In my continuing search for books that would give me a sense of Cornwall and southwest England, I read P.D. James’ 13th Adam Dalgliesh novel.  Named after her father and a teacher of hers, the commander at New Scotland Yard and amateur poet is one of mystery books’ best known actors.

In this novel, Dalgliesh, Detective Inspector Kate Miskin, and Detective Sargeant Benton are helicoptered from London to  Combe Island, 12 miles off the coast of Cornwall to investigate the death of Norman Oliver, a world renowned author.  Combe had been in the Holcombe family since the 16th C and was now held by a Trust for the purpose of providing privacy, security, and rest for the famous and influential.  Norman Oliver had been born on the island 68 years earlier when his father was in charge of the boat and comings and goings by sea and had begun to return to Combe every three months with his daughter and his copy editor.  When Oliver was found hanging from a rope tied to the railing of the lighthouse, Dalgliesh is sent to sort out the mess.  An island provides the same elements as a ‘closed room’ murder, with the usual cast of a dozen or so suspects–the cook, the housekeeper, the fallen priest, the two guests, and a handful of others.  James has written a good one here.

James, who died in 2014 at the age of 94, was inducted into the International Crime Writing Hall of Fame in 2008 and continues to enjoy wide readership in many languages as well as TV and movie adaptations.  While she was nowhere near as prolific as Agatha Christie, I enjoyed this book much more than the Christie book I read that was also set in Cornwall.  Her writing was tighter and better than Christie’s, but to be fair, she was writing 80 years later.  The key difference, in my opinion, is that Dalgliesh is a more complex, interesting, and believable character than the mustache-twiddling, egotistical Belgian, Hercule Poirot.

If you’re looking for a traditional British ‘who dunnit’, I’d recommend James for sure.  By the way, it wasn’t the cook or the housekeeper.