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The Lighthouse

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The Lighthouse

By: P. D. James
Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
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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.

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 Anglo-Indian Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith is worried about working under Kate. Hardly have the team begun to unravel the complicated motives of the suspects that there is a second brutal killing and the whole investigation is jeopardised when Dalgliesh is faced with a danger more insidious and as potentially fatal as murder.

This eagerly awaited successor to The Murder Room displays the qualities which aficionados have come to expect of P D James: sensitive characterisation, an exciting and superbly structured plot and vivid evocation of place.

The Lighthouse is a subtle and powerful work of contemporary fiction.

©2015 Faber & Faber (P)2015 Faber & Faber Crime Fiction Mystery Crime Fiction Murder Suspense
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Continue the series
The Private Patient cover art
The Private Patient By: P. D. James

Critic reviews

"P. D. James at her finest." ( Daily Mail)
"P. D. James on top form and you will love it." ( Spectator)
"Formidable, classy whodunit...superlative scene-setting...expert, adroit and entertaining." ( Literary Review)
"Tightly structured and well-plotted and has enough twists, turns and false leaps to keep one gripped throughout." ( Mail on Sunday)
"James's people, places and plots are as artful as ever...long may she reign." ( Guardian)
All stars
Most relevant
Loved the location of Combe Island n it's many interesting characters. I didn't guess the murderer and was surprised. Love the narrator and his many voices. Very enjoyable :)

Another gripping story from PD

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A real sense of place and tension. Would strongly recommend it if you enjoy a good all round story.

Great story. Perfect narration

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I have always loved PD James books. However the audible version did not sit so well with me. Her plots are rich & her characters are many & full. It was more difficult to keep up with who was who. I found the narration while on the whole good, it was also very irritating with his melodramatic rendering in parts. I nearly gave up in the beginning as it was so over the top. I glad he settled down.
Thanks PD James

Ok

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As always with P.D.James, this book is beautifully written, a pleasure to read or to hear. The narration is excellent and very easy on the ear. The main story, too, is ingenious with the cast of players isolated from the rest of the world on an island off the coast of Cornwall. It has an old fashioned feel to the writing.
And yet there is something missing, something not quite satisfying. In fact, it feels more like an ending...
That said, it is still superior to so many others of the genre, enjoyable and recommended.

Into the Shining Air

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What did you like best about The Lighthouse? What did you like least?

An interesting setting with a good 'reveal' but otherwise standard P D James. Love interests are not her thing and their presence waters down the story.

If you’ve listened to books by P. D. James before, how does this one compare?

The reading was competent enough but slightly flat in the listening, perhaps reflecting the absence of real tension in the story.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

The sewing room - written with expertise, the description accurate and interesting, three dimensional where other settings in the book are not.

If this book were a film would you go see it?

If the island was sufficiently dramatically portrayed.

Standard P D James fare

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