Shroud for a Nightingale (Inspector Adam Dalgliesh Mystery)

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The BBC revived the character with Martin Shaw in the part in the early 2000s and I thought Shaw was miscast.

Stream It Or Skip It: 'Holiday Road' on Hallmark, Where Nine Strangers Come Together for an Unforgettable Christmas RoadtripMatt Rife Goes Viral Again For Resurfaced 'Wild 'N Out' Joke That Showed Him Grabbing Zendaya's Face Without Her Consent: "Keep Your Hands Off Her!" It was the dark sulky-looking girl who answered, her voice carefully repressing any note of enthusiasm or even interest. Certainly not an agreeable girl, thought Miss Beale. Sleeper Star: Helen Aluko does an effective job as Nurse Christine Dakers, but by midway through the mystery’s second half, her involvement is so thoroughly debunked that the character is hardly even a factor by the end of the episode. Julia Pardoe's composed, rather childish voice went on: "So if the victim was really meant to be Fallon, it couldn't have been one of us, could it? We all knew that Fallon wouldn't be acting the patient this morning."

I don't read mysteries, and essentially all of my related presumptions are based on Cluedo and The Westing Game, but even compared to those, Shroud for a Nightingale is kind of a dud. So two student nurses are killed, the Scotland Yard is called in, and the blurb promises that "a secret medical world of sex, shame, and scandal is about to be exposed." But most of the book is spent discussing hospital administration. This was vaguely interesting, just for the differences in American / British terminology (senior nurses are called "Sisters"), but not exactly riveting fiction. Also, a lot of text is spent on meticulous descriptions of people's faces (spoiler: most of them are ugly), and my copy was lousy with typos. I enjoyed this one a lot better than the last book in the series. Probably because it wasn't so muddled. The twin hesitated. The spectacled student said with calm authority: "We could add soluble protein, eggs, vitamin preparations and sugar." At several points the main character is discussing the case with his assistant and, despite the fact they've already talked about the evidence and what they think and he's the current viewpoint character and we follow both of them through everything important they do, their important deductions are covered up with sudden reported speech, like "he said what had happened, his assistant said yes that's obvious". Like are you *kidding* me how lazy can you get The bottle of disinfectant is missing from the lavatory. You know the one I mean. It's always kept there on the little shelf. Pardoe and I couldn't find it."

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The ending was really good. I wasn't expecting it and I liked how in the end Dalgliesh was right, but you wonder at the cost of him being right and unmovable.

The characters we meet at Nightingale House are memorable. From the matron (Mary Taylor) to the Sisters along with the nursing students, you feel as if you could have kept reading about this place forever. I do like the mini-motivations and character asides we get via Dalgliesh. I thought Masterson's view of women was awful though. This once again takes place in 1970 so I don't know if that is to be expected or what. They were silent again, considering this new development. Miss Beale noted with interest that there were no protestations that no one would want to murder Fallon. Then Maureen Burt said: I had heard of P.D. James before but had never read any of her works, and I didn't really know she wrote mysteries. So I was quite pleasantly surprised by Shroud for a Nightingale--so much so that I've since read another James and am onto a third. James obviously read and admired Christie, as did most women readers (and writers!) of her generation. Early on in her career you can easily see how Christie and Sayers et. al. have influenced her. But James then goes on to actually improve upon their writing style, at least IMO, becoming one of the best current practitioners of the "traditional style" mystery now living and still writing. As she's extremely elderly now, I suspect she won't be publishing much more in the future, alas. So savor her earlier works if and when you can - while quite old-fashioned they're still a treat!The story begins with Miss Muriel Beale, an Inspector who is setting out for the day of the John Carpendar Hospital inspection. Her first impression, on arriving at the impressive Nightingale House, is that it is highly unsuitable for a nurse training school. However, the inspection begins with a demonstration by the student nurses and, during this, there is a death. When another student nurse is killed, Adam Dalgliesh is called in to solve the crimes. Miss Beale nodded. The Matron bent again over the convulsed figure. The screaming had stopped now. It was succeeded by a piteous moaning and a dreadful staccato drumming of heels on the wooden floor. Mr. Courtney-Briggs took off his coat, threw it to one side, and began to roll up his sleeves. nightingale) из женской разведсети, воспетому Кристиной Ханной, роман "Тайна Найтингейла" (Shroud for a Nightingale) отношения не имеет. Хотя отголоски событий Второй Мировой сыграют здесь немалую роль, а местом действия окажется школа медсестер.