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Scarred Journalist's Tale Is Razor-Sharp

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By KEVIN WALKER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 21, 2008

"The Private Patient," by P.D. James (Knopf, $26)

A new P.D. James book is always cause for celebration for Anglophiles like myself. It's also a cause for amazement, as James, now in her late 80s, still writes with a clarity and insight that leaves her fellow mystery writers looking a bit worse for the comparison. As always with James, one is left amazed at how well you know so many of the characters in the book. James is a master at providing an illuminating look into the lives of her characters, often in just a page or two.

This novel, the 14th in the Adam Dalgliesh mystery series, involves a not-very-pleasant journalist (why, I never!) who checks herself into a private plastic surgery clinic house in rural Dorset that is housed in Cheverell Manor. There, the reader meets a colorful cast of characters - the surgeon who is having an affair, the assisting physician looking to break out on his own, the women whose family used to own the manor, a particularly odd groundskeeper - all of whom become suspects when the journalist is found dead in her room, strangled.

The last time I reviewed James, I got carried away and revealed too much. So this time, let's just say Dalgliesh and his crack Scotland Yard detective team descend on the manor and reveal far more than just a murderer. Among the things you'll remember is the haunting past of the journalist, who wanted the surgery to remove a facial scar inflicted on her by an abusive father, and her words when asked why she waited until her 40s to have the scar removed: "Because I no longer have need of it." James also offers a final, insightful rumination on love as a defense against the horrors of this world.

Kevin Walker oversees Friday Extra and the books pages.

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