A Certain Justice (Inspector Adam Dalgliesh Mystery)

Product Information

Like most British mysteries, the situation is so claustrophobic (is that because everyone is conscious of England being an island?) that you wonder why more of the ants in this particular literary bottle (in this case, a group of lawyers) aren't killing one another. Richard Harrington (Hinterland) as Dr David Rollinson - a forensic biologist who worked on dozens of cases with Lorrimer Please, somebody tell me that this is the worst book written by P. D. James, because if it isn't this one then people are even more gullible than I think. Another ploddy mystery from PDJ which opens with an excellent trial scene but how did Ashe know about the glasses? but which ends with melodrama and an unsatisfying series of confessions. Sadly, the most interesting character gets stabbed to death in her chambers and there's the usual heavy-handed laying out of motives for everyone. Then Venetia is found murdered in Chambers, stabbed through the heart with a stiletto knife. I enjoyed this book the most because we knew Venetia's story before Adam Dalgleish, I have said before PD James's books can be difficult to follow but this made it easier.

It is ironic that Aldridge does not see the parallel between her own defiance of tradition and Octavia’s refusal to fulfill her mother’s rather conventional ambitions for her daughter, ambitions which, if misguided, do, nevertheless, prove that Aldridge does love Octavia. It is significant that the only twinges of guilt Aldridge ever feels about anyone or anything are aroused by Octavia’s accusations of neglect. It is also ironic that it is this sense of guilt, combined with her real concern for Octavia, that takes Aldridge to Chambers that fatal night and makes her murder possible. The police arrive outside the next morning. Garry tries to scarper, holding a knife to Octavia’s throat… However, you also have James' impeccable writing, unexpected depths of some characters, several extremely well drawn episode characters (especially the victim), and some excellent set-pieces (the opening court scene being a true highlight). Dalgliesh, Miskin and Tarrant uncover a tragic web of association between the victims and witnesses. But time is running out to save Octavia from a terrible fate. This novel does flog some of the classic James themes, but fails to do anything terribly original with them, making this the first novel by the good Dame that felt tired out of the gate. You have your theme of how one lives in a world with actual evil; the innocent who falls victim to that evil; the motives located in the deep past; another child molester; the fuddled crime scene.

In a 1997 book review for The New York Times, Ben Mcintyre called the book "vintage James" and summarized it as "a book in which revenge is not quite sated and deserts are not always just. That may not be the most satisfying conclusion, but it contains a certain truth." [1] Adaptations [ edit ] He asked: “Any news? You haven’t come to make an arrest, I take it. Of course not, there would be at least two of you. There should be a Latin tag about it. Vigiles non timendi sunt nisi complures adveniunt. I leave the translation to you.” - The Latin translates as "Don't fear the police, unless several of them arrive together." When controversial barrister Venetia Aldridge is found dead in her chambers, suspicion falls on her colleagues and her daughter’s new fiancé.

Once again, it may be 1997, but in PDJ-land it's always the 1950s with women in offices using typewriters (a typewriter!) and word processors rather than computers - a later mention of Dalgleish actually using a mobile feels jarringly modern given the low-tech nature of the world - no internet here! Dalgliesh, Miskin and Tarrant home in on Janet Carpenter as a suspect: many years ago, Venetia helped acquit a murderer called Anthony Beale who went on to kill Carpenter’s granddaughter. All is revealed outside Ipswich on an island of reeds. Dalgliesh then confronts the barrister who murdered Venetia in revenge for the death of his brother by her father and her bullying of his son. However, he does this by a hypothetical hypothesis and as there is no evidence so he gets away with murder. That was a fun arc to play! Increasingly, Dalgliesh is aware of an emotional connection but he wants to be professional and guard himself against intimacy. He seeks out loneliness, yet there’s a thirst for companionship. He controls things with Miskin, but not callously, with sensitivity.” The first part of ‘A Certain Justice’ premiered at 9pm on Thursday 4th May 2023 on Channel 5 in the UK and is streaming on Acorn TV in the US.Pawlett Court Chambers is the sort of setting we’ve come to expect from Dalgliesh –– archaic, picturesque, claustrophobic, and featuring an elite and insular set of characters/suspects, mostly at each others’ throats. There’s even a Chapel in the complex, a recurring feature for Dalgliesh, who’s drawn to places of worship. His other TV and film credits include Witchfinder and Bridgerton, and the new film Surprised by Oxford. After a young woman’s body is found in a quarry, one of the forensic team working on the case is murdered and sinister secrets emerge.