Shroud for a Nightingale (Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries Book 4)

Carefully plotted, typical of P. D. James. In the morbid, large home, which provides an unsuitable and sinister facility for nurse training the list of possible murder suspects is intriguing. There are reasonable suspects, the pursuit of whom end in dead ends. Yet the crafty clues that hint at the prime suspect give fair chance to the reader early on. One quibble I have with James concerning this book is her repeated description of some of the nurses, even the most accomplished, as fundamently unintelligent. Having completed a college degree in the required sciences and the passing of the difficult state exams, I earned an RN license. I added to this rigorous qualifications in critical care nursing. Later, I changed careers and earned a PhD in Philosophy at Marquette University. It struck me as odd that James would refer to nursing as a profession that can be successfully mastered by "fundamentally unintelligent" nurses. That's a small irritation that won't matter to others. And it doesn't affect the fundamentally brilliant ability of this stellar mystery writer. Highly recommended.

Dame P.D. James never put a foot wrong with her many Adam Dalgleish books. Every word, every phrase, is carefully chosen tomake the reader turn the pages way into the night. She and Superintendent Dalglish delved into many phases of British life,the Church, Medicine, Monastery life, business, publishing, Law, etc. and in this books (my personal favorite) she reveals theworld of the Nursing School students and instructors. The early-on murder, seemingly without any motivation, opens the doors toso many possibilities and I challenge readers to unmask the culprit until the very end. She is never pedantic, her writing isreadable while also being instructive. Dame Phyllis passed away last year at the age of 93 or 94, and will be greatly missed. Shehas been called the best writer in the mystery genre, and rumor has it members the British Royal family enjoy her books.Her final mystery "The Private Patient" is also well worth reading. HIGHLY recommended. She never wrote a bad book.

Excellent book. However, P. D. James doesn’t seem to be fond of paragraphs. I use them with a bookmark to determine when to take a break and some pages have none. Minor but noteworthy. I’m reading the whole Adam Dalgliesh Mystery series in order.

This is the first book of P. D. James I have read. As a murder mystery it kept my interest. What intrigued me even more was the literary style in which it was written. Published in 1971, the book has all the elements of a good mystery novel. In my opinion, the character development is good and there is just the right blend of seriousness and British humor. James' vocabulary actually had me turning to the Kindle dictionary on more than one occasion. A very pleasant read. I do intend to read another of James' books in this Scotland Yard series.

Although I've never met a P.D. James book I didn't like, some of them are real standouts and this is one. In a very limited setting, she creates a cast of varied characters, very much a cross section of people in real life. The kind, the rude, the thoughtless, the helpful, the arrogant. Some of the most unpleasant people are not "the bad guys" although she teases you in that direction. The plot is nearly totally unpredictable but all comes together very neatly as is her style. Yet it is extremely clever and interesting all the while. But it is the characters, even the least of them so richly detailed, such as Morag, that keeps you looking to see how much of the book is left, as you don't want it to end.

Not one of James' best nor worse. There is too much psychological babble, delving too deeply into Dalgleish as a flawed man and detective. Also his assistant was a horrible man who, while getting the job done, took too much pleasure in cruelty.However it was enjoyable trying to follow the characters and figure out "who dun it".

While P. D. James is/was widely regarded as one of the great writers of detective novels, I found the characters confusing (so many of them had the same high forehead, the same color eyes, and the same type of hair I couldn't remember who was whom), and the pace plodding. The plot takes a while to really unfold, but I kept reading, certain I was missing something. If you're used to "real page-turners", this is not the book for you.

It's a very readable book. The characters were developed very well....though PD James' characters are not always very likeable. Once before with a PD James I wondered about the credibility of the murderer's motive. That happened again with this book, but then I realized that with a stretch of the imagination the credibility was ok. There's a nice twist at the end of this novel too, and PD James provides enough red herrings to keep you guessing.

Over the years I've not read much P D James. Shroud for a Nightingale is the fourth of the fourteen books in the Adam Dalgliesh series; just a few pages in and I was hooked! Published in 1971 it is of it's era, nearly fifty years ago but I remember those times well .. where I was, what I was doing and what it was like to be alive at that time, truly a Foreign Country where things were done differently! Police procedures were less scientific, slower, more basic with no mobile 'phones, no computers, no DNA checks etc. But P D James weaves an intricate web through which you have to think and her description of human nature, relationships and biases is absolutely spot on. If you enjoy a good whodonit then this is a very good one .. and you will also learn a little of how life was lived half a century ago!

I hadn’t read anything by this author before but I decided to download the book after watching Shroud for a Nightingale on the television. It’s based in the 1970’s when I was nursing which is one reason why it appealed to me. Dalgleish is the kind of detective who can quite cleverly get under your skin, leaving no stone unturned until he closes the case.A Student Nurse dies the most horrendous death when she is the “patient” in a classroom situation. This shocked me because nurses would have never been the Guinea pig in such an invasive procedure but this is a book and not everything will be completely accurate. The local police are notified but when a second nurse is found dead in her room Dalgleish from the Scotland Yard is called in.These were the days when the most scientific procedures were fingerprint detection, DNA hadn’t been discovered and mobile phones were unheard of. I liked the characters in the book particularly the Nursing Sisters some of whom I could relate to from my nursing days when we all lived in the Nurses Home. The book is cleverly written and it wasn’t until the very end that I discovered who the murderer was and it certainly was a surprise.

I have never heard of the TV series, just as well as it might have put me off. The stories are nicely complex, in fact so complex I get lost and frequently have to go back to re-read, as the plot gets me quite confused at times. I have still not made up my mind as to whether I like the detective, he comes across as very selfish, a bit misogynistic and awfully flawed. But I will persevere.I am a bit put off by the new covers from book 6 as they are dull line drawings and really creepy, but I will try not to let them stop me reading more of this clever series. At least they are written by a woman!

Another brilliant novel by PD James and her character Detective Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh. This novel starts with the death of a student nurse in a local teaching hospital and remains unsolved when a second student nurse is murdered. Scotland Yard are called in and Dalgliesh and his team find that there is opposition to them being there and that some would just rather leave things as they are.

Well written . Well crafted plot. Cast of credible characters. Vintage James.Added narration which was well done and makes an enormous difference to the enjoyment of the story.Was an avid fan of the TV and am enjoying revisiting the Adam Dalgleish novels.