A Taste for Death (James novel)
A Taste for Death is a 1986 crime novel by the British writer P. D. James, the seventh in the popular Commander Adam Dalgliesh series. The novel won the Silver Dagger in 1986, losing out on the Gold to Ruth Rendell's Live Flesh. It was nominated for a Booker Prize in 1987.[1] The book has been adapted for television and radio.
 First edition | |
| Author | P. D. James |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Adam Dalgliesh #7 |
| Genre | Crime, Mystery novel |
| Publisher | Faber and Faber |
Publication date | 1986 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback, Paperback) |
| Pages | 454 pp (hardback first edition) |
| ISBN | 0-571-13799-7 |
| OCLC | 15018788 |
| 823/.914 19 | |
| LC Class | PR6060.A467 T3 1986b |
| Preceded by | Death of an Expert Witness |
| Followed by | Devices and Desires |
Plot summary
In the dingy vestry of St. Matthew's Church, Paddington, two bodies have been found with their throats slashed. One is an alcoholic vagrant, whereas the other is Sir Paul Berowne, a baronet and recently resigned Minister of the Crown. Poet and Commander Adam Dalgliesh investigates one of the most convoluted cases of his career.[2]
Title
The title is drawn from a short poem by A. E. Housman:
Some can gaze and not be sick,
But I could never learn the trick.
There's this to say for blood and breath,
They give a man a taste for death.
Reception
In a 1986 book review for The New York Times, Robert B. Parker wrote the book is "graced by one of the most felicitous prose styles I know. Ms. James is simply a wonderful writer."[2] The Sunday Times called it "A cunningly compulsive work... heart-pounding suspense". In a 1986 piece on James by Julian Symons, he notes A Taste for Death "is the longest, most ambitious and the best of Phyllis James's 10 novels."[3]
Adaptations
A television version of the novel was produced for Britain's ITV network in 1988. It starred Roy Marsden as Adam Dalgliesh and Wendy Hiller as Lady Barone.
References
- Leader, Zachary (2003). On Modern British Fiction. Oxford University Press. p. 235. ISBN 978-0-199-24933-6.
- Parker, Robert B. (November 2, 1986). "Adam Dalgliesh Sees Everything". The New York Times. New York. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
- Symons, Julian (October 5, 1986). "The Queen of Crime: P. D. James". The New York Times. New York. Retrieved April 7, 2017.