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Original Sin

Customer Rating:
I enjoyed this book immensely. The book starts with a suicide, spends several pages establishing the motives of every character, then gets down to murdering the person everyone has reason to kill. The rest of the book involves itself with figuring out whodunnit.

This is my first Adam Dalgliesh mystery, but it won't be my last. Ms. James spends a lot of time with all of the characters, and you get a real feel for what everyone is going through. The ending is logical, and I found myself staying up late at night trying to finish the book.

The Queen of Suspense does it again !

Customer Rating:
As in Agatha Christie novels, P>D> James has written another superb, well-plotted and thrilling novel. Her character descriptions and their development are always perfect (I recommend DEATH IN HOLY ORDERS as the prime example of her talent. One can not leave the book alone for long because the pace and developments carry you along so strongly that you MUST FINISH it as soon as possible.

Too long

Customer Rating:
I thought the premise was great, an office prankster may have gone too far and committed murder. But the complexity of trying to unravel three possible murders with so many suspects is exhausting. Here is a short list of suspects: Peverell, DeWitt, the Etiennes, Dauntsey, Blackie, Mandy, George, Mr. Bartrum Mrs Bartrum or both, Sister Agnes, and Pitt-Cowley.
I loved the first 300 pages, but lost steam and finally ran out of gas on page 435.

Having said the above, a high point for me was the desription of the chapel at Othona. I guess I never thought of a church which was built in 635.

To Be Judge, Jury & Executioner

Customer Rating:
Lady James' detective fiction transcends its genre--it is that good. Her over thirty years of experience have taught her how to craft nuanced plots and characters that will live long after the book is finished. "Original Sin" is about revenge. To say much more risks the plot, but suffice it to say that this book has something of value to leave with the reader. Lady James uses death to teach us about life.

Dalgliesh is at his typical best and shares top billing with a House on the Thames--not just a house, a palace. The house is home to a publishing dynasty that is coming to an end as the new director, an evil yuppie type, wreaks havoc in the boardroom. Nice setting. Not only does the book treat revenge, there is also a good deal of thematic material dealing with the satisfaction of various characters with their lives and it is well developed. Our author has much to say about what is truly valuable in life and that is a question far more compelling than who did the murder.

Well written but tedious

Customer Rating:
This is my 3rd PD James book and I have to say I was quite disappointed. (The other 2 were Murder Room and A Certain Justice.)

I found most of the characters to be not terribly believable and one dimensional. Even Dalgliesh was not well drawn.

And to make it worse, the plot was not believable.

I agree with someone else who said borrow this from the library, don't buy it.