Product Description

When Commander Adam Dalgliesh visits Larksoken, a remote headland community on the Norfolk coast in the shadow of a nuclear power station, he expects to be engaged only in the sad business of tying up his aunt's estate. But the peace of Larksoken is illusory. A serial killer known as the Whistler is terrorising the neighbourhood and Dalgliesh is drawn into the lives of the headlanders when it quickly becomes apparent that the Whistler isn't the only murderer at work under the sinister shadow of the power station.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19811 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 503 pages

Customer Reviews

A Brilliant Read
I REALLY enjoyed this book! Although I am fairly new to P.D James, "Devices and Desires" is my favourite one so far (I have also read "Original Sin", "Shroud for a Nightingale" and "Murder Room") The author's descriptions of the Norfolk landscape are so atmospheric and they set the tone for this dark novel. I thought the first murder was written in brilliant, chilling detail, in fact the description of the "Whistler" was scary, frankly!
I liked the way the novel progressed at an organic rate and it flowed well. I also liked James' exploration of nuclear power and the effect of Larksoken as an accepted part of the landscape, albeit grudgingly by some.
It was also refreshing to have Dalgliesh isolated from his London home and placed in a much less familiar territory. I was quite pleased there were no references in this book to his love life, as in "Muder Room"- which I felt detracted from the story and was of little interest.
I would highly recommend this book!

Not for the impatient or the restless
P.D. James does not write for the impatient or the restless. Her extraordinary knowledge of and advanced use of the English language, are for the reader who enjoys to dwell on intricate and almost philosophical descriptions, not only geographically and materialistically, but of the human mind in all its variety of moods.

"Devices and Desires" is a typical example of Ms James' writing. Slowly and meticulously the reader is drawn into the story. The introduction of the many participants, the questions as to their part in - or rather importance to - the mystery at hand, invites curiosity as well as confusion as loose threads keep popping up and no significant pattern has as yet emerged.

Commander Adam Dalgliesh remains for a long time a bystander on holiday at his late aunt's cottage, while the local police are handling the case of "the Whistler", a mass murderer of young women in the community of Larksoken on the cost of Norfolk.

The first hundred pages of the book comes through as a sort of introduction, painstakingly introducing the surroundings and participants in the drama. However, after the Whistler strikes again and claims his fifth victim, Commander Dalgliesh is eventually drawn into the investigation and the pace of the story is slowly accellerating and the stage finally set.

At this point, the patient reader is most certainly hooked and ready to enjoy yet another murder investigation superbly crafted by a master story teller.

It is a dark story. Images and threads are drawn back to horrendeous events of the past, and as the story unfolds, it appears that the Whistler is not the only murderer at loose. The remote headland scenery on the Norfolk coast in the shadow of a nuclear power station, with only a few old cottages scattered around, hardly seems the most inviting habitat where to settle, and creates a becoming atmosphere for the evil at work.

When the mystery is finally solved, the pieces of the puzzle fall surprisingly easily together. Yet, as the case is closed, the true facts are never revealed and the official explanation is convenient and acceptable both to the public and all parties involved.

This is not my favourite P.D. James book. There is too much human suffering and distress in people's blind groping for happiness in the most unlikely places, in addition to the dark effect surrounding it all. Also, Adam Dalgliesh's somewhat pheriperal role does somewhat diminish my pleasure in the book. Hence the four stars.

Still, one is drawn to follow each step until all is told and the last chapter closed. P.D.James is undoubtedly the Queen of the mystery genre.