The Lighthouse - P.D. James

...his first murder case, by the absoluteness of death. Once the body was cold and rigor mortis had started its inevitable and predictable progress, it was almost impossible to believe that this stiffening encumbrance of flesh, bone and muscle had ever been alive. No animal was ever as dead as was a man…"



It has been several years since the enigmatic poet and senior Scotland Yard detective Adam Dalgliesh last intrigued ...
...on a lonely island off the coast of Cornwall. The character created by crime writer P.D. James once again applies his mind to solving another seemingly insoluble murder and for fans of P.D. James and Adam Dalgliesh it has sometimes seemed that this book has been a long time coming: P.D. James has developed some notoriety for the length of time she leaves between the publication of her novels and this one has been eagerly anticipated by fans of the ... more

"…Dalgliesh's mind obeyed its own compulsions…He was struck, as he had been as a young detective constable on his first murder case, by the absoluteness of death. Once the body was cold and rigor mortis had started its inevitable and predictable progress, it was almost impossible to believe that this stiffening encumbrance of flesh, bone and muscle had ever been alive. No animal was ever as dead as was a man…"

It has been several years since the enigmatic poet and senior Scotland Yard detective Adam Dalgliesh last intrigued us with his crime-solving abilities in "The Murder Room" but now he has returned in a new story, this time set on a lonely island off the coast of Cornwall. The character created by crime writer P.D. James once again applies his mind to solving another seemingly insoluble murder and for fans of P.D. James and Adam Dalgliesh it has sometimes seemed that this book has been a long time coming: P.D. James has developed some notoriety for the length of time she leaves between the publication of her novels and this one has been eagerly anticipated by fans of the author.

The eponymous lighthouse stands on the fictitious Combe Island, a small speck of land off the Cornish coast which has made a name for itself as offering a haven of peace for those high-profile figures weary of 21st century life and seeking some respite for a few weeks. When one of the guests on the island is found dead in bizarre circumstances, fear begins to surround those other residents who themselves are either guests or members of staff. Given the sensitive nature of the death, Commander Adam Dalgliesh is called in to investigate and brings with him colleagues Inspector Kate Miskin and Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith. Although at first the death is merely suspicious it soon becomes clear that murder has been committed and that almost everyone on the island has a motive. Through their investigations the team uncovers some disturbing facts about the bloody history of the island and begin to see connections between the murder and the strange events of the past, events which will lead them to the killer.

This book represents the latest of many outings for Adam Dalgliesh and it seems in some ways that his character really has reached its limit for development. Previous novels have established that he is very senior in his profession, that he is a published poet and that he lost his wife and baby son many years previously. I find it quite endearing that Dalgliesh is almost ageless: he first appeared as a character in the early 1960s and if he existed in real time he would surely be in his eighties or nineties by now. In "The Lighthouse" we are reminded too that Dalgliesh is currently involved with Cambridge University lecturer Emma Lavenham which does give a more human edge to this often aloof character. However, Dalgliesh has always been a somewhat mysterious man and this continues to be true in "The Lighthouse" as we learn little more about his private life. Moreover, due to developments in the plot, Dalgliesh plays a much smaller role in this story than in previous ones and much of the detective work is taken over by his two colleagues. I sense that James may be planning to retire Dalgliesh soon and is gradually reducing his appearances in her novels, although to many a P.D. James novel without Dalgliesh would be like bread without butter.

The relatively low focus on Dalgliesh does serve to highlight some of the other characters in the book though, in particular his second-in-command Kate Miskin. Her character has been present in previous James' novels but it is only in "The Lighthouse" that she begins to assume a more major role. Whereas before she was something of a sounding board for Dalgliesh's ideas and opinions, on this occasion she is forced to assume more responsibility for the investigation whether she is ready or not. It is interesting to see her character thrust into the forefront and James portrays Miskins' previously two-dimensional character in a more human way: having been given her first big break, Miskin is fearful of failing both herself and Dalgliesh and the exposure of her anxieties makes her seem all the more credible. Her relationship with Benton-Smith also gives some insight into her character and forms a subplot. Although more junior in rank, Benton-Smith is a bright graduate who has fast-tracked his way to his position, unlike Miskin who has come up through the ranks. She is faced with having to be boss to someone she regards as cleverer than her and her feelings of insecurity and inferiority add an interesting dimension to the investigation as the two officers try to work together under Dalgliesh. In some ways then, the book provides a very good analysis of human nature and a fascinating study of human relationships, quite apart from the detective story which is also unfolding.

The inclusion of details about her main characters' private lives is one of James' hallmarks and this certainly does help to bring these people to life. Unfortunately, this is somewhat clumsily achieved in "The Lighthouse". Unlike her previous novels, James does not simply intersperse fragments of information about the private lives of Dalgliesh, Miskin or Benton-Smith throughout the novel but instead opens the book with several short chapters where Dalgliesh, Miskin and Benton-Smith are each seen enjoying their home lives before they all receive the call that unites them to solve a new case. This gave a slightly "forced" feeling to proceedings, as if James felt that she needed to impart this information to us as quickly as possible before getting on to the main part of the story.
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However, I think my main criticism of this book is that it is really too much like every other novel James has written: she has made a name for herself in writing about "country house murders" in modern day settings and there are marked similarities between many of them. What I mean by this is that her novels almost invariably revolve around a murder which has a very limited number of suspects, all of whom have a strong motive, a bit like a game of "Cluedo". In the case of her novel "The Murder Room" the museum location of the killing restricted the number of suspects, whereas with "The Lighthouse" it is the geography of the island which serves this purpose. Her books are frequently set it very salubrious locations populated by mainly upper-middle class characters: in James' world there are very few run down housing estates or ghettos. In this sense she is perhaps a modern day Agatha Christie and those who enjoy Christie's detective fiction may also enjoy stories like "The Lighthouse". However, this is doing a bit of a disservice to James: her novels definitely feel more cerebral and high brow than anything Christie wrote and the way she develops her characters is also something which is largely absent from Christie's works. James' works also have a modern day grittiness and brutality which is absent from Christie's gently bucolic village murders. The descriptions of death and the gore of murder are in places graphic but they never overwhelm the reader and do give an added sense of realism to James' works. It is a shame though that James has not made better use of the setting for the novel. Her evocative descriptions of the island landscape are very colourful and at times it is easy to imagine windswept, lonely Combe, such is James' skill in painting it. However, the "country house murder" feel that the book has means that it could really have been set anywhere, even in a city and I think the book might have been strengthened had the powerful landscape been drawn more into the tale.

The slightly twee country house style does not make the overall plot any less credible and James is skilled in bringing to life believable characters, people who we can all relate to in some way. Like many of James' novels, this one follows the tried and tested formula of an investigation characterized by lengthy interviews with each suspect in turn, meetings of the police officers to discuss progress followed by some crucial discovery leading to the climax. In this case, the story is let down by the ending however. In a somewhat clumsy plot twist, Dalgliesh has some kind of epiphany and suddenly solves the crime in an instant. Reading this, it almost felt as though James was suddenly tired of writing this tale and wanted to bring it all to a close. In her previous stories Dalgliesh has arrived at the solution through careful reasoning and investigation but in "The Lighthouse" this does not occur and despite being largely absent from much of the investigation he is somehow miraculously able to unravel the whole mystery in one fell swoop. This does detract from the overall quality of the novel and, like the opening chapters which describe the police officers' home lives, it gives a rushed feeling to the book.

This book is not really one of P.D. James best and is not quite up to the standard of such previous greats as "Devices and Desires" or "The Black Tower". Fans of Dalgliesh will no doubt want to read this to get the fix which they have been craving for several years but other readers may find that the story is not as engaging as they might expect from a writer of James' stature. It is somewhat ironic that one of the main characters in "The Lighthouse" is an ageing writer, worried that his talents are deserting him and that his life is drawing to a close. I pray this is not the case with P.D. James: she is a very talented writer and has produced some exceptional crime stories in the past. I hope that "The Lighthouse" represents a temporary departure from form and that she will continue to delight readers for some years to come. "The Lighthouse" is a good, but not exceptional, piece of crime fiction and should be enjoyable by anyone who likes this genre. However, I would suggest that readers try some of James' other tales before embarking on this as it is not the best introduction to the character of Dalgliesh or to James' work as a whole.

"The Lighthouse" by P.D. James, published by Faber & Faber 2005. Available in paperback for £3.99 from Amazon and from all major bookstores.

 

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