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Commander Adam Dalgliesh and his staff are called in to investigate the death of famous author Nathan Oliver on the exclusive Combe Island. Combe Island has, for years, been a place of solace and introspection for the well-known and powerful people of industry, the arts, and international politics. The security has always been high surrounding the island while life on it is restful and bucolic. Those in power need it to be a safe place for their personal use. While there is some hope that it will turn out to be a suicide of the once stellar writer, the idea of terrorism and such must be eliminated so that the private island -- the basic isolated community for a classic murder mystery -- can once again be used as a place of rejuvenation for the rich and powerful. All the people on the island have a good reason to have wished the writer dead. The cause of the writer's death isn't cut and dried. It looks like suicide but at the same time it might have been murder. Meanwhile Dalgliesh's team isn't all it could be. Detective Inspector Kate Miskin has just started an affair with her old partner, but all the while she still pines for Dalgliesh. The new man, Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith feels that DI Miskin doesn't like him, whether for reasons dealing with his mixed heritage, his education, or just a personality difference, and he's afraid his career might suffer because of her. Dalgliesh himself is still brooding over his long-time relationship with the artist Emma Lavenham, someone he loves but finds himself tongue tied over. Written with author P D James's usual exceptional eye for details, powerful description of location, and the intriguing twists and turns of the murder investigation, each character in THE LIGHTHOUSE is also a fully realized person, with a history and human foibles. The cast of characters range from the elderly, rich and noble, along the line down to the youngest and most flighty specimens of modern society, and all are free of the cliches that lesser writers might include in their makeup but all possess at least one hidden background shame that shows each of them capable of murder. This story also includes the latest dreaded international virus going around and its role in the story adds a very different kind of tension. One comment, though: Because his angst takes up so much of this book, I wish that Dalgliesh would show himself to be as intelligent and formidable in his relationship with Emma as he does as a police commander and finally just open up and be an adult mature male and speak his heart. He's supposed to be an intelligent man and a poet. How do words constantly fail him? Too much time was spent in this book with an almost adolescent longing between the couple and I've lost patience with them both. Get on with it or break it off already. It's slowing the series down and showing Dalgliesh to be too weak and wimpy when in love. THE LIGHTHOUSE is another fine installment in a well-crafted and always fascinating series. As a mystery it stands well on its own and as another volume of the Dalgliesh mysteries it substantially satisfies the fans. I recommend THE LIGHTHOUSE.
Reviewed by Sharon Katz, November 2005
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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