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Death of an Expert Witness Audiobook
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(3.01) - 7,306 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
The sixth mystery in the acclaimed and bestselling Adam Dalgliesh series, which led Newsweek to crown P. D. James "the new queen of crime." An evil-tempered forensic scientist is put to death, putting many of his colleagues out of misery. Dr. Lorrimer appeared to be the picture of a bloodless, coldly efficient scientist. Only when his brutally slain body is discovered and his secret past dissected does the image begin to change. Once again, Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh learns that there is more to human beings than meets the eye–and more to solving a murder than the obvious clues. "A craftsman with a poet's vision...[P.D. James] not only detects evil but attempts to uncover the more elusive–and enduring–enigmas of the human psyche that lead to it."–Time
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"A girl's body has turned up in a clunch pit (clunch: a hard chalk used as building stone) in East Anglia, but we don't care about her. Our focus is the Hoggatt Forensic Science Laboratory, one of whose forensic scientists, who just happens to be hated by many, will be bludgeoned to death before he can finish examining the evidence in the clunch pit case. The lovely Dalgliesh helicopters in with his appealing sidekick, Massingham, a deeply ordinary aristocrat. "The marvel of the Massinghams was that a lineage going back five hundred years could have produced so many generations of amiable nonentities." James can't seem to help her deep misogynistic streak; it's not enough for spinsters to be unloved, they also need to be vindictive and foul-smelling, their lipstick melting into the creases around their mouths, their hair rollers leaving fat sausage impressions in their hair, their stockings put on backwards."
— Lobstergirl (4 out of 5 stars)
Death of an Expert Witness Listener Reviews
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" I struggled with following the plot as I listened to this book. I'm not sure if it was the narrator or the story or both--heck, maybe it was just me. However, the narrator was not able to change her voice enough to differentiate characters. I found the plot hopped around and I just kept losing interest. It was a forced listen to find out who the murderer was. So far, this is the only Dalgliesh story that let me down. "
— Jacque, 2/20/2014 -
" As smoothly convoluted a plot; & as deftly created characters, as this reader could desire. The lady can write delightful mysteries! "
— Phil, 2/8/2014 -
" This book didn't develop dagliesh's character as much as the later books do but I still liked it. "
— jen, 2/1/2014 -
" Not the best Adam Dalgliesh mystery but an entertaining read nonetheless. "
— Sarah, 2/1/2014 -
" Another good P.D. James. I like the way the mysteries come together, and the variety of characters. They are set in England, with a sort of timeless feel. "
— Jan, 1/31/2014 -
" I'm on a P.D. James kick. I love her use of words. Yes, I have to have a dictionary close at hand and a sheet of paper to write down all the characters names to keep track of them. But that's fun for me. Unfortunately she's in her 90s so I'm not sure how many more mysteries she has in her. This was an Adam Dagliesh detective story, her most famous character. "
— Elaine, 1/30/2014 -
" Thoroughly enjoyable. What I like about P.D. Jame's Adam Dalgliesh mysteries is that I often can't figure our "who done it" early in the book. There was an almost universally disliked victim, a lot of suspects, most of whom had motive and opportunity, all sorts of subplots and side stories. And the actual murderer was acharacter I had first suspectyed, then dismissed, only to discover I was right about the murderer but wrong about the motive and surprised by how it all played out in the end. "
— Grace, 1/26/2014 -
" I've only read a few P.D. James before, including her latest which I did not love. I decided to go to her backlist as these books tend to be excellent. I am not disappointed, yet. Very interesting view of a crime lab. The ending was a bit complicated and maudlin but the point that James made about a murder investigation changing everything it touches - and not for the better - is well made. "
— Thea, 1/20/2014 -
" Not her best. Seemed flat compared to her earlier ones. "
— Martha, 1/19/2014 -
" Classic British mystery, but with more twists and turns than most. Entertaining and quick. Good used bookstore grab. "
— Kenny, 1/19/2014 -
" beauty and jealousy is fatal "
— Joyce, 1/10/2014
About P. D. James
P. D. James (1920–2014), English crime writer, was the author of numerous detective novels, many of which were New York Times bestsellers. She spent thirty years in various departments of the British civil service, including the Police and Criminal Law Departments of the Home Office. She has served as a magistrate and as a governor of the BBC. In 2000 she celebrated her eightieth birthday and published her autobiography, Time to Be in Earnest. The recipient of many prizes and honors, she was named Baroness James of Holland Park in 1991.
About Penelope Dellaporta
Penelope Dellaporta is a published narrator. Some of her published credits include Agatha Christie’s The Secret Adversary and Edith Wharton’s The House Of Mirth.