I read many Adam Dalgleish novels back in the days when I did not keep a record of my reading. So it seemed right to go to the last one in the series and see what happened to the man over all those years.
And it was nice to see him tying the knot at last as well as solving one last case for us in his inimitable way.
P.D. James is an acquired taste because she does go into an enormous amount of detail. She really wants her reader to see her settings the way she saw them herself and occasionally does go a little far! However her books are so well written I can forgive her easily.
This is not an exciting, gripping thriller. Rather it is a beautifully written police procedural, comfortably paced and very, very British. It was a pleasure to read.68 s Nette635 65

I found this to be so leisurely -- pages-long descriptions of car trips through the countryside, detailed listings of the stuff in every room -- that I had to force myself to finish. But I'm giving it 3 stars because for God's sake, this woman is 88 YEARS OLD. I can barely find my car keys and she's still cranking out byzantine mystery plots.55 s Barbara1,476 5,113



In this 14th book in the 'Adam Dalgliesh' series, the Scotland Yard detective investigates murder at a medical clinic. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****

Investigative journalist Rhoda Gradwyn - who's exposed her fair share of secrets - schedules plastic surgery to remove a disfiguring facial scar.



Her surgeon, George Chandler-Powell runs a private clinic in his ritzy country estate at Cheverell Manor.



There he employs a motley assortment of characters including an assistant surgeon, a manager/housekeeper, a married pair of young chefs, an accountant, a girl from the village, a sexy nurse, an irascible gardener, and so on.



The scarred journalist has her share of detractors at the clinic, who fear she'll find some secrets to expose - but the surgeon is unmoved by these concerns.



When Rhoda shows up a Cheverell Manor for her preliminary visit and then for her surgery, she's followed by her friend Robin Boyton - an attractive young man who can't find a way to make a living. It so happens that Robin's cousins (the assistant surgeon and his sister) work at Cheverell Manor. Robin rents a cabin on the estate and plans to exhort his cousins to give him some of the fortune they've recently inherited from a mutual grandfather who cut off Robin's side of the family.



Rhoda has successful surgery after which she's brutally murdered in her room at the clinic.



Enter Adam Dalgliesh and his team of detectives to investigate the crime.



This sets up the remainder of the story which involves a long, old-fashioned inquiry. Seriously....a modern mystery wouldn't start an investigation by assembling all the suspects in the library for a mass questioning. The Cheverell Manor residents would love to pin the crime on a 'stranger' but a second death on the estate makes this very unly.



Some additional goings on add variety to the story:

Dalgliesh gets engaged;



A tangential female character gets assaulted and raped;



A teacher fears he may be (wrongly) accused of being inappropriate with a child; and so on.



For most of the book the detectives collect evidence, question persons of interest, make discoveries, narrow down the list of suspects, and so on. In the end, the perpetrator essentially exposes themself - and even then we're not quite sure the case has been successfully closed. In my opinion, the book should end right after this climax. However it meanders on for several more chapters to bestow 'happy endings' on various characters.

This isn't one of PD James best books. Fans of the author might enjoy the book for old times sake but it's not a great mystery.

You can follow my at https://bybarbsaffer.blogspot....wom-2015-challenge54 s Marisa33 8

So I have a lot against this book.
First, I've seen that compare this book/author to Agatha Christie and NO, JUST NO. I've read almost every Agatha Christie, some of them several times, and I barely could make myself read two of P.D. James' books (I read the second one because I convinced myself it HAD to get better. Not true).

The character development in this is spectacularly lacking, and the conversations feel forced. The only people I d were Benton and Kate. The only two characters who had a semblance of proper characterization (Dalgliesh hardly has this, and he's the main character).

Things we never find out:
One: Why Rhoda "had no further use" of her scar? Seriously, why? That's one of the reasons I even continued reading the book, to find out what strange reason she had for wanting to get rid of it. I guess there was something about wanting to set up an confrontation with Candace about the will but that's only speculation.
Two: Was there actually anything up with the will? We are never definitively told what's going on with that. I mean really.

Also: the killer. Did anyone else realize that the police did NONE of the solving of the case? Candace apparently just felt helping them out. I mean really, a taped confession? I was SURE that the tape was a fake; that would have brought it firmly in the realm of Agatha Christie...but NOOOO of course not. Candace just nicely solved the whole case for them, everyone can go home.

This book infuriates me. Rhoda's death just seemed a way to propel the "plot" forward. "Plot"=not really a plot... Just people running around while Candace shoves her cousin in the freezer and tries to strangle poor crazy Sharon who tied herself to the stones
ALSO the random, , three scenes with Emma and her friends? What was that about? It had absolutely nothing to do with the mystery. Nothing at all.

I just don't understand how anyone who's read Agatha Christie can compare that to THIS.

Note: I may have missed some super obvious explanation that explained everything since I kinda skimmed the book after the killer was revealed.mystery really-lame-books30 s Piyangie541 594

With The Private Patient, I come to the end of the Adam Dalgliesh series. I've been reading the series for the past nine months, and there is no regret at parting. The journey with this series wasn't easy. As I've already said in a previous review, it had been going on a rollercoaster ride. But, since many were of the view that the series gets better with the later installments, I was determined to see to an end. I'm happy to have just done that, but no emotion other than that was felt at this parting.

The murder-mystery here is the weakest and the most predictable one in the series. There is no concealment, nor ambiguity there. James works us right towards the criminal. But the motive is another matter, and it was never revealed and was kept ambiguous. This vagueness and ambiguity is not her style, but somehow, she's been content with it. So I guess, we'll have to be, too. If I rated the book by the murder-mystery alone, it would have earned fewer stars. But, the book was more than a murder-mystery. Being the final novel of the series, James has worked at tieing the ends neatly for Adam Dalgliesh and Kate Miskin - the long-standing detective duo of the series. Much of their private relations were also touched parallel to the murder-mystery. Perhaps, that mixture is not ideal for a murder-mystery since the readers are more interested in the plot than the characters' personal lives. But as this is the ending of the series, I'm happy that James took the trouble to give us a little more insight into how their lives will be when we leave them.

I may be in the minority, but now that I've read them all, I feel that the earlier books of the series are better written, at least from the point of the murder-mystery plot. James was in her eighties when she wrote this, and that was really grand of her. Whatever the flaws the book may have, her courage and perseverance, and her determination to gift this one final book all neatly tied up, are to be appreciated.modern-murder-mystery25 s Jill Hutchinson1,514 103

You can't go wrong with P.D. James and her Adam Dalgliesh series. As someone mentioned in one of my book clubs, these are not quick reads and have some "meat on the bone". But they are easy reads and the story flows smoothly toward a sometimes susprising denouement.

In this late entry of the series, we find a successful investigative reporter checking into an expensive private plastic surgery clinic to have a disfiguring facial scar removed. All goes well as far as the surgery is concerned but she ends up dead in her bed the next day evidently murdered. Dalgliesh and his team are called up from London to investigate and it soon becomes apparent that it is an "inside job". Now everyone is a suspect from the arrogant surgeon to the gardener and tension among the staff reveals underlying secrets.

The characters are very well realized, which is a James trademark, and the reader gets drawn into the mystery which has few clues. It will test the reader's ability to see the subtle information that the author provides which leads to the identity of the murderer. Recommended.mystery-police-procedural22 s Karen1,845 430

When we started a sub-group of our Library Book Discussion group called the 4th Wednesdays Mystery Readers Group – obviously, our mission was to read only mysteries. One of our first mysteries was this one.

Premise: Scotland Yard Commander Adam Dalgliesh investigates the murder of an investigative reporter in an isolated, secure manor house.

Rhoda, the investigative journalist happens to be at this manor to have plastic surgery to remove a scar from a long ago attack from her abusive father that left her disfigured.

Why now? Her reply, “why not?”

So when she is murdered, the question for Dalgliesh and his team, is: why would anyone be interested in an investigative reporter?

As readers, we can rethink this investigative reporter thing. The reality is, we have come to learn that she is more of a gossipmonger.

So...

There are probably many people she has gossiped about who have a thing against her, leaving the list of suspects more than a mile long.

StillÂ…

Dalgliesh has his own questions, too. And as readers, we are following along with him rather anxiously, too.

Why choose this physician?

Why choose the manor clinic over a more convenient London hospital?

Did one dictate the other?

So many secrets and old crimes are just a few of the bewildering and captivating aspect of this case.

The characters are well-developed, vital and vibrant.

The location is moody and atmospheric.

The plot has just enough twists that are unexpected as they are unpredictable.

AndÂ…

This was the last case of the Adam Dalgliesh series. And even though it had it's imperfections...

It was...

A wonderful closing to a satisfying series.

Also, a truly excellent book discussion selection.book-discussion-perfect creates-questions easy-to-read ...more27 s SaraAuthor 1 book711

Odd to start out with #14 in a series and be able to say you enjoyed it. I d the murder mystery. It was intricately woven, with each of the suspects having a lot of plausible reasons to commit the murder and real convictions about "who done it" held at bay until very near the end.

I felt less involved in the Commander and his squad, but that was natural, since this is a relationship that has been building for the reader since book one and book fourteen is obviously well into that relationship and I suspect coming to the end. For a book that was picked at random from a sale table, it was not disappointing at all. I had not read anything by James before, although I was well aware of her work. I will not hesitate to read her again.mystery19 s Rebecca32 2

I have been a fan of PD James forever and was sure that with her age, The Ligththouse would be her last Dagliesh novel. I was so happy to see that she had another story in her. I rated this 4 stars as much because I love James and her wonderful language. However, I didn't feel that it was her best book. I sensed that she needed to tie up a bunch of loose ends for her characters. Still, on a scale of 1 to 10, if PD James wrote a book that was not her best, it is still an 9 compared to other mystery writers. Her books are as much great literature and they are great mysteries.19 s Daisy18

I only seem to update when I didn't really a book, but maybe I just want to warn everyone. James started out as such a compelling mystery writer and her prose is still good, but her books have become more and more tedious over time. She's become, I think, far too enamored of her own regular characters and too much of the writing is focused, not only their thoughts and feelings, but of the minutia of their actions. I think it was almost page 200 before we read about an interview with a suspect, one of the main suspects was apparently never even interviewed and huge chunks of text went by with little or no reference to the underlying mystery, although we did read once again about how Kate prefers her tea and what papers they regularly got at the Bed and Breakfast where Kate and Benton were staying. Even these secondary characters were only introduced through the thoughts and opinions of the regulars and didn't appear in the narrative themselves. As a result, the identity of the murderer and the motive was no surprise at all. All in all a very disappointing read and the last P.D. James I'll purchase.17 s Nat33 10

I guess I'm channeling my mother (who died last year). She was an English teacher who loved to read P. D. James' mysteries. When I saw this on the shelf at Borders, I thought of her and bought it. Now I see why she enjoyed reading James' works. She is an excellent writer, rich and visual. Next time I read one of her books I will keep a dictionary at my side. What a fine way to increase my vocabulary! Of all the current murder/mystery writers active today, James is probably the best WRITER of all. If you enjoy reading well-written prose, give her a try.17 s Sandysbookaday 2,187 2,214

EXCERPT: On November the 21st, the day of her forty-seventh birthday, and three weeks and two days before she was murdered, Rhoda Gradwyn went to Harley Street to keep a first appointment with her plastic surgeon, and there in a consulting room designed, so it appeared, to inspire confidence and allay apprehension, made the decision which would lead inexorably to her death. Later that day she was to lunch at the Ivy. The timing of the two appointments was fortuitous. Mr Chandler-Powell had no earlier date to offer and the luncheon later with Robin Boyton, booked for twelve forty-five, had been arranged two months previously; one did not expect to get a table at the Ivy on impulse. She regarded neither appointment as a birthday celebration. This detail of her private life, much else, was never mentioned. She doubted whether Robin had discovered her date of birth or would much care if he had. She knew herself to be a respected, even distinguished journalist, but she hardly expected her name to appear in the Times list of VIP birthdays.

THE BLURB: When the notorious investigative journalist, Rhoda Gradwyn, books into Mr. Chandler-Powell’s private clinic in Dorset for the removal of a disfiguring, long-standing facial scar, she has every prospect of a successful operation by a distinguished surgeon, a week’s peaceful convalescence in one of Dorset’s most beautiful manor houses and the beginning of a new life. She will never leave Cheverell Manor alive. When Adam Dalgliesh and his team are called in to investigate the murder – and a second death occurs – even more complicated problems than the question of innocence or guilt arise.

MY THOUGHTS: I failed to become excited by, or engaged in The Private Patient by P. D. James, #14 in the Adam Dalgleish series. Although this was a BBC Radio adaptation, and a very good one, the story fell flat for me.

I enjoyed the final revelations, but not enough to make up for the tedium of getting there.

2.5 stars for The Private Patient by P. D. James, the audiobook of which was beautifully narrated by Richard Derrington and Deborah McAndrew. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Just because I didn't enjoy this book doesn't mean that you won’t. If you enjoyed the extract and the blurb piques your interest, you may well be one of the many people who enjoy Private Patient. Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system. This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...2017 3-star audio ...more15 s Dana StabenowAuthor 82 books2,003 Read

What could be more English than a country house murder? In The Private Patient P.D. James summons up the shades of Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie in murder most foul of a patient at a stately country manor turned medical clinic. Means, motive and opportunity are all on offer for everyone on the premises, from the self-absorbed doctor, the idealistic assistant, the lovelorn nurse, the dispossessed heir and the devoted nanny to the overprotective sister and the insular villager. Upon this menage descends Scotland YardÂ’s Commander Adam Dalgleish in usual deus ex machina fashion, and the game is afoot.

But here your conventional crime fiction novel parts ways with tradition to be elevated to the level of art by James’ firm-handed, faultless use of language, her layering of character, her evocation of setting, and above all by her merciless view of the present state of British civilization, warts and all. In James’ opinion, the view is mostly warts, and her Churchillian rage at what she sees as the deliberate debasement of English society since World War II from a culture that strove for excellence to one that embraces mediocrity wafts up from every other page. In places she really lets herself off the chain (“They had lived to see their simple patriotism derided, their morality despised, their savings devalued.”) without ever throwing the reader off the scent of the narrative.

The skeleton on which this ferocious indictment hangs is of course the murder and its solution, but even there James doesn’t go for anything either a simple crime or a simple resolution, and lest we are so simple as to demand either James puts us--and Dalgliesh--firmly in our places by condemning our desire to know and understand the truth as “An arrogance and, perhaps, an impertinence.” The coda at the end deals fairly with all characters and even provides a sly note of hope for the survival of whom James undoubtedly regards as the fittest one of all.13 s H.A. LeuschelAuthor 5 books279

What a wonderful read, great characterization, interesting plot with wonderful descriptions ... just a bit too long-winded for me sometimes. I did get a bit lost in the overload of details that often didn't add to the overall story unfortunately. However, I enjoyed this read and I would take my hat off to anyone who at the age of 88 can produce such an entertaining novel. PD James is an inspiration! 12 s Susan2,791 586

Having finally come to the end of the Adam Dalgliesh series, I have mixed feelings. I never really warmed to Dalgliesh himself and his relationship with Emma in the final few books did not seem real – as he was a literary character, it was very much a literary relationship.

This final mystery, admittedly written when the author was quite elderly, features a medical background. In this case, a clinic for wealthy patients having plastic surgery, and run by George Chandler-Powell. James set many of her books in hospitals and clinics, so it is, perhaps, fitting that she ended her series in one. This novel features a journalist, Rhoda Gradwyn, who visits the clinic to remove a facial scar and is killed. Enter Dalgliesh, and his team, to uncover the motive among the staff of the clinic.

Although I am not a reader who diss description, or wants non-stop action, my major issue with these books are the over-indulgence of detail. Nobody can pass through a room without noting whether the bed is made, open a door without lifting a latch, look at a mirror without commenting what is on the mantelpiece, walk down a path without a detailed description of the trees, wind, weather, footwear, etc. etc. In the same way, we are never re-introduced to a character without hearing their background. Kate Miskin’s childhood in a high-rise flat, her unrequited love for Dalgliesh, her new apartment – detailed description to follow…

I will be re-reading some of these mysteries; particularly some of the early ones, and certainly have enjoyed them. Still, at times they annoyed me and, in particular, I was surprised to read how much PD James disd Agatha Christie; who could, frankly, plot her books much better and create characters simply and swiftly, but so you could immediately picture them. As such, I am pleased I have read this series, but feel glad to have finished them and will revisit one now and again, so the refrains of character traits and annoyances of style are not so fresh in my mind.

12 s Dorothy1,369 99

When you pick up a P.D. James mystery, you know that you are in the hands of a professional. Cleanly plotted, meticulously detailed, characters revealed layer by layer, hers are the epitome of the "British mysteries" in the tradition of the great Agatha. It is a tradition that I know and love.

"The Private Patient" is her latest entry in the saga of Commander Adam Dalgliesh of New Scotland Yard. It is a police procedural with, as usual, James' touch of humanism.

We find that Dalgliesh is about to marry his beloved. Their romance has had its rocky bits as most romances do, but finally they have decided to join forces officially.

Before that can take place though, Adam is confronted with another mystery, the murder of a famous, and apparently rather notorious, investigative journalist, who has a reputation for ruthlessness in her profession.

Said journalist had decided, after some 30 years of living with it, to have a disfiguring scar removed from her face. She selected a surgeon who maintains a private clinic in Dorset for his patients who seek privacy. And there, after successful surgery on her face, is where the journalist is murdered.

In short order, a second murder, of a friend of the journalist who had followed her to Dorset, takes place and the plot thickens.

Dalgliesh and his team pursue every clue, interview all the principals, eliminate all the red herrings, and eventually are zeroing in on the "prime suspect" when things come to a head in a (perhaps) not unsurprising way.

It is always a joy to read James' books and just to watch the way she works. This was not her best effort, I thought, but still, it was a satisfying read, one that I would certainly recommend to fans of the genre. police-procedurals11 s Sheerin230 6

This is a tome. At 500 pages it was even big to hold. And nothing more than a torture to go through.

It is a police procedural and supposedly the last of fourteen books to feature the detective Adam Dalgliesh and his team made of DI Kate Miskin and DS Benton. For me it was the first book by PD James or about the detective.

It is five hundred long pages of the writer getting her setting across and telling us about the thoughts in each of her character's mind. But she doesn't work on the mystery. The murder of Rhoda Gradwyn seems almost a by-story. And in spite of being a fine police procedural the police are able to do no detecting at all. The case is solved because of a confession tape. And even then we are told from Adam's viewpoint that the truth hasn't actually been found out.

The writing is pedantic with almost every third word of four to five syllables. It was difficult to read since I wanted a quick fast moving murder mystery neatly tied up at the end. The only tying up at the end that was satisfactory was Adam's nuptials with Emma. I don't even understand why Emma's friends and their little story was thrown in.

Two very glaring loopholes have been left. We aren't told why Rhoda didn't need her scar anymore since she has declared it very grandly to her doctor.
And it isn't made clear if there was some tampering with the will. If the murderer hadn't gone ahead with her actions and just sat quietly, the mystery would never have been solved. As it is, it seems a very shoddy attempt at writing a murder mystery with the characters acting in strange ways only to get the story to a very shaky conclusion.

It was a disappointing read and I do not expect to pick another police procedural by her at least, nor do I recommend it to my friends. My time would have been much better utilized if I had reread an Agatha Christie to which this one doesn't even hope to compare.
9 s Siv302,454 149

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??? ??? ???? ??????? ?? ????? ???? ??? ????? ?? ????????. ???? ???? ???? ????? ??? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ????? ???? ???????? ??? ???? ?? ????? ???? ?????.mystery-crime9 s Quirkyreader1,593 47

As far as we know this is the last Dalgliesh story. So reading this was kind of bittersweet.

Possible spoiler.....


The story also ties up some of the plot lines that have run through this series. Maybe James knew that this might be one of her last books and wanted to give her fans some closure.

She was still at the top of her game with this one. So expect the unexpected. It is a good ending to a brilliant series.

9 s Book Madness269 47

Ayy diyorum yani. Kitab? 100 günde falan okudum. Asl?nda yazar?n tarz?n? çok seviyorum ama cildinden midir nedir bu kitapla bar??amad?m. Cep boy de?il de arada bir boy basm??lar. Korsana da benziyor ama internet sitesinden ald?m herhalde korsan de?ildir.
Konusuna gelecek olursak: Küçükken babas? taraf?ndan yüzü yaralanan Rhoda bu izden kurtulmak için özel bir klini?e ba?vurur. Ameliyat?n gizlilik içinde yap?lmas?n? istedi?i için ta?radaki kö?ke gider. Ameliyat? olur ama sabah?na ölü bulunur. Adam Dalglish ve ekibi olaya dahil olur ve takip ba?lar.
Genel olarak ortalama bir kitapt?. ?lk 300 sayfa falan çok durgundu. Sonu da beni pek tatmin etmedi. Bu sefer sonunu tahmin edemedim ama zaten çok da iyi bitmedi. Tavsiye konusunda karars?z?m.
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