About this title: Commander Adam Dalgliesh and his team are called in to investigate a murder at a private nursing home for rich patients being treated by the famous plastic surgeon George Chandler-Powell, in this welcome addition to the Dalgliesh canon.
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Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. 0307270777 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Description: Good. 0307270777 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Description: Good. 0307270777 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Description: Good. 0307270777 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Description: Good. 2008-Hardcover----Used-Good-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Edition: First Edition, First Printing (First US Edition)
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780307270771ISBN:0307270777
Description: Hard Back, Near Fine, Dust Jacket, Near Fine; 6.5 x 9.5 inches; 352 pgs.; ISBN: 9780307270771; Keywords: Mystery. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
"I am an unrepentant fan of the Baroness James and her poet/detective Commander Adam Dalgliesh of New Scotland Yard. Challengingly cerebral and yet always entertaining James never fails to place Dalgliesh and his team in circumstances that would stymie less competent officers; circumstances that make it difficult for the reader to “figure it out” before the end of the novel. All the clues are given but most so subtly that the reader finds them self amazed and yet unsurprised when the jig is up and all is revealed in the final chapters.
The Private Patient is the last in the Dalgliesh series and although not the best in the series, James acquits herself well There are enough twists and turns here to bring the reader a chilling tale of murder and mayhem set in the country, at a Private Clinic specializing in plastic surgery. The author has always taken great pains to provide much of the psychology of the perpetrator as well as the investigating team of police. As always well worth the time. Another good read from P.D. James."
"This is the second P.D. James novel I've read, and perhaps the last one in the Adam Dalgliesh series. The author nicely tied up a lot of loose ends in the story and in the series at large. It has a lovely ending with a tip of the hat to Jane Austen. I enjoyed this one just as much as the last (#13 in the series), and I'd recommend it to mystery lovers everywhere.
In comparison to Agatha Christie, I find P.D. James' fiction to be less plot driven and with much richer characterization and meditation on moral and theological themes. I love how she continues her novels after the mystery is solved. Kudos to James for another fine novel, and I look forward to reading the previous novels in this series.
One reviewer remarked that P.D. James never revealed the reason behind Rhoda Gradwyn's puzzling words about why Rhoda wanted her scar removed, i.e., "I no longer have need of it." I think the rationale lies in the novel's title: the private patient. Rhoda was the private patient at the manor, but she was also private about her life and motivations."
"I decided to read a detective genre fiction book after a long time. An investigative reporter checks into a private clinic to have a scar removed and is murdered - it sounded like a good premise to work from.
I have to credit James, almost ninety, with continuing to write competent police procedural books which peep into the lives of her suspects, criminals and detectives. And yet, I found several aspects that grated on me: the intruding concern for plot summations at various points of the story (more for the writer it seeemed, than for the reader), dialogue that seemed to be introduced for the sole purpose of providing information to the reader, the endless parade of characters and their physical descriptions - some essential to the central story, others connected with the private lives of the police personnel.
Sex seems a taboo subject for James, and hence several close relationships carry on without any indication that sex is part of the equation: Candace-Westhall and Annabel Skelton, Rhoda and Robin, Collinsby and Lucy,Chandler-Powell and Helena, even Commander Dalglish and his betrothed Emma. Decorum is also maintained in the descriptions of how people seat themselves before conducting any serious business, the taking of tea as a ritual that must be described even when a murder had just taken place, and the logistics of Dalglish's squad's operation during each member's personal down-time.
The story veered off from a whodunit to a howdunit with an epilogue on how-it-was-possible-to-do-it. The coincidences (a murder victim meeting a witness in London during the terrorist bombings, the same day she was supposed to be in the country signing a will - how realistic is that?) and the last minute introduction of characters who made significant contributions to the plot, gave me the impression that James was struggling to conclude her plot and called in the cavalry.
James is particularly keen to settle her squad in the end - marry them off, promote or retire them - perhaps, sending us a gentle hint that this is probably her last Dalglish book."
"Did I like this less than other PD James, or was I just swayed by Tad's hatred of it? It was certainly slow moving. The Private Patient is setting the reader up to accept Dalgliesh's retirement and, I assume, the end of the series. And frankly, it left me not caring that this could be the end."
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