The Private Patient (Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries)
by P.D. James
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Book Summary Information
Author: P.D. JamesEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Deckle Edge
Published: 2008-11-18
ISBN: 0307270777
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: Knopf
Book Reviews of The Private Patient (Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries)
Book Review: Ageless talent in modern times
Summary: 5 Stars
Don't get me wrong; P. D. James has written characters specific to some of her books that linger in my memory to this day, years after having read about them in one of her earlier stories. Even the most minor of her characters practically walks off the page in front of you while you're reading one of these novels, and this one is no different in that respect. And her plots are superb. But its Adam Dalgliesh and the few people who are important to him that have meant the most to me since I discovered her novels twenty years ago and got through the third in the series, "Unnatural Causes". Its a joy when the creator of a great character remains engaged and interested in him or her. Dalgliesh and his team have moved with the times as naturally as real people.
The rest of the fun has been watching what James has done with her introverted widower hero over the years. He's had his early missteps and successes, his impatience with lesser minds and bureaucracy, his midlife crisis (always early-onset for detectives who see far too much of human nature), and his determinedly solitary life. The last he comes by naturally to a large extent, but James has also given him a romantic and creative side, and we've had long years of suspense wondering if Adam would ever put his internal life at risk again to nearly the extent he risks his physical life. We've seen him wonder if his acceptance of a solitary life was the same as being content with it, and seen him sink into a little transient crankiness at times even as his professional and personal fortunes improved.
With the appearance of Emma Lavenham a couple books back you'd think all that kind of suspense about Adam's personal happiness and well being would have been resolved. In the best tradition (think of Sir Peter Whimsey and Harriet Vane), not only is she his spiritual and intellectual match, she has her own life and needs none of his reflected on her to make her feel fulfilled. Their love ought to be a great relief and reward for loyal fans as it is for each of them most of the time. But true to form he's too set in his self-critical ways to stop being the man he's always been, plus romance is an area in which he knows himself the least. His compulsive intellectual restlessness plus a deep seated fear of losing Emma has him second guessing how she'll react to almost everything he wants to spontaneously say or do for her when trouble raises its head. This is a man who literally wants to take his fiancee's hand when she's upset but mentally talks himself out of it, and he does so in a split-second. As we are left once again with more access to his thoughts than to her's, his doubts become our's. How much faith do we have in love, and are women actually tougher than men in a lot of ways?
Plus, its fun to watch Mr. Self Control being repeatedly surprised by the kind and extent of his own emotions. This has been a long time coming.
As we're catching Adam's fears over how much Emma can stand about him and his job, "The Private Patient" has a strong theme of female strength in the face of male injustice, though that strength is used for a range of goals including good, evil, survival, and simply personal satisfaction. From the background tale of Mary Keyte, burned as a witch in ancient times, to the effects of abusive fathers (one physically, one emotionally) on two adult daughters, the ability of a number of women to take a very long view of what they want and don't want figures prominently in the plot. So its also good to see some movement in the life of Kate Miskin, the longest-serving member of Dalgliesh's little squad and the one most overdue for promotion.
Her unrequited feelings for Dalgliesh have never let her make a fool of herself, but they are part of what has kept her professionally static in recent years, something he and she both recognize. Its both sweet and satisfying to see how much she has patterned herself as investigator and interrogator after Dalgliesh, and how effortlessly she's passing on her skills in turn to Benton, the most junior member. Indeed, when Kate questions someone her language and approach at this point in her life could virtually be interchangeable with the dialog James writes for Adam. It makes you wonder if James would write a book or two for Kate Miskin should Adam Dalgliesh be retired. She's written for a female protagonist before in her Cordelia Gray mysteries, though they are stories about a younger woman. Given that Benton's personality and upbringing are as far apart as Kate's and Adam's, we see the strengths of drawing from diversity again at work with Kate and Benton, and have reason to anticipate what their successes might be if Dalgliesh should retire and Kate were to take his place.
While I do love some of James' novels better than others, I've never disliked any of them. At an age when many writers of continuing characters have retired or go coasting on past successes she has managed to avoid series fatigue. Some authors we continue to read out of fond loyalty and the pleasure of just being in the same world as much-loved characters. With Phyllis Dorothy James we still get the best there is going.
And it would be a very good thing if British television would recast the parts and remake the entire series. The original with Roy Marsden suffered from very low budgets, though he set the bar very high for any actor who tries to take on the part again. In fact I personally can't imagine anyone else in the part. But as with the wonderful Jeremy Brett versions of Sherlock Holmes in the eighties that pulled my loyalty away from Basil Rathbone, it would be wrong to cling to one characterization and miss something equally great that another cast in another generation could bring to these fine stories. The last couple films featuring Martin Shaw are best avoided; he's a good actor but wrong in all ways for Adam Dalgliesh. Maybe its time to let P. D. James pick the actor she'd like to see, eh?
Summary of The Private Patient (Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries)
Cheverell Manor is a lovely old house in deepest Dorset, now a private clinic belonging to the famous plastic surgeon George Chandler-Powell. When investigative journalist Rhoda Gradwyn arrived there one late autumn afternoon, scheduled to have a disfiguring and long-standing facial scar removed, she had every expectation of a successful operation and a pleasant week recuperating.Two days later she was dead, the victim of murder.
To Commander Adam Dalgliesh, who with his team is called in to investigate the case, the mystery at first seems absolute. Few things about it make sense. Yet as the detectives begin probing the lives and backgrounds of those connected with the dead woman?the surgeon, members of the manor staff, close acquaintances?suspects multiply all too rapidly. New confusions arise, including strange historical overtones of madness and a lynching 350 years in the past. Then there is a second murder, and Dalgliesh finds himself confronted by issues even more challenging than innocence or guilt.
P. D. James has gained an enviable reputation for creating detective stories of uncommon depth and intricacy, combined with the sort of humanity and perceptiveness found only in the finest novelists. The Private Patient ranks among her very best.
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