P. D. James, The Private Patient

James has done it again with this latest installment of the Adam Dalgliesh mysteries. In her usual style, she takes the reader into the life of the victim, Rhoda Gradwyn, and into the messiness of the lives that surround her untimely death. Much like a classic Agatha Christie mystery, we puzzle over a number of possible killers, each with some opportunity or motive. And, as always, James's insightful characters Commander Dalgliesh, Inspector Kate Mishkin, and Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith lend continuity and depth to the mystery. In this story Rhoda Gradwyn, a "private patient" at a plastic surgery clinic in the English countryside is murdered at the clinic hours after her operation. Dalgliesh and his team work to uncover the connections between the patient and the workers at the clinic, turning up some rather unusual links. A couple of subsequent deaths thicken the plot, but the pieces fall into place nonetheless. I enjoyed this book as much as I have enjoyed many of her previous books. It is a good story by a great writer.