description: Despite challenges from Ruth Rendell and (more recently) Minette Walters, PD James' position as Britain's Queen of Crime remains largely unassailed. Although a certain reaction has set in to her reputation (and there are those who claim her poetry-loving copper Dalgleish doesn't correspond to any of his counterparts in the real world), her detractors can scarcely deny her astonishing literary gifts. More than any other writer, she has elevated the detective story into the realms of literature, with the psychology of the characters treated in the most complex and authoritative fashion. Her plots, too, are full of intriguing detail and studded with brilliantly observed character studies. Who cares if Dalgleish belongs more in the pages of a book than poking around a graffiti-scrawled council estate? As a policeman, he is considerably more plausible than Doyle's Holmes, and that's never stopped us loving the Baker Street sleuth. Death in Holy Orders represents something of a challenge from James to her critics, taking on all the contentious elements and rigorously re-invigorating them. She had admitted that she was finding it increasingly difficult to find new plots for Dalgleish, and the locale here (a theological college on a lonely stretch of the East Anglian coast) turns out to be an inspired choice: we're presented with the enclosed setting so beloved of golden age detective writers, and James is able to incorporate her theological interests seamlessly into the plot--but never in any doctrinaire way; the non-believer is never uncomfortable. The body of a student at the college is found on the shore, suffocated by a fall of sand. Dalgleish is called upon to re-examine the verdict of accidental death (which the student's father would not accept). Having visited the College of St Anselm in his boyhood, he finds the investigation has a strong nostalgic aspect for him. But that is soon overtaken by the realisation that he has encountered the most horrific case of his career, and another visitor to the College dies a horrible death. As an exploration of evil--and as a piece of highly distinctive crime writing--this is James at her non-pareil best. Dalgleish, too, is rendered with new dimensions of psychological complexity. --Barry Forshaw 
language: English
title: Death In Holy Orders
titlecomplete: Death In Holy Orders (Adam Dalgliesh, #11)
characters: Irfon Jones, Barney Parker, Charlie Ferris, Miles Kynaston, Peter Jackson, Clara Arbuthnot, Robbins, Stephen Morby, Sir Alred Treeves, Roger Yarwood, Mark Ayling, Mrs. Mellois, Adam Dalgliesh, Kate Miskin, Eric Surtees, Ruby Pilbeam, Father John Betterton, Henry Bloxham, Father Sebastian Morell, Father Peregrine Glover, Piers Tarrant, Dr. Mallinson, Mr. Norris, Margaret Munroe, Archdeacon Crampton, Karen Surtees, Ronald Treeves, Elsie Bardurell, Mike Parker, Mr. Mellish, Brian Miles, Father Martin Petrie, Agatha Betterton, Raphael Arbuthnot, George Gregory, Marcus Treeves, Charlie Parker, Clive Stannard, Emma Lavenham, Brian Clark, Paul Perronet, Harkness, Giles, Stacey Whetstone, George Metcalf, Mildred Fawcett, Shirley Legge
genres: Fiction, Religion, Mystery, British Literature, Thriller, Detective, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook, Crime, Murder Mystery
ratings_count: 16533
places: East Anglia, England
series: Adam Dalgliesh
awards: awardedAt: 1009872000000
name: Barry Award
category: Best British Crime Novel, awardedAt: 1199174400000
name: Premio Pepe Carvalho
publisher: Faber And Faber Ltd.