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A review by bfraynt
A Mind to Murder by P.D. James
4.0
I was already a P.D. James fan after reading Cover Her Face, so one can imagine that I would be intrigued to learn that her second novel in the Adam Dalgliesh series is about a murder in an outpatient psychiatric clinic.
Initially, I was a little bit disappointed. I don't really like it when mystery authors use the same tropes repeatedly (MILD SPOILERS AHEAD), and there were a couple of elements in the beginning of the novel that were strikingly similar to the first one. For example, there is a plot line about a naive young woman who is romantically involved with an exploitative, callous man, and there is a whole scene where all the suspects are sitting in the building together while Dalgliesh questions them. This scene then provides a convenient setting to learn about the group's dynamics. That being said, I was fully engrossed by the middle of the novel, and the story was ultimately pretty different from the first one.
This is a fun, intelligent mystery, and I'm already looking forward to book 3.
Initially, I was a little bit disappointed. I don't really like it when mystery authors use the same tropes repeatedly (MILD SPOILERS AHEAD), and there were a couple of elements in the beginning of the novel that were strikingly similar to the first one. For example, there is a plot line about a naive young woman who is romantically involved with an exploitative, callous man, and there is a whole scene where all the suspects are sitting in the building together while Dalgliesh questions them. This scene then provides a convenient setting to learn about the group's dynamics. That being said, I was fully engrossed by the middle of the novel, and the story was ultimately pretty different from the first one.
This is a fun, intelligent mystery, and I'm already looking forward to book 3.