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therealkathryn's review against another edition
4.0
I'd really give this 3 1/2 stars but am rounding to 4 because of all the enjoyment I've gotten from this series. The mystery was rather light and had a hurried finish but it's always a pleasure to revisit the characters. While not as good as others in the series, that P.D. James wrote this in her late 80s is amazing.
aparkes's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
1.5
pewterwolf's review against another edition
3.0
Might change mind over star rating as, while a solid crime, there are elements of the mystery that feels unfinished [maybe this was PD's plan all along] and one/two subplots that are really jarring/unnecessary [there's one subplot that affects one of our main detectives fiancée's friends that I have HUGE problems with as it's feels like a shock tactic and everything about this subplot happens off screen and is wrapped up so quickly].
Review taken from The Pewter Wolf Reads, as part of Reindeer Readathon 2020.
The final Adam Dalgliesh novel (as well as penultimate novel PD James wrote before her death in 2014 [her last novel was [book:Death Comes to Pemberley|12875355], a murder mystery sequel/fan-fic to Jane Austin’s [b:Pride and Prejudice|22676094|Pride and Prejudice|Jane Austen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1422811831l/22676094._SX50_.jpg|3060926]) and we see Dalgliesh and the team investigate the murder off notorious investigative journalist, Rhoda Gradwyn, who was strangled in a private clinic in Dorset after the successful removal of a disfiguring scar. But as the team try and solve the murder, the question of innocence and guilt become far more complicated and line more blurred…
I’ve only audiobooked one PD James’s novel before this ([b:The Murder Room|2428021|The Murder Room|P.D. James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1408926701l/2428021._SY75_.jpg|3049282], FYI) and I did enjoy it. And, at the time, I did enjoy listening to Private Patient. However, I finished the audiobook and felt… well… I felta little unsatisfied.
Stay with me. I will explain why in a moment.
Like I said before with The Murder Room, I did like this. The writing is quite literary (though PD does have the habit to writing long paragraphs over details that don’t really matter in the scheme of things and things are very, very long-winded) and the narrator of the audiobook is great. His voice was engaging and smoothing. And yes, this is more police prodcedial than I am used to (always nice to mix it up, right?).
But the negatives. Oh, we have problems here, don’t we? I’m not sure how far I can go into explain my issues, but several things happen within this book that angered and frustrated and made me go “Ok, I’m unsatisfied”. First of all, this book has triggers (barring murder, of course). We have a subplot of a child’s murder (in the past and off page), a teacher fearing that he will be wrongly accused of being inappropriate with a child (in the past and we only really talk about this for a chapter. One chapter). But the biggest trigger I have issue with is an off-page violent assault and rape of a female character (not a main character, a female lesbian friend of Dalgliesh’s fiancé). This came out of nowhere and everything happening within this subplot was off page and was all resolved within a few chapters. This came across as a needless “shock” factor moment.
That’s with triggers, but the book’s biggest issue is the ending.
You can, also, tell that this is the last book in the series. The last few chapters where readers/characters feel unsettled, most characters are getting happily ever afters. Fine, I can deal with that, but again, most of this all happens off page. Again, if your main character is getting married and readers have been with him since the first book, [b:Cover Her Face|52024735|Cover Her Face (Adam Dalgliesh, #1)|P.D. James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583191692l/52024735._SY75_.jpg|625423] (first published in UK in 1962), you would think we readers would see his wedding… but nope.
I admit that, out of the two PD James I have audiobooked, I much prefer The Murder Room. I do have other James’s work on my kindle TBR so I will read her over the next few months/years ([b:A Mind To Murder|50279067|A Mind To Murder (Adam Dalgliesh, #2)|P.D. James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1578205899l/50279067._SY75_.jpg|887937], [b:Unnatural Causes|50278012|Unnatural Causes (Adam Dalgliesh, #3)|P.D. James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1578193485l/50278012._SY75_.jpg|58690], [b:The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories|30972246|The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories|P.D. James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1467995066l/30972246._SY75_.jpg|50586645], etc), but I might lower my expectations as, while I did like this, Private Patient feels very unsettled and left me with more questions than answers (and not in a good way, either).
Review taken from The Pewter Wolf Reads, as part of Reindeer Readathon 2020.
The final Adam Dalgliesh novel (as well as penultimate novel PD James wrote before her death in 2014 [her last novel was [book:Death Comes to Pemberley|12875355], a murder mystery sequel/fan-fic to Jane Austin’s [b:Pride and Prejudice|22676094|Pride and Prejudice|Jane Austen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1422811831l/22676094._SX50_.jpg|3060926]) and we see Dalgliesh and the team investigate the murder off notorious investigative journalist, Rhoda Gradwyn, who was strangled in a private clinic in Dorset after the successful removal of a disfiguring scar. But as the team try and solve the murder, the question of innocence and guilt become far more complicated and line more blurred…
I’ve only audiobooked one PD James’s novel before this ([b:The Murder Room|2428021|The Murder Room|P.D. James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1408926701l/2428021._SY75_.jpg|3049282], FYI) and I did enjoy it. And, at the time, I did enjoy listening to Private Patient. However, I finished the audiobook and felt… well… I felt
Stay with me. I will explain why in a moment.
Like I said before with The Murder Room, I did like this. The writing is quite literary (though PD does have the habit to writing long paragraphs over details that don’t really matter in the scheme of things and things are very, very long-winded) and the narrator of the audiobook is great. His voice was engaging and smoothing. And yes, this is more police prodcedial than I am used to (always nice to mix it up, right?).
But the negatives. Oh, we have problems here, don’t we? I’m not sure how far I can go into explain my issues, but several things happen within this book that angered and frustrated and made me go “Ok, I’m unsatisfied”. First of all, this book has triggers (barring murder, of course). We have a subplot of a child’s murder (in the past and off page), a teacher fearing that he will be wrongly accused of being inappropriate with a child (in the past and we only really talk about this for a chapter. One chapter). But the biggest trigger I have issue with is an off-page violent assault and rape of a female character (not a main character, a female lesbian friend of Dalgliesh’s fiancé). This came out of nowhere and everything happening within this subplot was off page and was all resolved within a few chapters. This came across as a needless “shock” factor moment.
That’s with triggers, but the book’s biggest issue is the ending.
Spoiler
We find out the killer and justice is delivered. You think that would be it, right? Nope, we have several chapters where the characters (suspects, detectives, even us readers) get the sense that maybe the killer wasn’t the killer and maybe they were covering for someone. Yes, in the eyes of the law, the case is solved, but is it? We never find out. I think I understand why PD James did this - she’s trying to show the not every case is going to be solve neatly. We have so many questions about Rhoda and her death and they aren’t solved. And yet, I feel like if authors are going to do that, they need to let their readers in on the truth. The characters can have this uneasy feeling but it feels like a con/cheat when the reader comes away from a mystery novel going “Wait, why’s the killer?”.You can, also, tell that this is the last book in the series. The last few chapters where readers/characters feel unsettled, most characters are getting happily ever afters. Fine, I can deal with that, but again, most of this all happens off page. Again, if your main character is getting married and readers have been with him since the first book, [b:Cover Her Face|52024735|Cover Her Face (Adam Dalgliesh, #1)|P.D. James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583191692l/52024735._SY75_.jpg|625423] (first published in UK in 1962), you would think we readers would see his wedding… but nope.
I admit that, out of the two PD James I have audiobooked, I much prefer The Murder Room. I do have other James’s work on my kindle TBR so I will read her over the next few months/years ([b:A Mind To Murder|50279067|A Mind To Murder (Adam Dalgliesh, #2)|P.D. James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1578205899l/50279067._SY75_.jpg|887937], [b:Unnatural Causes|50278012|Unnatural Causes (Adam Dalgliesh, #3)|P.D. James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1578193485l/50278012._SY75_.jpg|58690], [b:The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories|30972246|The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories|P.D. James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1467995066l/30972246._SY75_.jpg|50586645], etc), but I might lower my expectations as, while I did like this, Private Patient feels very unsettled and left me with more questions than answers (and not in a good way, either).
cjgmiranda220's review against another edition
2.0
I liked the way the book started and the details you read about the victim. There were long, drawn-out details about the other characters in the book. There really wasn't enough suspects, so you only had three choices. Overall, I did enjoy the story, but I wasn't in love with it.
bluestarfish's review against another edition
3.0
A country house murder, even though the country house in question is a cosmetic surgery clinic for private patients. There is some overarching wrapping up of storylines for the main detective team, but there is still an absorbing mystery to unravel along the way. And I really do appreciate the way the victim is never just "the victim" but that we do get to know her a little before the death.
jacki_f's review against another edition
4.0
The Private Patient is the story of the investigation into the murder of a patient staying at a private medical clinic in the English countryside. The first quarter of the book precedes the murder, and the remainder is about the police investigation of the crime. The book starts quite slowly, with a lot of background on virtually every character (whether central or not), but the atmosphere of foreboding holds your attention and the momentum picks up once the investigation begins.
This is not a thriller. It's about the painstaking business of a murder investigation: laborious research, false leads, conflicting accounts and an emphasis throughout on procedure. In many ways it is reminiscent of the novels of Agatha Christie (right down to the setting in a remote manor house). P D James has lavished the novel with an immense attention to detail, especially in the descriptions of the locations and characters. The result is very satisfying, although somewhat let down by a far-fetched and overly complex resolution.
This is the first book that I have read by P D James. From reading other reviews, I gather that this is not one of her best, but it's a very English and literary read which I enjoyed very much. The central detective, Adam Dalgliesh and his team have apparently appeared in no less than 13 other books, but it made no difference to this reader to be meeting them for the first time.
This is not a thriller. It's about the painstaking business of a murder investigation: laborious research, false leads, conflicting accounts and an emphasis throughout on procedure. In many ways it is reminiscent of the novels of Agatha Christie (right down to the setting in a remote manor house). P D James has lavished the novel with an immense attention to detail, especially in the descriptions of the locations and characters. The result is very satisfying, although somewhat let down by a far-fetched and overly complex resolution.
This is the first book that I have read by P D James. From reading other reviews, I gather that this is not one of her best, but it's a very English and literary read which I enjoyed very much. The central detective, Adam Dalgliesh and his team have apparently appeared in no less than 13 other books, but it made no difference to this reader to be meeting them for the first time.
retiredlibrarylady's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this but probably not as much as I would have if I had read earlier ones in the series. I read some years ago, but apparently a lot has happened since! James is such an elegant writer, but I wished I had it on my Kindle so I could look up some of the words without searching out a dictionary!
The victim here is not sympathetic and less so after her murder as we find out more about her. I might have missed it, but didn't see the answer to the question about why she was having her scar removed...because she didn't need it anymore. Why? Also, the murderer is absolutely wacky and Sharon still seems pathological even if she was naught but a red herring.
The victim here is not sympathetic and less so after her murder as we find out more about her. I might have missed it, but didn't see the answer to the question about why she was having her scar removed...because she didn't need it anymore. Why? Also, the murderer is absolutely wacky and Sharon still seems pathological even if she was naught but a red herring.
sandin954's review against another edition
3.0
It is always a treat to have another Dalghliesh to read but the plotting in this book was not quite up to James’ high standard.
wychwoodnz's review against another edition
3.0
The only comment I have is that I was expecting more subtlety with the descriptive prose. Works well in most circumstances, but there was some really clunky dialogue resulting from incorporating an unnatural level of detail. There was also the odd spot of "she boiled the kettle, she poured the water into the teapot, they waited while the tea brewed, she poured the tea, they drank the tea" type of unnecessary exposition which started to annoy me once I'd spotted it.