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simplymeg's review against another edition
4.0
At some point in a prior millennium I read a lot of P.D. James, and this book brought back all the reasons I enjoyed her writing so much. She so beautifully elaborates tortured characters and tortured landscapes. The story and the setting and the atmosphere are all terribly British (which I love, obviously). And the mystery is actually mysterious.
flowergirl's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoy P. D. James mysteries, but this was not her best.
ambergold's review against another edition
4.0
Very good. Complex and satisfying, and more direct in its exploration of human drive, faith, disbelief, and literature than James' other novels. The thread of haunting bittersweetness that runs through all of her works is still present however.
sireno8's review against another edition
3.0
PD James is always so good. Her books are so rich in character and mood that the crime is almost secondary. This one is not exception. Great stuff. Wish it had been a teeny bit pacier. The last 150 pages motored by but the middle 100 was a bit of an uphill battle. Also, wish there'd been a bit more of a twist at the end but these are minor. Good stuff as always.
crowyhead's review against another edition
4.0
Another excellent James mystery. I loved the setting for this one -- an Anglican seminary on the English coast. Dalgliesh returns to St. Anselm's, where he spent several happy summers as a boy, to investigate the death of a seminary student. The student was killed in the collapse of a sandy cliff, but it is not clear whether his death was accidental, suicide, or even murder. There's loads of intrigue, as three subsequent deaths expose the priests and students to scrutiny and their lives are laid bare.
dh981's review against another edition
4.0
Another excellent P.D. James mystery. Almost nothing she writes is bad.
girloflamancha's review against another edition
2.0
This started off pretty well, and at first I enjoyed the writing. But then I realized it was just boring. And the characters, for all the words spilled to describe them, were still flat and remained a bit of a mystery. I can’t really tell you what kind of man our main character is, except that he, and all the other characters we are supposed to like or sympathize with, are in fact extremely unlikeable. And then we get to the pedophilia. Look, I don’t know if the author is a pedophile or thinks pedophelia is no big deal (I can’t believe I am even writing this), and of course, her characters don’t necessarily reflect her own views, even when the reader is repeatedly hit over the head with how bad he should feel about this poor pedophile priest actually going to jail for his crimes, and how awful the guy who helped put him there is. In fact, it is heavily implied that, for being such a bully to the pedophile, he kinda deserved to be murdered. Again; does not mean that in real life P. D. James is super supportive of pedophiles. But she sure wrote a book where a MAJOR theme is that a priest fondling boys should be protected, the kids that testify against him must be lying, and the church must close rank and shelter their own from the law. Our hero - the freakin’ detective - is on the pedophile’s side. The pedophile is such a gentle man, why would anyone resent him fondling or raping boys? Did I mention? Nice guy, needs to be protected.
I don’t really know how I made it through once I realized this is agenda the novel was going to push. I guess I was hoping all of our main characters including the hero would eventually like... realize pedophelia is bad? Nah, that doesn’t happen. It’s literally a side plot invented to make us feel sympathy for the pedophile character because he did time and it was hard on him (?!). The victims are never considered. The hero and everyone else (except for the evil murder victim who dared help put this man behind bars) keep feeling bad for the pedophile and are so relieved he is placed in a community that would make him feel safe at the end.
I don’t really know how I made it through once I realized this is agenda the novel was going to push. I guess I was hoping all of our main characters including the hero would eventually like... realize pedophelia is bad? Nah, that doesn’t happen. It’s literally a side plot invented to make us feel sympathy for the pedophile character because he did time and it was hard on him (?!). The victims are never considered. The hero and everyone else (except for the evil murder victim who dared help put this man behind bars) keep feeling bad for the pedophile and are so relieved he is placed in a community that would make him feel safe at the end.
jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
A little too procedural for my tastes but it's still a pretty decent mystery read. As a Christian minister (and former Seminarian), I was intrigued by the religious aspect of the story and PD James does not let me down in that regard. However, I wonder if I would have liked it as much if I did not have such a deep knowledge of the subject as it is a little dry. A good read nonetheless but I don't know if I'll be rushing out to get too many PD James novels in the near future.
pauldaly's review against another edition
2.0
So many smart people, smart readers, love PD James, but this left me cold.