A Mind To Murder

Adam Dalgliesh #2: A Mind To Murder

  - P.D. James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After the first book, I was a little surprised to find that this is not reminiscent of Agatha Christie, but has a more modern setting, though still quite a ‘clean’ crime story - something which I sorely miss in contemporary works.

As in the first book, this is a closed room mystery, the victim is not particularly liked, and almost everyone has a motive. But I liked this one better. Firstly, it did not have the dated setting which felt little out of place in the previous book because of an apparent later time-frame it was set in. It was also easier to follow the characters and the story arc. I found the plot and pace tighter, and the motives more logical.

However, a large part of the solution was evident to me by 50% mark, even though it felt that the author later indulged in obscuring the plot with some red herrings, to pull the story. Once again, coincidences play a role, but it was interesting to find that the detective had not arrived at the complete and correct solution :) In a way, this fallibility humanizes him, making him more likeable.

We get to know a little more about Dalgliesh. His subordinate, Martin, is not shown prominently, but I liked whatever we get to see about him. I hoped to see more of him and his camaraderie with the detective, but sadly he doesn't feature in later books.