Combe Island off the Cornish coast has a bloodstained history of piracy and
cruelty but now, privately owned, it offers respite to over-stressed men and
women in positions of high authority who require privacy and guaranteed
security. But the peace of Combe is violated when one of the distinguished
visitors is bizarrely murdered.
Commander Adam Dalgliesh is called in to solve the mystery quickly and
discreetly, but at a difficult time for him and his depleted team. Dalgliesh is
uncertain about his future with Emma Lavenham, the woman he loves; Detective
Inspector Kate Miskin has her own emotional problems; and the ambitious Sergeant
Francis Benton-Smith is worried about working under Kate. Hardly has the team
begun to unravel the complicated motives of the suspects than there is a second
brutal killing, and the whole investigation is jeopardized when Dalgliesh is
faced with a danger more insidious and as potentially fatal as murder.
BOOK REVIEWS
Media Reviews
Publishers Weekly
The solution.... is less than fully satisfactory and also borrows elements from some of James's recent plots. Devotees more interested in her hero's personal growth than his deductive technique will find much to enjoy.
Kirkus Reviews
Although the story is briefer than James's recent double-deckers, readers will still revel in her matchless fullness of characterization. A stay on Combe Island really is tonic.
Booklist - Bill Ott
Starred Review. It's what happens between the lines that gives James' stories their punch.... Each new Dalgleish novel should be treated as a gift by mystery fans everywhere.
The New York Times - Janet Maslin The Lighthouse is too rooted in genre conventions to count originality as
its strong suit. But it has deviousness to burn, and it also offers other
enticements. It's the kind of book that boasts a wryly humorous Scrabble scene,
not to mention a Scrabble-lover's vocabulary: Ms. James makes ready use of words like abseil, belay, symphysis and meiosis. It's a book that serves up figurative
red herring as well as melon balls in orange sauce. Not a menu goes unmentioned
... it is a sturdy installment in a well-honed series, which is a concept that
even its characters understand.
Times Literary Supplement
James's gifts animate and transform the armature into something exceptional. Her disciplined conventions, her observation of social and class niceties, renew the traditional Franco-British drama of domestic crime. She is a very superior writer of detection.
The Daily Express
James has proven that she deserves her reputation as our leading 'literary'
crime writer. The Lighthouse confirms that she is also the most
enjoyable.
The Globe & Mail
An elegant and perceptive writer - rich drifts of prose pile up on the page,
descriptive passages are Dickensian in length, ornament and power.... James's
many fans will relish The Lighthouse, for all its poise and narrative
familiarity.
The Toronto Sun
With her trademark blend of subtle characterization, vivid sense of place and deceptively simple plot, James pulls off another triumph. A beautifully written page-turner from the queen of the genre.
War, natural disaster, reckless gods and the recognition of impermanence in the world are just some of the threads that AS Byatt weaves into this most timely of books. Linguistically stunning and imaginatively abundant, this is a landmark.
A beguiling, imaginative, inspiring story about the bigness of being alive as an individual, as a member of a tribe, and as a participant in history, exploring how we use storytelling to survive and shape our own truths.
Brilliantly evoking the long-vanished world of masters and servants, Margaret Powell's classic memoir of her time in service is the remarkable true story of an indomitable woman who, though she served in the great houses of England, never stopped aiming high.
Vivid, daring, and unforgettable, The Printmaker's Daughter shines fresh light on art, loyalty, and the tender and indelible bond between a father and daughter.
I read The Healing in two sittings it is a fascinating story of plantation life at the beginning of the Civil War. Granada, a slave newborn child...
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The Uncommon Reader is a novella by novelist and playwright, Alan Bennett. The story starts with the Queen coming across the mobile library van...
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Arizona bills Amazon for $53 million in uncollected sales tax(Feb 06 2012) The ongoing sales tax battle between many US states and large online retailers, most notably Amazon, continues with a thrust from Arizona which, last week,...
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