Devices and Desires
First edition
AuthorP. D. James
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
SeriesAdam Dalgliesh #8
GenreCrime, mystery
PublisherFaber & Faber
Publication date
2 October 1989
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages454 (first edition, hardback)
ISBN0-571-14178-1 (first edition, hardback)
OCLC20416380
Preceded byA Taste for Death 
Followed byOriginal Sin 

Devices and Desires is a 1989 detective novel by English writer P. D. James, part of her Adam Dalgliesh series. It takes place on Larksoken, a fictional isolated headland in Norfolk. The title comes from the service of Morning Prayer in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer: "We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts".

Plot overview

Commander Adam Dalgliesh, having published his second volume of poetry, retreats to the remote Larksoken headland where his recently deceased aunt, Jane Dalgliesh, has left him a converted windmill. However, a psychopathic serial killer, known as the Norfolk Whistler, is on the loose and seems to have arrived at Larksoken when Dalgliesh finds the body of the nearby nuclear power plant's Acting Administrative Officer during an evening stroll on the beach.

Reception

In a 1990 book review for The New York Times, Judith Crist wrote "Her newest mystery, 'Devices and Desires,' is P. D. James at better than her best... She has not failed us, and she has exceeded herself."[1]

Adaptations

A television version of the novel was produced for Britain's ITV network in 1991. It starred Roy Marsden as Adam Dalgliesh.

References

  1. Crist, Judith (28 January 1990). "A Detective in Spite of Himself". New York Times. New York. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
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