cripper's Full Review: P. D. James - The Private Patient
Kris Kringle presents (or presents received from one of your workmates posing as Santa Claus) can either be a success or not such a success. Kris Kringle in 2008 at work was one of those years which proved to be not much of a success. Having been known to be a bit of bookworm at work, it was not much of a surprise that I received the book The Private Patient by P.D. James. Having never read any of James' previous works, I did not know what to expect from this novel. Because of my lack of knowledge of the writer and the book itself, I decided to postpone reading this book until recently. I am not sure whether it was a good idea or not to postpone reading this. Its good in the sense that I did not have to suffer reading this before. However its not good that I suppressed reading this novel until just recently. Anyways I digress from the topic at hand.
This is the most recent tale in the collection of Adam Dalgliesh mysteries. In this particular story, Rhoda Gradwyn, a notorious investigative journalist based in London, has decided to remove a scar that has been on her face for the last 34 years. She decides to check herself into Cheverell Manor in Dorset which contains a private plastic surgery clinic run by Dr. George Chandler-Powell, one of Europe's finest plastic surgeons. The night after the successful operation to remove her scar, Rhoda is mysteriously strangled to death at the manor. Because of her status in the world of journalism, it is up to Commander Adam Dalgliesh and his team of specialists from the London Metropolitan Police to find out who murdered Rhoda.
The first part of the book is dedicated to developing the various characters in the book. The history of Rhoda's scar is examined as well as her general upbringing from a relatively poor family. Dr. Chandler-Powell's history of his professional and personal life is also looked into in detail. One also gets to look into the life of Dalgliesh and his upcoming marraige to Emma, a lecturer at Cambridge. A common theme runs through these three main characters of the book and that is the idea of their lives being exceedingly private to others. The private patient, obviously being Rhoda, has lived a very private life and no one is ever sure about what she is really thinking or even sure about why after 34 years she has decided to remove the scar from her face. Chandler-Powell's personal life is something of an enigma. He has been married once but has not married since and seems to be married to his work. Dalgliesh, who is about to be married, separates his work life from his personal life to such an extent that his wife never really understands the serious nature of his work and his work colleagues have very little awareness of what takes place in his personal life.
Along with these characters are a multitude of characters. Many of these characters are in the manor. Other than Chandler-Powell, there is Marcus Holland, Chandler-Powell's right-hand man in the clinic. Flavia Holland is a nurse in Chandler-Powell's operating ward. Helena Cressett, whose father owned the mansion before Chandler-Powell did, is an administrator of the manor and looks after the manor when Chandler-Powell is working in his clinic in London. Lettie Frensham and Marcus' sister Candace look after the accounts of the manor. Mog is the gardener of the manor and has been so for over 30 years. Dean and Kimberley Bostock are the chefs of the manor cooking for the various inhabitants at the manor, for patients and for temporary staff that Chandler-Powell employs for his operations. And last but not least, there is Sharon who assists the Bostocks in their kitchen duties. The history of each of these characters are examined and we get a solid feel for whom each of these characters are. It is also interesting to see the development of some of the relationship between these characters both before and after the murder particularly the relationship between Lettie Frensham and Helena Cressett and the Bostocks.
There is also Dalgliesh's team of Detective Kate Miskin and Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith. The interaction between Dalgliesh, Miskin and Benton-Smith is one that is strictly professional and their personal lives are never brought into their work. The work is conveyed as tiresome, mind-numbing and emotionally draining and this is well conveyed by James. James also does paint a picture of each officers' personal lives.
Whilst the characters and their relationships are generally very well-developed, the book has numerous faults.
For example, take a look at the book's very first sentence:-
"On November the 21st, the day of her forty-seventh birthday and three weeks and two days before she was murdered, Rhoda Gradwyn went to Harley Street to keep a first appointment with her plastic surgeon, and there in a consulting room designed, so it appeared, to inspire confidence and allay apprehension, made the decision which would lead inexorably to her death."
To me, there are a few things very wrong with the above sentence that set the tone for the book. The reader is told immediately that Rhoda is going to be murdered and after being told this, James takes her time reaching the inevitable murder of Rhoda. Because the reader has already been told about Rhoda's death, there is no build up of suspense leading up to Rhoda's murder. In fact, the first 100 pages of the book (there are 395 pages in the book) dedicated to Rhoda become tedious to read. As a reader, I already know what is going to happen and a slow build-up to the murder feels like a pointless exercise.
The second issue I have with the above sentence, which also sets the tone for the rest of the book, is the overly verbose prose from James. There is no doubt that James has an expansive vocabulary. However the unnecessarily long sentences hamper her ability to use the English language and her writing becomes incredibly frustrating to read after a while. Also, it is not always clear what James is trying to express through these lengthy, wordy sentences. I feel that James complicates what she has to say by consistently using long sentences.
These are not the only two issues I had with the book. Throughout the book, I felt there was a lack of focus as to what the book is trying to be. The book advertises itself as a crime thriller. However the book starts off as a character drama of the various individuals and relationships within Cheverell Manor. Once Rhoda is killed, the book becomes a whodunit in the style reminiscent of an Agatha Christie-Hercule Poirot story. This lack of focus was a bit bothersome as I was never really sure what this book was trying to be.
It is clear that the book's protagonist is Adam Dalgliesh. Having not read any of the other books in the Adam Dalgliesh series, I have to admit that I felt largely indifferent towards Dalgliesh. As a protagonist, Dalgliesh is a boring character lacking a personality that is even remotely attractive to the reader.
There are a few subplots which the book tries to implement, such as Adam's relationship with Emma and Marcus Westhall's desire to become a doctor in Africa and leave Cheverell Manor amongst others, but leave underdeveloped. It almost feels as if the subplots are conveniently slotted for the sake of filling in gaps between the book's main drama.
Despite the poor pacing in the first half of the book, the pacing does improve in the second half of the book. When Dalgliesh and the team arrive on the scene, the action starts to pick up and the book moves at a quicker pace and becomes much more suspenseful. James is able to provide some unexpected plot twists which builds up the suspense in the latter half of the story and this leads to an ending which is, although not altogether surprising, fittingly climactic but at the same time open-ended.
I guess The Private Patient is not a terribly bad book but it is far from even being a good book. Like I said above, this is one of those Kris Kringle presents that I wished that I had not received and I would not recommend this book to anyone.
In James s stellar 14th Adam Dalgliesh mystery, the charismatic police commander investigates the case of Rhoda Gradwyn, a 47-year-old journalist murd...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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