I'd give this another half star if I could.

I'm sure I would have liked this better if I'd known more about Dalgliesh (the detective) before reading it. James doesn't explain too much about him--which I like because although it's #11 in the 'series' I easily picked it up and read it. On the flip side, because I haven't been through ten other books with him and his other detectives, and because I don't get a load of back story, I didn't really care about him too much.

The mystery itself was fine, although not the sort I usually flip over. I adore Christie's big 'reveals' with Poirot where the murderer is shown up and all is explained. James is much more understated about it (more modern, perhaps?), and as a result I felt it was a bit anti-climactic. Dalgliesh suspected who it was, pretty much knew who it was, and then they just had to get evidence and then catch him. So not a lot of mystery.

Beautifully written, though. James's prose is terrific and the narrator was great. I think I just prefer the thriller type books of hers (Children of Men). Although I might read the first AD book to see if it sucks me in.