A nice multiple murder mystery in the style of Agatha Christie set in England amid a Church of England seminary kicks off with an apparent suicide by one of the students. Nice character development that doesn't give away the murderer too early in the story. A nice description of the setting adds to the comfiness of the book and made me yearn to visit more of England. Some info of interest to art history buffs is included with the description of several pieces of valuable artwork the school owns and displays.
Senior investigator, Adam Dalgiesh, apparently is the main character of the author's series of who- done-its, but he didn't seem to me to be the character I would want to follow in additional stories. I found the priests, professors, and seminarians much more interesting than any of the police assigned to the case.

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A good British mystery; full of the Anglican church and the British class system. A good read.

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When the body of a young ordinand, Ronald Treeves, turns up buried in a sandy bank on the Suffolk coast near isolated St. Anselm's, a High Anglican theological college, it's unclear whether his death was an accident, suicide or murder. The mystery deepens a few days later when someone suffocates Margaret Munroe, a retired nurse with a bad heart, because she remembers an event 12 years earlier that could have some bearing on whatever's amiss at St. Anselm's. Enter Dalgliesh at the behest of Ronald's father, Sir Alred, who's received an anonymous note suggesting foul play in his son's death. It isn't long before another death occurs, and this time it's clearly murder: late one night in the chapel, somebody bashes in the head of Archdeacon Crampton, a hard-nosed outsider who wanted to close St. Anselm's. Dalgliesh and his investigative team examine the complicated motives of a host of suspects resident at the college, mostly ordinands and priests, slowly unveiling the connections among the various deaths. Illegitimacy, incest, a secret marriage, a missing cloak and a valuable altar triptych are just some of the ingredients in a case as contrived as any Golden Age classic but presented with such masterful ease and conviction that even the most skeptical readers will suspend disbelief.

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AN ELEGANT WORK ABOUT HOPE, DEATH, AND THE ALTERNATELY REDEMPTIVE AND DESTRUCTIVE NATURE OF LOVE.

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Great fast paced book, a real can't put down kind of book!

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Loved this book- like alll P D James books I have read so far. Look foward to more.

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Another Excellent Mystery by PD James. Set in a small theological college, there are 3 deaths; one is definitely a murder. Inspector Dalgliesh returns to his roots to solve the crime.

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A well-written modern English murder mystery. Adam Dalgliesh is called in to find - MURDER (gasp!) - at the heart of the Church of England. A student is found dead at a small theological college, and when good old AD investigates, he finds is an ever-widening circle of deaths, related to each other. It's an inside job - perhaps a mad priest? - and Dalgliesh must figure out who the killer is before more are found dead. "Death in Holy Orders" is a PD James special: a quick-paced detective novel that is great to while away the time while commuting or relaxing poolside. A good series to look forward to reading. Lots of fun characters, and James will keep guessing to the very end.

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Twenty years ago, I read Adam Dalgliesh novels and loved them. Why did I set them aside? Probably because there were only 14 books to enjoy. Recently, DEATH IN HOLY ORDERS came my way and I decided to reread it. The author drops the reader into a quaint English area near the sea. Adam Dalgliesh is sent to a small theological college, where a young student has died in odd circumstances.

Unfortunately, as Dalgliesh arrives, the bodies continue to drop. Instead of explaining what was going on, the deaths add to the mystery. There is so much going on in the psychological ruminations of the characters, that I couldn't set the book aside. The people were fascinating.

It seemed to me that this book was a mood piece. Before getting too far into the book, I felt the unique atmosphere of the East Anglia college, sitting by the ocean. The atmosphere and the characters seemed to move in tandem to help me feel part of the scene. I'm not explaining this well, but I felt swept away in a unique place. When the book ended, I felt as if I'd been thumped down -- back where I'd taken up the challenge of the story. Who would have thought I could have such profound feelings about a mere mystery?

Inspector Adam Dalgliesh
1. Cover Her Face (1962)
2. A Mind to Murder (1963)
3. Unnatural Causes (1967)
4. Shroud for a Nightingale (1971)
5. The Black Tower (1975)
6.Death of an Expert Witness (1977)
7. A Taste for Death (1986)
8. Devices and Desires (1989)
9. Original Sin (1994)
10. A Certain Justice (1997)
** 11. Death in Holy Orders (2001)

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I have loved all the Adam Dalgliesh books but this one didn't hold my attention like the others. A little slow and somewhat introspective, the characters were slightly bland and the ending predictable. Still a good read, just not as good as I expected.

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