i like pd james, but i sometimes think there are too many characters. when the murderer was revealed, i had a hard time remembering who the character was.

Exceptional opening/hook and beautifully writing throughout. Every scene feels intimate and intricate. The story comes to us as if viewed through the lens of Dalgliesh. Amazing all-around until the last twenty pages....but the ending fizzles.

Death of an Expert Witness is still better than most - the next in the series, A Taste for Death, is supposed to be one of her all-time great novels. So onward we ride....in the back of a skidding truck with the queen of the genre jerking the wheel.

Slow as it is fun. Classic closed room set up. Bureaucracy at its most dehumanizing. The payoff seems rushed for me and the twists and turns make it feel like James wasn’t sure who the killer was at the start of the writing process.

Got me hooked. Not too satisfied with the end but I liked the ride.

The most intense mystery of the series to date. I loved every minute of it.

Still James' old-fashioned type mystery.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

This is the sixth book in PD James's Adam Dalgliesh series. I don't have much to say about this book. It isn't one of my favorites of the series, but it is a solid entry. There wasn't any standout characters for me as there have been in previous novels which could be why I didn't quite get into it. However, I still like this a lot more than I did the third entry into the series, Unnatural Causes.

This book follows Commander Dalgliesh and DS Massimo as they investigate the death of an unpopular, but brilliant forensic pathologist.

One of the main reasons that I began to read PD James was that while I think her writing is gripping and really pulls you into the mysteries, with a few exceptions, I really wanted to see her progression with female and queer representation in her books. As you go through her library you can see how Miss James changes the way she handled the representation for both women and the queer community.

I think this is one of the better representations she's had so far for both female and queer characters. It grows with every book and I am curious to see how well she's able to represent both of these groups in her later work as I read. ( Please note I am talking about representation for the time that it is written. It is in no way great rep for current times, and I wish it were way better, but I do read with that critical thinking hat on.)

The mystery here is a bit of a locked room mystery so that gives it some intrigue, and the reveal of what happened wasn't cheesy, but it is definitely not one of the top ones so far in the series for me.

Recommend though.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Open letter to P.D. James:

You are smart.

Stop trying to prove it.

THX!

Also:

I really feel like there's a good mystery somewhere in that brain of hers. Reading this book was peeling back layers of mediocre material to arrive at something good; ultimately, the central crimes were interesting. But she diluted the effect with too many obvious red herrings, too many equally potent motives, too many unnecessary details and, perhaps most importantly, not enough trust in the reader (for example, when the truth comes out, it's not necessary for the killer's confession to allude specifically to every shred of evidence uncovered in chapter 2). The effect is a strong impression of contrivance.

Also:

It's like she's overthinking it. Can I make it easier?

DO!:

- Give Adam Dalgliesh an interesting flaw and, for mercy's sake, take away the poetry-writing habit.
- Move the discovery of the first body up earlier than page 170, OR, make the first 170 pages interesting.
- Make the officers intelligent detectives, not detecting psychoanalysts.

DON'T!:

- Write a chapter from the point of view of every single character.
- Describe the motive of every character save one. GEE WHO IS THE KILLER.
- Make your star detective a poet. Sorry to be repetitive, but I really can't stress this enough.