Saavy

A Death In Holy Orders: A Review

It is seldom that one comes across a book that is thought provoking and thrilling in equal measure. A Death in Holy Orders by P. D. James is one such book. I normally don’t like fiction but was completely addicted to during my entire ’romantic weekend away'at chalet val thorens with my husband, he wasn’t overly pleased.

James is widely considered to be the greatest living mystery writer and in this book, she lives up to that honor and more. She has told an intricate story in the most lucid yet compelling manner. Her characters are vividly etched and appear as genuine as actual people. And, there is something for both a serious booklover and a suspense aficionado in this novel.

The story is absorbing in its own right. The isolated and rugged shoreline of East Anglia and St. Anselm’s, the theological college located there, far from the mundane world, provide an evocative backdrop for themurder mystery. The characters such as the priests, the ordinands, and the employees are all multidimensional and therefore, not easily fathomable. Each one is capable of suggesting innocence or candor and yet they all become suspects in a brutal case of murder.

The detection crew is headed by the poet detective, Commander Adam Dagliesh. He is experienced, intelligent, authoritative, and self- possessed. He is also, deeply thoughtful and poetically imaginative. His character is not that of a cut and dried detective but of a hero, in the truest sense of the word. Hence, the hint of romance surrounding him in the novel is convincing, even pleasing.

The leisurely, deliberate pace and extended descriptions and meanderings could have been tedious but they give layers of significance to the narrative. James gets the readers involved in this sensational story about ambition, revenge, love, incest, failure, and murder. She makes them uncomfortable by posing questions about belief, sin, and the consequences of action.

The ending might seem somewhat anticlimactic but A Death in Holy Orders closes on a balanced and almost hushed note that is satisfying. Justice prevails, the old and rigid ways are set aside, innocence is salvaged, and love is promised.