One of my goals in 2019 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.
I picked up this copy of Death in Holy Orders by PD James at the book sale of the Allentown, NJ, Library.
Inspector Daleglish is surprised when a rich and powerful man asks him to look into a death that was ruled an accident. But when he discovers that it took place at a remote seminary school that he himself visited as a child, he takes the unexpected opportunity. Even more surprising is that reinvestigating on death leads to many more.
I would say that PD James is one of my favorite authors but I think that this is actually only the 4th book I’ve read. When I started reading this book, it seemed so familiar to me, I thought I might have read it already and forgotten. I had to search around after a chapter or two as it was driving me nuts. I realized that there was a TV version I might have seen, but I also noticed that the were many similar plot points to another PD James book I had read, The Lighthouse. I pressed on once I figured that out, whether I saw the mini series or not, I couldn’t remember what happened.
Although I would call this book a murder mystery, it’s more a book about meeting characters and seeing how they interact. Each person involved is a fleshed out and explored enough to give you a sense of how each impacts the other. Since Daleglish is one of James’ main detectives, each book also has insight into his life. This book explored his background and upbringing, as well as his early love life.
I love James’ style of writing and I find it totally captivating. I liked that this book was set in a religious college although that was just a small aspect of this book. It was a very interesting setting: a tight knit community revolved around morality, now involved in the tumult of murder.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes murder mysteries, calm and serious detectives, books about small towns.
Have you read any books set in religious backgrounds and settings? Or any books set in a unique community?