HomeMysteryDevices and Desires

Cover of Devices and Desires

Mystery · 1989 · R

Devices and Desires

by P. D. James

A serial killer on the Norfolk coast. A new posting for Dalgliesh. A community that has its own secrets.

For17+GenreMysteryLength414 pagesRead time~10.5 hours

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Content snapshot

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What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.

Violence

A lot

A serial killer; the investigation involves multiple deaths; some sexual violence in the crimes

Language

Barely any

Mild language

Sexual Content

Some

Some sexual content; the serial killer's crimes have sexual dimensions

Substance Use

Barely any

Mild content

Emotional Intensity

A lot

The specific texture of a community that has organized itself around a landscape and an institution; Dalgliesh as a man finding personal meaning in the Norfolk posting while conducting a professional investigation

What this book is about

Adam Dalgliesh takes over a new posting in Norfolk, near an isolated headland where a nuclear power station and a community of artists and intellectuals share an uneasy landscape. A serial killer called the Norfolk Strangler is operating in the area. When another death occurs, Dalgliesh must decide whether it is the Strangler's work or something entirely different. P.D. James's eighth Dalgliesh novel is her most atmospheric — the Norfolk headland in all weathers is rendered with great precision — and deals with the collision between the specific communities that exist alongside the nuclear station and the violence that enters their world.

Notes for sensitive readers

Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.

eighth Adam Dalgliesh novel by P.D. James; Norfolk headland setting

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