8 /10 1 Votes
Country United Kingdom Series Adam Dalgliesh #7 Originally published 9 June 1986 Followed by Devices and Desires Genres Crime Fiction, Mystery | 4/5 Goodreads Language English Publication date 9 June 1986 Publisher Faber and Faber | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (Hardback, Paperback) Pages 454 pp (hardback first edition) Preceded by Death of an Expert Witness Similar P D James books, Adam Dalgliesh mystery books, Crime Fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A Taste for Death is a crime novel by British writer P. D. James, seventh in the popular Commander Adam Dalgliesh series. The novel won the Silver Dagger in 1986, losing out on the Gold to Ruth Rendell's Live Flesh. It has been adapted for television and radio.
Contents
Plot summary
In the dingy vestry of St. Matthew's Church, Paddington, two bodies have been found with their throats slashed. One is an alcoholic vagrant, whereas the other is Sir Paul Berowne, a baronet and recently resigned Minister of the Crown. Poet and Commander Adam Dalgliesh investigates one of the most convoluted cases of his career...
Title
The title is drawn from a short poem by A. E. Housman which concludes "There's this to say for blood and breath,/ they give a man a taste for death".
Reviews
A cunningly compulsive work... heart-pounding suspense - Sunday Times
Lady James, a novelist of broad gifts and great skill, here is writing in full mastery of her craft - The New York Times Book Review
Here is still, thank goodness, the world of the classic detective tale - Malcolm Bradbury