A Mind to Murder by P.D. James (1963/2012)
Among the Kindle Deals this month (from Amazon International) I found A Mind to Murder in the Adam Dalgliesh series by P.D. James, at the price of $1.99, and with the Whispersync for Voice Audible book for $4.59 – read by Roy Marsden who plays Adam Dalgliesh in the TV series.
(I like it when I’m able to read parts of a book on Kindle and listen to other parts as audio book. It means I can go on reading even when I have other things to do, or am too tired to keep my eyes open!
At first I was under the impression that this was one of the more recent books in the series (it’s been a long time since I last read any of them). It soon became obvious though, that this story took place in pre-computerized times. Checking up on it (after having finished the book), it turns out that it is in fact the 2nd in the series, first published in 1963 (50 years ago).
No doubt this also explains my general impression of a good old-fashioned “whodunit” mystery; focusing on sorting out the possibilites and motives among a narrow circle of suspects rather than going into an excess of gruesome forensic details, or lots of extra complications to do with the private lives of the detectives rather than the case as such. (There is a hint of that side of things, but compared to modern crime novels, it plays a very small part.) That does not mean the mystery in itsef is without complications, though!
Recommended if you like that kind of book; and especially if you use Kindle and live in a part of the world where this special deal happens to be on at the moment.
12 comments:
63 was the year i got married, wow 50 years. yikes. and I have found in several books I have read since i got the Kindle, i start out thinking it is modern times and then realize they are looking for pay phones and there are no computers... when we watch movies we play a game of guessing when the movie was made by looking at the clothes and hair and what phones they use... we have gotten pretty good at it
I must say the old book cover is far, far more interesting than the new one. I'd read it like a shot.
I have not read any of his books, but he must be very good, he is such a famous author.
I have always enjoyed her books, but I'm not sure I've read this one. Or would even remember it if I had. I love her English. One of the few authors I read with a dictionary close by.
Movies are easier than books that way because you get more clues!
I have to agree about the cover, Jenny. The old one (which I found in a Google Image search) illustrates a specific scene in the book whereas the current one could be from almost "any" crime story.
P.D. James is a woman - the initials stand for Phyllis Dorothy. :)
I can't say which ones I've read or not either. Most of those I did read in the past were probably in Swedish translation. I've also seen most of the TV series, but that too was a long time ago now. A few images from those kind of stick in my brain but I'm not sure to which book(s) they belong either. But from this recent reading experience I agree about the language!
Sounds good, Monica!
How do you do it, when you switch from reading to listening (and the other way round), so that you always know where you've left off?
With Kindle/Audible whispersync it's super easy, well at home anyway. (My Kindle is not 3G. With ebook on Kindle and the Audible app on the Android phone, they sync automatically when I switch from one to the other. Ie up pops a question if I want to go to the latest read page on the other device.
Of course if one is not using the Amazon Whispersync versions of both then one has to keep in mind oneself which chapter etc. one is in. So far I've only bought both when there has been a special offer though. Both at full price usually seems too expensive...
There are free audio readings to be found of many classics too on the internet, read by volunteers, but those of course don't sync automatically.
Despite her popularity I don't think I've ever read any PD James. It sound as though starting at the beginning would be a bit like reading an Agatha Christie.
That's exactly how I felt, GB - it was very much like reading an Agatha Christie.
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