(2005) (audio)Very good Adam Dalgleiesh mystery. AD tries to solve a hanging murder on an island resort that is the proverbial locked room. Noone could have gotten in or out so the suspects are limited to the dozen or so residents and staff on Combe Island. Assisted by DI Kate Misking and Sgt Francis Benton-Smith. This is first James novel I have been able to get thru as she writes in excruciating detail but listening to the book seemed to be a better way.

I don’t want to give anything away, but there’s a special surprise that makes it a perfect read in the time of COVID-19! ( )

I picked this up because I can't take any more crime books that are full of brutal murders and torture. And I guess this did fit the bill - very old style Agatha Christie with all the characters stuck on an island with a mix of rich people, servants and a priest. And it had a lighthouse for my lighthouse theme. Did have some brutal murders and a lot of torture of characters by their parents (mostly historical) but as the characters were all pretty wooden (and a lot of them rich) it didn't get under the skin.
I passed it on to John who is grateful for something really unchallenging. Sends him to sleep within minutes! ( )

I registered this book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14429511

Adam Dalgliesh is on the case.

Dalgliesh is sent off to investigate a possible suicide on a remote island right when he was about to embark on a weekend with his love, Emma. He knows she understands and will not complain, and perhaps this bothers him a little. But he needs to be the one on this case, as it is a sensitive situation.

Combe Island was owned by the Combe family, which eventually turned it into a haven for overworked high officials and others. It is not advertised and its temporary residents are protected from invasion of their privacy, even by workers on the island. So when one of those well-known visitors is found hanging from the lighthouse it is sensitive indeed, and rather than the local police, the island's managers call in a favor from Scotland Yard.

Dalgliesh arrives by helicopter with his team: DI Kate Miskin and Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith. Benton-Smith is new to the team and Miskin is wary, does not favor him with her confidences or, on her own, discuss the case with him.

The investigators interview everyone on the island, as they all had access to the victim. More than one had reason to take him out. The possibility that someone from off the island caused this apparent murder, though, is remote.

The pressure is on, and it gets worse when an incident causes further difficulty and Miskin and Benton-Smith are forced to work more closely together.

Will Dalgliesh's affair with Emma survive these interruptions? Will the killer or killers be found? ?

A good solid tale of detection. ( )

Perhaps it is even 3½ stars.

While I did enjoy this mystery, I felt that there was something about the structure of the novel that bothered me -- it was mostly a police procedural, albeit in an unusual set of circumstances, with the exception of the fairly long second section. Not only did this section differ in style, but for some reason, it also went back in time to before the first section. Why?? Couldn't this information have been conveyed to the reader while maintaining the style of the rest of the book? It seemed to me to be an uneasy mixture of modern novel & traditional police procedural which was unnecessary. ( )