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A review by luluwoohoo
Death in Holy Orders by P.D. James
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Death In Holy Orders by P.D. James
☀️☀️☀️🌥️
▪️A solid follow up to "A Certain Justice" but lacking the satisfaction of it, despite being a more traditional story
▪️This is yet another example of me failing to predict the criminal, however this is in part because the guilty person was incriminated relatively early on and it left the slow but inevitable reveal feeling a bit lacking to the point where I expected another twist. The logic of why they killed wasn't entirely enough for me either
▪️Dalgliesh himself was given a much more interesting arc in this story, jumping off from the apparent failures of the last book and pointing him in a more positive direction for the next one. Despite enjoying the growth, I'm interested to see if it feels natural moving forward or if it rather feels like shoehorning progression where there needn't necessarily be any
▪️The setting of this story - another remote, coastal building - was well constructed and at least differentiated from earlier pieces with the religious aspect, though that too has already featured heavily in the series previously
▪️ Overall I liked the themes and the pacing of this Dalgliesh book well enough but it failed to usurp the previous book in my eyes due to the early reveal and the wrongfully casual portrayal of child sexual abuse within the church.
"There came to him a conviction that was as powerful as it was apparently irrational: that the three deaths were connected. The apparent suicide, the certified natural death, the brutal murder - there was a cord which connected them. It's strength might be tenuous and it's path convoluted, but when he had traced it, it would lead him to the heart of the mystery."
☀️☀️☀️🌥️
▪️A solid follow up to "A Certain Justice" but lacking the satisfaction of it, despite being a more traditional story
▪️This is yet another example of me failing to predict the criminal, however this is in part because the guilty person was incriminated relatively early on and it left the slow but inevitable reveal feeling a bit lacking to the point where I expected another twist. The logic of why they killed wasn't entirely enough for me either
▪️Dalgliesh himself was given a much more interesting arc in this story, jumping off from the apparent failures of the last book and pointing him in a more positive direction for the next one. Despite enjoying the growth, I'm interested to see if it feels natural moving forward or if it rather feels like shoehorning progression where there needn't necessarily be any
▪️The setting of this story - another remote, coastal building - was well constructed and at least differentiated from earlier pieces with the religious aspect, though that too has already featured heavily in the series previously
▪️ Overall I liked the themes and the pacing of this Dalgliesh book well enough but it failed to usurp the previous book in my eyes due to the early reveal and the wrongfully casual portrayal of child sexual abuse within the church.
"There came to him a conviction that was as powerful as it was apparently irrational: that the three deaths were connected. The apparent suicide, the certified natural death, the brutal murder - there was a cord which connected them. It's strength might be tenuous and it's path convoluted, but when he had traced it, it would lead him to the heart of the mystery."