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    The Private Patient
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    The Private Patient
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    The Private Patient
    Audiobook14 hours

    The Private Patient

    Written by P. D. James

    Narrated by Rosalyn Landor

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Cheverell Manor is a lovely old house in deepest Dorset, now a private clinic belonging to the famous plastic surgeon George Chandler-Powell. When investigative journalist Rhoda Gradwyn arrived there one late autumn afternoon, scheduled to have a disfiguring and long-standing facial scar removed, she had every expectation of a successful operation and a pleasant week recuperating.

    Two days later she was dead, the victim of murder.

    To Commander Adam Dalgliesh, who with his team is called in to investigate the case, the mystery at first seems absolute. Few things about it make sense. Yet as the detectives begin probing the lives and backgrounds of those connected with the dead woman-the surgeon, members of the manor staff, close acquaintances-suspects multiply all too rapidly. New confusions arise, including strange historical overtones of madness and a lynching 350 years in the past. Then there is a second murder, and Dalgliesh finds himself confronted by issues even more challenging than innocence or guilt.

    P. D. James has gained an enviable reputation for creating detective stories of uncommon depth and intricacy, combined with the sort of humanity and perceptiveness found only in the finest novelists. The Private Patient ranks among her very best.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateNov 18, 2008
    ISBN9780739376928
    Unavailable
    The Private Patient
    Author

    P. D. James

    P. D. James (1920–2014) was born in Oxford in 1920. She worked in the National Health Service and the Home Office From 1949 to 1968, in both the Police Department and Criminal Policy Department. All that experience was used in her novels. She won awards for crime writing in Britain, America, Italy, and Scandinavia, including the Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Award and the National Arts Club Medal of Honour for Literature. She received honorary degrees from seven British universities, was awarded an OBE in 1983 and was created a life peer in 1991.

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    Reviews for The Private Patient

    3.5/5

    711 ratings55 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Although I read this mystery with zest finishing it within a week, I was quite disappointed with it overall. Rather maudlin at the end --perhaps fans of AD & his crew need a sentimental slice of the characters' 'lives'--, the culprit was recognizable and the incident with the secondary suspect at the end was beyond far-fetched without prior build up; not to mention the totally extraneous incident with E's friend. This book could have been trimmed down drastically and the story would still have been intact.
    • 4/5
      A complex closed envioronment mystery set in a private surgacal clinic in the English countryside. Commander Dalgleish and his squad take over from the local police after an investigative journalist is murdered in her bed. The suspects, as in classic cozies, is limited to the inhabitants of the converted manor, a complex group of people with no readily apparent motives. The solution is surprising, and does rely on information not given the reader. It is even a little ambiguous, with Dalgleish left wondering whether he has the complete story. Very evocative descriptions of the building and surroundings.
    • 4/5
      Yup, I definitely need to read more P.D. James :)

      This book rambles a bit, and it may be endemic to the series. With the lovely narration, and rich characterization, though, it was very pleasant rambling.
    • 4/5
      Although I could never hope to be as good a writer on my best day as P. D. James is on her worst day I have to say I didn't find this as good as some of her best work. There were several, admittedly minor, questions left unanswered and I thought it was somewhat dispassionate even though the murders in the plot were crimes of passion. Maybe it is time for Adam Dalgliesh and his creator to retire. The title refers to Rhoda Gradwyn, a successful investigative journalist with a terrible facial scar, who goes to a noted plastic surgeon to finally have the scar removed. She elects to have the operation done at his private clinic, situated in the magnificent home in Dorset called Cheverell Manor. The night after her successful operation she is strangled in her bed. Adam Dalgliesh and his special team are called in because the other private patient at the clinic is married to an important political person. In the lead up to the murder there are several people who might have motives for murdering Rhoda. There is her friend, Robin Boyton, who is perpetually low on money and has been told by Rhoda that he will be left something in her will. There is Helena Cresset who was raised in Cheverell Manor but her father had to sell it after a financial scandal that was exposed by Rhoda. Helena is now the manager of the private clinic and lives in the Manor. Then there is Candace Westhall, sister of the assisting surgeon, who objected very strongly to Rhoda being treated at the Manor because of her profession. As Dalgliesh and his team investigates more possibilities arise and then the body of Robin Boyton is discovered in a disused freezer. Slowly, inexorably the guilty party becomes obvious. There is some development of the personal lives of the investigators and the other people at the Manor but, as I said in the beginning, some questions are never answered. In particular, we never get an answer to why Rhoda decided after 34 years to get the scar fixed, why she said "I no longer need it." That to me is an unsatisfactory plot device.
    • 4/5
      P.D. James belongs to that coveted British mystery novelist genre so well represented by Agatha Christie and Ngiao Marsh - well there is plenty of room in their lofty station for a writer of Ms James' calibre.
      The Private Patient is another of her skillfully crafted mysteries. Her mysteries draws one in, both to the story and into the lives of the characters, several of whom can be made to seem to have a motive.
      We learn about the patient and her quiet lonely desperation which lead her to seek surgery at last. Just when she is about to have a chance at a normal life - perhaps one in which she would find real friends. and one in which she could hold her head up proudly.
      There are, as usual, several viable suspects, with plausible motives. It is up to our hero, Inspector Dalgiesh, in the typical British reserved manor, to reflect upon the clues and decifer which point to the perpetrator of the crime.
    • 4/5
      In theory I like the idea that Dame James tried something new--the detecting does not solve the mysteries, but then there is a long unwinding on motive. In practice, I found it a little dull. Also, the perp, who must be truly evil to have killed or attempted to kill as she did (the second two) does not come across that way. A small thing--the first victim says she is giving up her scar "because she no longer needs it." This keeps being referred to--but there's never any explanation.
    • 4/5
      Not the best P. D. James mystery (I'm fond of Cover Her Face), but still thoroughly enjoyable.
    • 5/5
      After thirty years, Rhoda Gradwyn has decided to get rid of the long facial scar on her left cheek. Something her father had given her at sixteen while he was drunk and angry. She had become very successful as an investigative journalist and felt it was now time for a change.She chose to have the work done at Cheverell Manor in Dorset, Mr. Chandler-Powell’s private clinic (surgeons go by Mr. rather than Dr. in England). She was told there was no risk to her on the surgery. In about a week all would be done and she would be home. It didn’t turn out that way.There are a number of secrets at the manor. Some that wind up connecting to Rhoda and cause her death.Chandler-Powell had bought the manor from Sir Nicholas Cressett. His daughter works at the clinic/manor. There are the Westhalls, brother and sister, who live and work on the property. They have a connection to Robin Boyton, who is also a friend of Rhoda and stays in one of the cottages on the manor property. There is Sister Flavia Holland, the head nurse, who also has some nice curves. The Bostocks are the cooks for the manor. He has dreams of his own restaurant. They also live on the premises. Quite a nice selection of possible suspects, which is what they become, when Rhoda is found dead in her bed the morning following her surgery.Commander Dalgliesh, of New Scotland Yard, is called in to investigate per orders from 10 Downing Street. Dalgleish finds there are secrets and past crimes that shade the current case. Not only does he have to unravel the current case, he has to unravel and connect up the old crimes to make sense of the current case.Bit by bit, Dalgleish uncovers and puts together the pieces to get a full picture and solution to who, what, why and how Rhoda was murdered.
    • 3/5
      Murder and family conflict.
    • 3/5
      I felt this was not P.D. James's best book, but it did give us closure. It was good to see Adam Dalgliesh finally happy, though I can't help thinking he would have been better off with Kate. The resolution of the mystery confused me, though, and I could not figure out the Helena/George subplot, unless it was to contrast with Dalgliesh and Emma.
    • 3/5
      very much overrated.
    • 3/5
      Ponderous and too full of unhappy people . . . a necessary element of a "closed room" mystery, I realize, but also the reason I'm quitting that sub-genre.
    • 3/5
      strange ending, i can't say i quite got what the last chapter was all about
    • 4/5
      As always I was very impressed how PD James builds up her stories. It's not the murder which is the centre of the plot, it's more an addition to the stories of all characters. PD James can outline all the characters so vividly and with a great love that you can get the feeling to have met them personally and have spent some time with them. In this story a journalist who went for a plastic surgery in a Manor (also a privat clinic) has been throttled. A few days later another person was killed, too. Adam Dalgliesh and his team had to solve the puzzles. The path to solve them led Dalgliesh's team to different places and life stories. Some of them were related to each other whereas some were unrelated. The outcome was a surprise especially the murderer's action and I was happy that Dalgliesh didn't let it stand like that but was searching for answers.
    • 4/5
      James expertly captures human personalities and complexities in her characters making them realistically multifaceted and not one dimensional. The Private Patient is no exception. I believe that James' novels are so "comfortably readable" to me is that she isn't afraid to portray Dagliesh and his staff as good people with vulnerabilities, smarts and a desire to help those they serve.Good read!
    • 4/5
      I always like P.D. James for her intricate plots, and the range of delightful British characters that populate her books. This story did not disappoint in that way, although I found the conclusion a bit contrived.
    • 3/5
      Maybe I've just changed in my reading tastes, but I did not enjoy this book a whole lot. The murder mystery did not compel me as past books by PD James have done. I liked none of the characters, there was little suspense or engagement. The side story with Emma's friends Annie and Clare -- what was that for, other than to help Dalgliesh realize he might break the law for someone he loved? Any of the philosophical/theological discussions present in other James' novels only comes at the tail end of this story; it was the only mildly intriguing part. However, it seems like that was written first, and the rest of the novel was the background to help the reader understand the lawyer's story, or to give it a context. It would have been better as a short story on its own.

      Anyone else notice that as all the more recent stories have been set outside of London, in the countryside? There's a short piece in this book where the character Lettie considers staying at the Manor or touring the world; her nostalgia for London seems to reflect James' own, if the change in novel setting is an indication.

      I don't think there will be another Dalgliesh story; all the loose ends have been tied up. An era is over.
    • 2/5
      Book is divided into three parts. First part is about victim and when murder happens. Drags a lot. Over 120 pages when the setting is made. Victim is private, almost boring, though her background is well-built.

      Book two deals with a chapter about each of investigators (Adam Daglish, Kate Miskin and Benton) and their lives before they are summoned to handle the case. They interview, collect facts, and sew thread. There is just one break-through. It is obvious that this revelation has nothing to do with the main murder.

      Book three focuses on the assailant, something reader has already begun to suspect. You expect all threads will tie here, but it is too apparent and somehow suggestion is such that reader feels end is not truly what has been shown to be. It is a disappointing feeling; as if you have just been cheated.

      Tho whodunnit is why you keep on reading the novel, but it is not primary force. Lot of details have been added to characters and setting. I was at times irritated at detailed description of architecture or interiors of house. Frankly, that put me off.

      I have to say Sidney Sheldon, more than a decade ago, provided me more thrill in a mystery (The Naked Face is my favorite.) than James Patterson, P.D. James or Ian Rankin.

    • 3/5
      Breathes there a man with soul so dead
      That never to himself has said...

      Perfect description of the first murder victim, and since it was hard to care about the victim,
      it was pretty easy to distance oneself from the story as well.
    • 4/5
      Rhoda Gradwyn is convalescing at a private clinic in a country home following plastic surgery to remove a disfiguring facial scar when she is murdered, strangled in her bed. It’s pretty obvious that the murderer is someone associated with the Cheverell Manor, which includes a raft of employees, many of them who live on the clinic’s grounds. But nearly every one of Commander Adam Dalgliesh’s suspects believes the perpetrator had to have been an outsider, a stranger who somehow gained access to the clinic’s private wing. Government higher-ups call on Dalgliesh to solve the crime. He takes up residence in a cottage on the manor grounds; his two associates, Detective Inspector Kate Miskin and Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith, settle in a nearby bed and breakfast for the duration. The victim is an investigative journalist well known for her dogged approach to finding the truth -- and for not caring how her articles affect those she writes about. She could have enemies who would expand the suspect list, but Dalgliesh would need evidence to nail the killer. I haven’t read a P.D. James mystery for a long time, but the dear lady whose obituary was in today’s newspapers hadn’t lost her edge. She paints vivid word pictures of people and settings and helps readers get into the heads of the main characters. And the characters in The Private Patient are an odd lot. All of them have secrets which the investigators need to ferret out. Readers who are fond of action would find this book a tad boring, I’m afraid. But those who like to settle in with a good book and savor both the story and the writing, will find The Private Patient hard to put down.
    • 3/5
      P.D. James has always been a literary mystery writer, concerned with plot but equally interested in place, character, and background. In “The Private Patient,” which may be the final Adam Dalgliesh novel (James is, after all, in her nineties) I think she overwhelms one with detail not central to the plot. In several instances, in fact, she actually recapitulates the investigation after digressing into a series of private thoughts, reactions, scenic descriptions, etc., as if to say “Oh, right…back to the story.” I’ve read all of James’ books, and this is the first one where I had the notion that her publisher had specified a lengthy page count for contract fulfillment. Lengthy postscripts after the crime’s solution added to that thought.All the digressions and redundancies may have been hiding the fact that this isn’t one of James’ better plots. It would give away too much to say exactly why, but I can say that when a detective team doesn’t solve the mystery until the death of the culprit, I feel cheated.I hope that there’s another Dalgliesh in a drawer somewhere, because this wasn’t a satisfying finale.
    • 3/5
      A journalist dies at a plastic surgery clinic after what should have been a routine operation with a renowned surgeon. Investigation proves that the clinic is staffed by a rather odd group of individuals, all of whom seem to have issues. The dead woman, Rhoda Gradwyn, is a London journalist, and she has a nosy best friend who proves to have strange ties to the clinic. As is always the case with James, the history and back-story of the characters is very important, and becomes essential to solving the mystery. What's really kind of sad for me is that this appears to be the end of the Dalgliesh series. Dalgliesh is ready to retire from Scotland Yard, and his two junior associates are tying up their loose ends. In reading this I couldn't help but think that James's heart was more in writing her Scotland Yard characters than in producing an actual mystery. This one didn't live up to the level of depth or suspense of the earlier volumes in the series.
    • 4/5
      If you want your thrillers to be more than just that, read PD James, among others. In fact, the classic thriller, the plot, the twists, the red herrings, are all in here, but not as baffling and brilliantly turned as I would expect. So in a way I guess I am a little bit disappointed. What brings The Private Patient to another and still readable level, is the story telling itself, the depth in characters and the rich description of venues and relationships. No wonder so many of James' books have been turned into TV drama - she writes so vividly that the reader needs a bad imagination indeed not to see pictures as he reads. Still, the story itself lacks the real page turning aspect - do I really care about who did what? Still, I enjoyed it, and I might pick up another PD James novel - even more likely: I will seek out further TV series based on her books.
    • 2/5
      I have read many of P.D. James's Adam Dalgleish novels, but, unfortunately, this one doesn't come up to the high standards of the earlier ones, unfortunately. It is rather over-long and as such seems really over-stretched.
    • 3/5
      too much detail to get to the story.
    • 4/5
      James' Adam Dalgleish rarely disappoints, and this book is no exception. It's not life-changing, but if you like British police procedurals--which I do--this is a good one. The pacing is slow but steady, the crime is well-conceived, the atmosphere is evocative, and the detection is perfectly laid out.
    • 5/5
      I decided to read all of the Adam Daigliesh mysteries in one fell swoop and am glad I did. First, they are classic British mysteries all well-deserving of the respect P.D. James has earned for them and all are a good read. However, what is interesting is to watch the author develop her style from the early ones to the later ones. And, in fact, A Shroud for a Nightingale and The Black Tower (the fourth and fifth in the series) is where she crosses the divide. The later books have much more character development -- both for the players and the detectives -- make Dalgleish more rounded and are generally much more than a good mystery yarn -- they're fine novels that happen to be mysteries. The first three books (Cover Her Face, A Mind to Murder, Unnatural Causes) are just that much more simplistic. But read any or all -- she's a great writer and they are definitely worth the time.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed this more than the previous P.D. James I read, but I'm still not really convinced. Definitely well-written, intelligent, tasteful, and technically proficient, but I think it would need just a little bit more bite somewhere to get me really involved with the characters. It's probably different if you've been following Dalgleish and Co. from the beginning, but when you're coming to them cold you need something more than an unsubstantiated accusation of poetry to make a detective interesting. Just a bit of irony or anger somewhere, perhaps.
    • 4/5
      A woman checks into a private clinic in the country for minor surgery, she leaves in a body bag. Adam Dalgliesh and his team will try to unravel the threads which lead to her death.I wish I had read this in person instead of hearing the audio book. P.D. James uses words in a wonderful way and I like to look them over and ponder them. Also, the narrator of this changed her voice for the various characters and I found that extremely distracting to the story. The story was good, the mystery one in which I could only narrow it down to two or three suspects so I didn't feel that I knew everything. I especially liked that the author allows the reader to come to some of their own conclusions at the end rather than spelling out all the details.
    • 3/5
      I have not read all of P.D. James, but this was a disappointment. It is rumored that this is the last Adam Dalgliesh mystery and it seemed that she tried too hard to tie up all of the ends. There were 2 stories that seemed to have nothing to do with the rest of the story and were just there for filler. However, her prose is as wonderful as ever. I love having to go to the dictionary to learn a new word.