crime. This was probably the most significant clue (it was only mentioned briefly in passing) to the solution which begins to be clear when witnesses are able to narrow down the time frame of the crime. But then there is yet another murder.
Front cover of the original Faber & Faber hardcover edition (1977). Image sourced from Wikipedia.
I read Death of an Expert Witness as part of my continuing 2022 binge re-read of the P.D. James' Adam Dalgliesh and Cordelia Gray novels, which I am enjoying immensely. James is truely at the height of the Silver Age of Crime authors and puts most modern mystery writers to shame with her extensive character backgrounds and plots often set in confined communities where an atmosphere of paranoia and foreboding reign, until the cool, often detached detection of Dalgliesh is able to arrive at a clarifying solution.
Trivia and Links
* In Book 1, Adam Dalgliesh was a Detective Chief Inspector, in Books 2 to 4 he is a Detective Superintendent and in Books 5 to 14 he is a Detective Commander.
Death of an Expert Witness was adapted for television in 1983 as part of the long running Dalgliesh TV-series for Anglia Television/ITV (1983-1998) starring actor Roy Marsden as Commander Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard. You can watch the 7 episodes of the 1983 adaptation starting with Episode 1 on YouTube here. The adaptation is reasonably faithful to the novel.
The new Acorn TV-series reboot Dalgliesh (2021-?) starring Bertie Carver as Adam Dalgliesh has adapted Death of an Expert Witness (Dalgliesh #6) as Season 2 Episodes 1 & 2. Season 1 adapted Books 4, 5 & 7. See the Season 2 trailer here.
If you're a huge fan, this is worth a read, otherwise, skip it for her later books.
Although published later, I think this was P.D. James's first book. I read it to the end and her famously interesting detective, pacing, and plot twists are all present. The writing is not as strong as her other books and many of the side characters are not particularly interesting or sympathetic. There were also too many of them, and they have similar names and professions--which makes it hard to keep track of what is going on, especially because this is a book that wants you to follow the clues and figure out who the murderer is (which is likely not possible...you don't have enough information to figure it out).
Although published later, I think this was P.D. James's first book. I read it to the end and her famously interesting detective, pacing, and plot twists are all present. The writing is not as strong as her other books and many of the side characters are not particularly interesting or sympathetic. There were also too many of them, and they have similar names and professions--which makes it hard to keep track of what is going on, especially because this is a book that wants you to follow the clues and figure out who the murderer is (which is likely not possible...you don't have enough information to figure it out).
It took almost a third of the book to get to the murder. We had to meet all of the people who worked at this lab before one of the more unpleasant specialists, Lorrimer, was killed as he worked late one night. Dagliesh is called out (he arrives in a chopper). No one is sure how the murderer got away because the lab was locked up tight but then thought he went out the washroom window. Was it the lab head, his cousin for the inheritance, the abused lab assistant, or his wife? Those are cleared fairly early on. Second murder is frail writer who lives with Lorrimer's cousin. Turns out Stella (or Star) was also Lorrimer's ex-wife. Reason why Lorrimer wrote cousin out of the will was that he didn't want ex-wife to benefit in any way.
Star was trying to get loan from murderer so she and Angela could keep their house. Kerrison was having an affair with Domenica (Lorrimer's love) and Lorrimer threatened to write to Kerrison's wife while the two were in the middle of a custody battle for Nell and William. Dagliesh gets to the truth.
Star was trying to get loan from murderer so she and Angela could keep their house. Kerrison was having an affair with Domenica (Lorrimer's love) and Lorrimer threatened to write to Kerrison's wife while the two were in the middle of a custody battle for Nell and William. Dagliesh gets to the truth.
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No