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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Some
A murder in the legal community; the victim's professional world provides the suspects
Language
Barely any
Mild language
Sexual Content
Some
Some sexual content in the investigation of the victim's personal life
Substance Use
Barely any
Mild content
Emotional Intensity
Some
The ethics of a profession devoted to process over outcome; the specific gap between legal and moral justice that Dalgliesh's investigation inhabits
What this book is about
Venetia Aldridge is one of England's most celebrated defense barristers — brilliant, ruthless, and widely disliked. When she is found dead in her chambers, Commander Dalgliesh investigates the legal world: a closed professional community that protects itself fiercely from outside scrutiny. P.D. James's tenth Dalgliesh novel is the most specifically about the law and its culture — the specific ethics of defending the guilty, the relationship between justice and outcome, and what happens to the people around a figure of Aldridge's formidable personality.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
tenth Adam Dalgliesh novel by P.D. James; legal world setting
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