P. D James. The Lighthouse. (2005) The victim hangs by the neck from the railing guarding the walk around the lantern of a lighthouse. None of the visitors to the island on which it stands, nor the staff tending to their needs, could have done it. Dalgleish of course shows not only that someone did do it but also who it was. Money, vanity, ancient secrets and grudges, wartime hurts and hatreds, and social class all figure in the tangle of motives that must be unravelled in order to expose the murderer.
Another well done Dalgleish mystery. James knows how to create believable characters, so that even the most outlandish and puzzling murders make psychological sense. It’s Dalgleish’s understanding of psychology that leads him to the murderer, and the technical problem of how it was done seems almost an afterthought. Another good read. ***½
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