The Black Tower (Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series #5)
by P. D. James
List Price:
Our Price: $3.42
You Save: $11.58 (77%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: P. D. JamesBrand: PBS
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-09
ISBN: 0743219619
Number of pages: 346
Publisher: Scribner
Book Reviews of The Black Tower (Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series #5)
Book Review: A Gothic Feel to a Modern Mystery with Psychological Overtones
Summary: 4 Stars
The Black Tower is a mystery novel that successfully explores despair. Adam Dalgliesh finds himself recovering from a debilitating atypical mononucleosis that had been inaccurately diagnosed as being fatal. While thought he was about to die, Dalgliesh takes a look at his life as detective . . . and decides there has to be something more.
Determined to resign from the force, his intention is interrupted by a request to visit for help from an old family friend, Father Baddeley.
Wondering what sort of evil Father Baddeley cannot handle on his own, Dalgliesh is shocked to find that his friend had died of natural causes shortly after Dalgliesh sent a note accepting the invitation. Baddeley's will leaves his money to Toynton Grange, a facility specializing in the progressively disabled, which really needs the money . . . and his books to Adam. Dalgliesh is surprised to find that the father's desk has been forced and that the latest part of his journal has disappeared. Adam decides to look around for some hint as to what the problem might have been that caused Father Baddeley to consult him.
Dalgliesh's instincts are aroused when he discovers that a patient, Victor Holroyd, had also died . . . but under strange circumstances just before Father Baddeley did.
Dalgliesh decides to use the excuse of packing up his books to hang around and see what he can learn. His black mood is continued by his interactions with the austere staff at Toynton Grange and the disabled people. Although Adam puts a brave face on his contacts with these disabled people, even they know that he's terribly disgusted by their deformities.
Having spent more time there, Dalgliesh learns a depressing story about the Victorian folly, the Black Tower, that exists near the grange.
As all of this bleakness serves to further depress Dalgliesh, he finds himself unable to understand what Father Baddeley was concerned about.
Meanwhile, other unexpected deaths occur. Dalgliesh seems even more at a loss than ever . . . until a clear spot opens up in his depression . . . and he's able to start thinking like a police investigator again. That leads to an exciting, memorable finish to the novel . . . one of P.D. James' best.
My main complaint about this novel is that Baroness James stretches the bleakness a little too far and a little too long for my taste. She got the mood across so well . . . that I found myself getting depressed reading the book.
The mystery itself isn't terribly mysterious, but it's adequate to carry the rest of the story. The mystery is well told, though, because the reader is given lots of insights into what's really going on to serve as a contrast to Dalgliesh's haze. Otherwise, this would have been a most boring and unrewarding novel.
Summary of The Black Tower (Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series #5)
Just recovered from a grave illness, Commander Adam Dalgliesh is called to the bedside of an elderly priest. When Dalgliesh arrives, Father Baddeley is dead. Is it merely his own brush with mortality that causes Dalgliesh to sense the shadow of death about to fall once more?"Splendid, macabre," wrote the London Sunday Telegraph. "The Black Tower is a masterpiece," the London Sunday Times concurred.
Literature & Fiction Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Literature & Fiction Books
Little Womenby Louisa May Alcott
Scribner; Published: 1986-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.11
Price in other shops:
The Killing Groundby JACK HIGGINS
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS LTD; Published: 2007; Hardcover; Book
Saving Fish from Drowningby Amy Tan
4th Estate; Published: 2005; Paperback; Book
Life Expectancyby Dean Koontz
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2005-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Constant Princessby Philippa Gregory
Touchstone/Simon & Schuster; Published: 2005; Hardcover; Book
Wolf of the Plains (Conqueror, Book 1)by Conn Iggulden
Harper; Published: 2007; Paperback; Book
Saharaby Clive Cussler
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2005-03-21; Paperback; Book
Perelandra (Cosmic Trilogy)by C. S. Lewis
Voyager; Published: 2005-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.64
Price in other shops:
The Lord Of The Rings: Part 2 The Two Towersby J. R. R. Tolkien
Harper Collins Publishers; Published: 2001; Paperback; Book
Red Marsby Kim Stanley Robinson
Trafalgar Square; Published: 2001-06; Paperback; Book
Similar Books and other products
The Murder Room (Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series #12)by P. D. James
Vintage; Published: 2004-11-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.70
Price in other shops:
Original Sin (Vintage)by P.D. James
Vintage; Published: 2009-07-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.50
Price in other shops:
A Certain Justice (Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series #10)by P. D. James
Ballantine Books; Published: 2003-11-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.16
Price in other shops:
Devices and Desires (Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries, No. 8)by P.D. James
Vintage; Published: 2004-05-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.25
Price in other shops:
Cover Her Face (Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries, No. 1)by P.D. James
Touchstone; Published: 2001-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.98
Price in other shops:
A Mind to Murder (Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries, No. 2)by P. D. James
Touchstone; Published: 2001-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.54
Price in other shops:
Death of an Expert Witness (Adam Dalgliesh)by P. D. James
Touchstone; Published: 2001; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.89
Price in other shops:
A Taste for Death (Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries, No. 7)by P.D. James
Vintage; Published: 2005-11-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.41
Price in other shops:
Unnatural Causes (Adam Dagliesh Mystery Series #3)by P. D. James
Touchstone; Published: 2001-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.20
Price in other shops:
Shroud for a Nightingale (Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series #4)by P. D. James
PBS; Touchstone; Published: 2001-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.46
Price in other shops: