If all you've read of James' writing is her post-1990 books, then give yourself a nice treat and read some of her earlier works - she was first published in 1962. Her earliest novels are smoothly written, very well-plotted, and within a couple of books her characterizations move from "decent" to "very good", and become brilliant by her middle period (~1980s). This 1970 story is an excellent mystery in and of itself, and although IMO it's not her very best, it's still head and shoulders above that of most mystery writers from the period, and comparable to some of the best then (last 1960s, early 1970s) writing in that classic style in the UK (i.e., Catherine Aird, Ruth Rendell, Ellis Peters, Sara Woods, Charlotte Armstrong, Christianna Brand...) and the US (Margaret Millar, Amanda Cross, Elizabeth Peters, Sarah Caudwell, Emma Lathen...). Taika Waititi Says Donald Trump Submitted A "List Of Demands" While Filming A 2012 Super Bowl Commercial, Including A Particular Camera Angle To “Make Him Look A Little Thinner”

But we don’t really find out much more about Dalgliesh, or his partner, Charles Masterson, than what we see during the course of the investigation. In that respect, Dalgliesh (actually pronounced almost like “dog leash”), is truly a classic British police procedural. You’re not going to find out a ton about the main characters unless you’re already familiar with James’ novels or one of the many Dalgliesh adaptations. The story begins with Miss Muriel Beale, an Inspector who is setting out for the day of the John Carpendar Hospital inspection. Her first impression, on arriving at the impressive Nightingale House, is that it is highly unsuitable for a nurse training school. However, the inspection begins with a demonstration by the student nurses and, during this, there is a death. When another student nurse is killed, Adam Dalgliesh is called in to solve the crimes. Nurse Pardoe shrugged: "Perhaps it wasn't meant for Pearce. Jo Fallon was supposed to act as patient today, wasn't she? It was Fallon's name next on the list. If she hadn't been taken ill last night, it would have been Fallon in that bed this morning." Robert De Niro Slams Apple And Gotham Awards For Censoring His Anti-Trump Remarks: "How Dare They Do That" Accident, Sister?" Mr. Courtney-Briggs turned from the window. He strode over to her and bent his bull-like head close to hers. His voice was harsh, contemptuous as he almost spat the words into her face. "Accident? Are you suggesting that a corrosive poison found its way into that feed by accident? Or that a girl in her right mind would choose to kill herself in that particularly horrible way? Come, come, Sister, why not be honest for once? What we've just witnessed was murder!"Written in a completely classic style this may seem a bit slow-moving for modern tastes, but is downright explosive when compared with earlier, similar, stories. I've recently been reading Mignon Eberhart's nursing mysteries from the 1930s, and if you want "slow-moving thriller" (not *exactly* an oxymoron...), then her earliest work is for you! But while Eberhart was entertaining, James is an overall much better writer, and it is fascinating to see here how little of the attitudes towards nurses and their craft had changed in the intervening forty years. And while outside of the small-hospital environment (the nurses live-in, and don't spend much time in The Real World) things are changing rapidly in the social sense, here the ethos is of an older Britain even in 1970 - the values are traditional, the plotting traditional, the writing style traditional. But not stuffy, not at all boring. The ending is absolute nonsense. The motives given make no sense, the story of the identity of a character makes no sense and the entire book requires several characters to have acted with no intelligence or thought at all, even ignoring the typical mystery trope of "oh they avoided an easier way because of X unlikely idiosyncrasy" Details about the unsatisfactory ending would be a spoiler, but let us say in general that it does not feel satisfactory when justice is not fully served directly, but must come by later indirect means. None of that can downgrade a high rating for the buildup atmosphere of paranoia, the persistence of the investigators, the detailed character building of a very large cast, and the final twist unveiling of the solution.

There was immediate concern. Only Nurse Harper made no move to help. The rest gathered around the girl, glad of the chance to be doing something. Nurse Goodale said: "I'll take her to the downstairs cloakroom." I enjoyed this one a lot better than the last book in the series. Probably because it wasn't so muddled. Someone had substituted a cream-looking disinfectant for the warm milk used in a teaching session on feeding a patient by intragastric tube. Nurse Heather Pearce, the student subject, died a painful death. Sixteen days later, Josephine Fallon, the intended target of the deadly teaching session who had been excused that day because of influenza, is poisoned in her room after a quiet evening watching television. Again, the tightknit community would like to believe her death was a suicide, not a murder. James obviously read and admired Christie, as did most women readers (and writers!) of her generation. Early on in her career you can easily see how Christie and Sayers et. al. have influenced her. But James then goes on to actually improve upon their writing style, at least IMO, becoming one of the best current practitioners of the "traditional style" mystery now living and still writing. As she's extremely elderly now, I suspect she won't be publishing much more in the future, alas. So savor her earlier works if and when you can - while quite old-fashioned they're still a treat! Tiffany Haddish Plans To "Get Help" After Her Most Recent DUI Arrest, Her Second In Less Than 2 Years: "This Will Never Happen Again"

Not rectal feeding, Sister. The rectum can't absorb sufficient nourishment. Intra-gastric feeding by the mouth or nose."

She supported the girl out of the room. To Miss Beale's surprise Nurse Pardoe went with her, their recent antagonism apparently forgotten as they supported Nurse Dakers between them. Miss Beale was left with the Burt twins and Nurse Harper. Another silence fell. But Miss Beale had learned her lesson. She had been unforgivably irresponsible. There was to be no more talk of death or murder. While they were here and in her charge they might as well work. She gazed sternly at Nurse Harper and invited her to describe the signs, symptoms and treatment of pulmonary collapse. Nurse Dakers dutifully began. She was a pale, thin girl who blushed unbecomingly as she spoke. It was difficult to hear her but she knew her facts and presented them well. A conscientious little thing, thought Miss Beale, not outstandingly intelligent, perhaps, but hard working and reliable. It was a pity that no one had done anything about her acne. She retained her air of bright professional interest whilst Nurse Dakers propounded the fictional medical history of Mrs. Stokes and took the opportunity of a close look at the remaining students in the class, making her customary private assessment of their characters and ability. The action is det in 1975. A Mrs Thatcher is vying for the leadership of The Conservative Party. Nightingale House Hospital, trains young nurses and one nurse dies during a demonstration when a tube is pushed through her stomach.It’s a typical Dalgliesh move, understated and subtle, but he remains aloof. Maybe nobody knows him. He’s recently widowed. He’s a published poet but doesn’t talk about it much (Masterson is incredulous, most of the women are intrigued), and he is a man of few words. Policing and poetry work together for him. He observes and reflects, and he’s challenging to read, although one character thinks she has him figured out. Except Dalgliesh has a core of kindness and the brutality of police work. The all-female community from the top down flutters around him, except grumpy Sister Brumfett, who tells him he is bullying everyone and disturbing the routine. Chris Evans' Dog Adorably Interrupts His Interview With 'The View': "He Needs To Be The Center Of Attention" Dalgliesh, James’s master detective who rises from chief inspector in the first novel to chief superintendent and then to commander, is a serious, introspective person, moralistic yet realistic. The novels in which he appears are peopled by fully rounded characters, who are civilized, genteel, and motivated. The public resonance created by James’s singular characterization and deployment of classic mystery devices led to most of the novels featuring Dalgliesh being filmed for television. James, who earned the sobriquet “Queen of Crime,” penned 14 Dalgliesh novels, with the last, The Private Patient, appearing in 2008. The book is OK enough but the denouement is pretty silly and is the sort of thing that makes 95% of the book feel like a total waste. There aren't enough clues for it to make sense and the ones given which do lead to the ending don't really feel consistent or reasonable. They try and link the ending to a character's personality and then right at the end do a "oh btw actually it's someone totally different" for who there are 0 clues given. Not horrible horrible but pretty typical mystery fare in that the ending may as well be detached from the rest of the book because the rest of the book isn't important. At several points the main character is discussing the case with his assistant and, despite the fact they've already talked about the evidence and what they think and he's the current viewpoint character and we follow both of them through everything important they do, their important deductions are covered up with sudden reported speech, like "he said what had happened, his assistant said yes that's obvious". Like are you *kidding* me how lazy can you get