Another really good read ( )

[A Mind to Murder] is my first [[P. D. James]] novel, apparently the second in the series featuring Inspector Adam Dalgliesh. I've seen a few Mystery! productions adapted from the books and enjoyed them.

The adminsitrative officer for a private psychiatric clinic is found murdered in the file room, and clearly one of the staff is the guilty party. Dalgliesh and his able assistant Martin investigate over the course of a few days and eventually catch the murderer. The story is told in third person, mostly from Dalgliesh's perspective, though it also switched at least once to each of the potential suspects, and some more than others. It did keep me guessing up until the end, so that's pretty good (not that I'm necessarily any great shakes at figuring out the mystery ahead of the protagonist).

There's some effort to develop Dalgliesh as a character, clearly building upon the earlier book, but I didn't really connect with him or any of the other characters, since none of the characterizations felt particularly deep or personal. And frankly, most of the characters just weren't very likable, so I was fine when the story ended. Why would I spend my time with people I don't really like, after all? It was moderately entertaining and a quick read. And not being a completely predictable plot with predictable villain is a plus. I won't be keeping this, but I didn't consider it a complete waste of time. ( )

I love P.D. James. She's a master in writing about sly, sneaky-boots characters who may or may not be the murderer.

This book was definitely not an exception, and it was wonderful fun. I look forward to finally reading this series in order.

Highly recommended. ( )

Inspector Dalgliesh is called to the Steen Psychiatric Clinic when the body of the administrative officer is found stabbed to death in the records room. The building was completely locked up so there are only a limited number of suspects.
This book was originally set at the time when electro shock and LSD were used to help patients shed their inhibitions and assist doctors to indentify their problems.
There are numerous twists and turns and just when you think that the solution has been revealed, another twist leads down a different path.
Not a great mystery, but not bad either. ( )

In A Mind to Murder the medical clinic’s diagnostic index serves as ‘a neatly contrived apparatus for the pre-selection of a [blackmail] victim’. As a chief purpose of indexes is information retrieval, such systems figure in much detective fiction, as crime-solvers seek facts through various schemes. ‘It is hardly surprising that those who devise sealed-room mysteries and Means-Motive-Opportunity charts are often aware of that perfect analytic/synthetic gadget: the card-index, and its offshoots’.