Monday 10 November 2008

Slow Mystery

Finished November 8
The Private Patient by P.D. James
This is a very slow-moving book and at times I wished things would just move along a bit faster. It is however, a well-written book, and that makes it good.
The characters are what makes the book, from the investigative journalist Rhoda Gradwyn, a woman who books surgery to get a scar removed, to the staff at the private hospital where she gets the work done. You know from the start that Rhoda will die, but not the circumstances of the death. The buildup to the murder is extensive and we get to know the various staff at Cheverall Manor, from the cook and his wife to the doctor himself.
As the characters make themselves known you begin to see the underlying resentments and motivations, but until the murder is done, you don't get to see it all. I do wish the book had moved a bit more quickly, but I enjoyed the story despite that.

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