Death in Holy Orders (Adam Dalgliesh, #11)

From the award-winning master of literary crime fiction, a classic work rich in tense drama and psychological insight. On the East Anglian seacoast, a small theological college hangs precariously on an eroding shoreline and an equally precarious future. When the body of a student is found buried in the sand, the boy’s influential father demands that Scotland Yard investigate. Enter Adam Dalgliesh, a detective who loves poetry, a man who has known loss and discovery. The son of a parson, and having spent many happy boyhood summers at the school, Dalgliesh is the perfect candidate to look for the truth in this remote, rarified community of the faithful–and the frightened. And when one death leads to another, Dalgliesh finds himself steeped in a world of good and evil, of stifled passions and hidden pasts, where someone has cause not just to commit one crime but to begin an unholy order of murder. . . . Praise for Death in Holy Orders “Gracefully sculpted prose and [a] superbly executed mystery . . . Death in Holy Orders is among [James’s] most remarkable and accomplished Dalgliesh novels.” — The Philadelphia Inquirer “An elegant work about hope, death, and the alternately redemptive and destructive nature of love.” — The Miami Herald “Absorbing . . . [James’s] plotting and characterization [are] impeccable.” — Orlando Sentinel “P. D. James is in top form.” — The Boston Globe Open the exclusive dossier at the back of this book, featuring P. D. James’ essay on penning the perfect detective novel. From Amazon.com: From the award-winning master of literary crime fiction, a classic work rich in tense drama and psychological insight. On the East Anglian seacoast, a small theological college hangs precariously on an eroding shoreline and an equally precarious future. When the body of a student is found buried in the sand, the boy’s influential father demands that Scotland Yard investigate. Enter Adam Dalgliesh, a detective who loves poetry, a man who has known loss and discovery. The son of a parson, and having spent many happy boyhood summers at the school, Dalgliesh is the perfect candidate to look for the truth in this remote, rarified community of the faithful–and the frightened. And when one death leads to another, Dalgliesh finds himself steeped in a world of good and evil, of stifled passions and hidden pasts, where someone has cause not just to commit one crime but to begin an unholy order of murder. . . . “Gracefully sculpted prose and [a] superbly executed mystery . . . Death in Holy Orders is among [James’s] most remarkable and accomplished Dalgliesh novels.” –The Philadelphia Inquirer “An elegant work about hope, death, and the alternately redemptive and destructive nature of love.” –The Miami Herald “Absorbing . . . [James’s] plotting and characterization [are] impeccable.” –Orlando Sentinel “P. D. James is in top form.” –The Boston Globe Open the exclusive dossier at the back of this book, featuring P. D. James’ essay on penning the perfect detective novel. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A “superbly executed mystery” (The Philadelphia Inquirer) from the award-winning master of literary crime fiction. “Within the setting of a great Victorian mansion set on crumbling cliffs—a large cast of variously unscrupulous men and women is brought together in a tangle of murder, mayhem, betrayal, incest, and generally bad behavior.”—The New York Times Book Review NOW IN DEVELOPMENT FOR SEASON THREE OF DALGLIESH On the East Anglian seacoast, a small theological college hangs precariously on an eroding shoreline and faces an equally precarious future. When the body of a student is found buried in the sand, the boy's influential father demands that Scotland Yard investigate. Enter Adam Dalgliesh, a detective who loves poetry, a man who has known both loss and discovery. Having spent many happy boyhood summers at the school, Dalgliesh is the perfect candidate to look for the truth in this remote, rarified community of the faithful—and the frightened. And when one death leads to another, Dalgliesh finds himself steeped in a world of good and evil, of stifled passions and hidden pasts, where someone has cause not just to commit one crime but to begin an unholy order of murder. The setting itself is elemental P.D. James: the bleak coast of East Anglia, where atop a sweep of low cliffs stands the small theological college of St. Anselm's. On the shore not far away, smothered beneath a fall of sand, lies the body of one of the school's young ordinands. He is the son of Sir Alred Treves, a hugely successful and flamboyant businessman who is accustomed to getting what he wants-- and in this case what he wants is Commander Adam Dalgliesh to investigate his son's death. Although there seems to be little to investigate, Dalgliesh agrees, largely out of nostal-gia for several happy summers he spent at St. Anselm's as a boy. No sooner does he arrive, however, than the college is torn apart by a sacrilegious and horrifying murder, and Dagliesh finds himself ineluctably drawn into the labyrinth of an intricate and violent mystery