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Content snapshot
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Violence
Some
A murder at a private surgical clinic; the investigation involves a journalist's history of exposing people
Language
Barely any
Mild language
Sexual Content
Some
Some sexual content; Dalgliesh's personal relationship develops
Substance Use
Barely any
Mild content
Emotional Intensity
Some
The specific danger of being a journalist who has made enemies; the medical world's own hierarchy and its resistance to investigation
What this book is about
Rhoda Gradwyn, a journalist known for her investigative work exposing powerful people, is recovering from facial surgery at a private clinic in Dorset when she is found murdered. Commander Adam Dalgliesh's final case — P.D. James's fourteenth and last Dalgliesh novel — takes him to the medical world and into the specific community of a high-end surgical practice. The novel is an elegiac farewell to the series, and James handles the knowledge that this is the last book with characteristic restraint: the investigation is as meticulous as ever, and Dalgliesh's personal life reaches a new equilibrium.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
fourteenth and final Adam Dalgliesh novel by P.D. James; the series' farewell
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