-
Death in Holy Orders
- An Adam Dalgliesh Mystery
- Narrated by: Charles Keating
- Length: 15 hrs and 43 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $22.46
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
The setting itself is elemental P. D. James: the bleak coast of East Anglia, where atop a sweep of low cliffs stands the small theological college of St. Anselm’s. On the shore not far away, smothered beneath a fall of sand, lies the body of one of the school’s young ordinands. He is the son of Sir Alred Treves, a hugely successful and flamboyant businessman who is accustomed to getting what he wants—and in this case what he wants is Commander Adam Dalgliesh to investigate his son’s death.
Although there seems to be little to investigate, Dalgliesh agrees, largely out of nostalgia for several happy summers he spent at St. Anselm’s as a boy. No sooner does he arrive, however, than the college is torn apart by a sacrilegious and horrifying murder, and Dalgliesh finds himself ineluctably drawn into the labyrinth of an intricate and violent mystery.
Here P. D. James once more demonstrates her unrivalled skill in building a classic detective story into a fully realized novel, gripping as much for its psychological and emotional richness as for the originality and complexity of its plotting—and, of course, for the horror and suspense at its heart.
Filled with unforgettable characters, brilliant in its evocation of the East Anglian scene and the religious background against which the action takes place, Death in Holy Orders again offers proof, if proof were needed, that P. D. James is not only the reigning master of the crime novel but also, simply, one of the finest novelists writing today.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Cover Her Face
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Penelope Dellaporta
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Headstrong and beautiful, the young housemaid Sally Jupp is put rudely in her place, strangled in her bed behind a bolted door. Coolly brilliant policeman Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard must find her killer among a houseful of suspects, most of whom had very good reason to wish her ill. Cover Her Face is P. D. James' electric debut novel, an ingeniously plotted mystery that immediately placed her among the masters of suspense.
-
-
OK but...
- By NoelleJ on 11-14-14
By: P. D. James
-
The Black Tower
- By: Louis Bayard
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Hector Carpentier leads a very quiet life, until he meets legendary police officer Vidocq, who has used his mastery of disguise and surveillance and his extensive knowledge of the Parisian underworld to capture some of the most notorious and elusive criminals.
-
-
Good but not Great
- By Listener on 10-19-09
By: Louis Bayard
-
Innocent Blood
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Penelope Dellaporta
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Adopted as a child into a privileged family, Philippa Palfrey fantasizes that she is the daughter of an aristocrat and a parlor maid. The terrifying truth about her parents and a long-ago murder is only the first in a series of shocking betrayals. Philippa quickly learns that those who delve into the secrets of the past must be on guard when long-buried horrors begin to stir.
-
-
A Classic British Mystery
- By Karen Vincent on 12-23-14
By: P. D. James
-
P. D. James BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Seven Full-Cast Dramatisations
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Greta Scacchi, Hugh Grant, full cast, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seven BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations of P. D. James' acclaimed mysteries, plus P. D. James in Her Own Words. This collection includes: Cover Her Face, A Taste for Death, Devices and Desires, A Certain Justice, The Private Patient, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman and The Skull Beneath the Skin.
-
-
Desert Island drama
- By Adeliese Baumann on 02-13-18
By: P. D. James
-
The Mistletoe Murder
- And Other Stories
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Jenny Agutter, Daniel Weyman
- Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Four previously uncollected stories from one of the great mystery writers of our time - swift, cunning murder mysteries (two of which feature the young Adam Dalgliesh) that together, to borrow the author's own word, add up to a delightful "entertainment".
-
-
I worship at the alter of p d james
- By Sherrie Lindley on 08-09-17
By: P. D. James
-
The Cuckoo's Calling
- By: Robert Galbraith
- Narrated by: Robert Glenister
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, creditors are calling, and after a breakup with his longtime girlfriend, he’s living in his office. Then John Bristow walks through his door with a shocking story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry - known to her friends as the Cuckoo - famously fell to her death a few months earlier.
-
-
Unbelievable debut mystery set in London
- By Tracey on 05-26-13
By: Robert Galbraith
-
Cover Her Face
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Penelope Dellaporta
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Headstrong and beautiful, the young housemaid Sally Jupp is put rudely in her place, strangled in her bed behind a bolted door. Coolly brilliant policeman Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard must find her killer among a houseful of suspects, most of whom had very good reason to wish her ill. Cover Her Face is P. D. James' electric debut novel, an ingeniously plotted mystery that immediately placed her among the masters of suspense.
-
-
OK but...
- By NoelleJ on 11-14-14
By: P. D. James
-
The Black Tower
- By: Louis Bayard
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Hector Carpentier leads a very quiet life, until he meets legendary police officer Vidocq, who has used his mastery of disguise and surveillance and his extensive knowledge of the Parisian underworld to capture some of the most notorious and elusive criminals.
-
-
Good but not Great
- By Listener on 10-19-09
By: Louis Bayard
-
Innocent Blood
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Penelope Dellaporta
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Adopted as a child into a privileged family, Philippa Palfrey fantasizes that she is the daughter of an aristocrat and a parlor maid. The terrifying truth about her parents and a long-ago murder is only the first in a series of shocking betrayals. Philippa quickly learns that those who delve into the secrets of the past must be on guard when long-buried horrors begin to stir.
-
-
A Classic British Mystery
- By Karen Vincent on 12-23-14
By: P. D. James
-
P. D. James BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Seven Full-Cast Dramatisations
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Greta Scacchi, Hugh Grant, full cast, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seven BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations of P. D. James' acclaimed mysteries, plus P. D. James in Her Own Words. This collection includes: Cover Her Face, A Taste for Death, Devices and Desires, A Certain Justice, The Private Patient, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman and The Skull Beneath the Skin.
-
-
Desert Island drama
- By Adeliese Baumann on 02-13-18
By: P. D. James
-
The Mistletoe Murder
- And Other Stories
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Jenny Agutter, Daniel Weyman
- Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Four previously uncollected stories from one of the great mystery writers of our time - swift, cunning murder mysteries (two of which feature the young Adam Dalgliesh) that together, to borrow the author's own word, add up to a delightful "entertainment".
-
-
I worship at the alter of p d james
- By Sherrie Lindley on 08-09-17
By: P. D. James
-
The Cuckoo's Calling
- By: Robert Galbraith
- Narrated by: Robert Glenister
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, creditors are calling, and after a breakup with his longtime girlfriend, he’s living in his office. Then John Bristow walks through his door with a shocking story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry - known to her friends as the Cuckoo - famously fell to her death a few months earlier.
-
-
Unbelievable debut mystery set in London
- By Tracey on 05-26-13
By: Robert Galbraith
-
Sleep No More
- Six Murderous Tales
- By: Peter Kemp - foreword, P. D. James
- Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
- Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's not always a question of "whodunit?" Sometimes there's more mystery in the why or how. And although we usually know the unhealthy fates of both victim and perpetrator, what of those clever few who plan and carry out the perfect crime? The ones who aren't brought down even though they're found out? And what about those who do the finding out who witness a murder or who identify the murderer but keep the information to themselves? These are some of the mysteries that we follow through those six stories.
-
-
Perfectly crafted short stories
- By RueRue on 02-02-18
By: Peter Kemp - foreword, and others
-
Talking About Detective Fiction
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Diana Bishop
- Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To judge by the worldwide success of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie's Poirot, it is not only the Anglo-Saxons who have an appetite for mystery and mayhem. Talking about the craft of detective writing and sharing her personal thoughts and observations on one of the most popular and enduring forms of literature, P. D. James examines the challenges, achievements and potential of a genre which has fascinated her as a novelist for nearly 50 years.
-
-
Fascinating and Informative
- By Nancy J on 03-17-13
By: P. D. James
-
An Accidental Death
- A DC Smith Investigation Series, Book 1
- By: Peter Grainger
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story opens with the apparently accidental drowning of a sixth form student in the Norfolk countryside. As a matter of routine, or so it seems, the case passes across the desk of Detective Sergeant Smith, recently returned to work after an internal investigation into another case that has led to tensions between officers at Kings Lake police headquarters. As an ex-DCI, Smith could have retired by now, and it is clear that some of his superiors wish that he would do so.
-
-
Excellent British Mystery
- By Customer on 09-07-16
By: Peter Grainger
-
Raven Black
- Book One of the Shetland Island Quartet
- By: Ann Cleeves
- Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is a cold January morning, and Shetland lies beneath a deep layer of snow. Trudging home, Fran Hunter's eye is drawn to a splash of color on the frozen ground, ravens circling above. It is the strangled body of her teenage neighbor, Catherine Ross. The locals on the quiet island stubbornly focus their gaze on one man - loner and simpleton Magnus Tait.
-
-
Great start to series, no audio problems anymore
- By Mark on 03-28-17
By: Ann Cleeves
-
Magpie Murders
- A Novel
- By: Anthony Horowitz
- Narrated by: Samantha Bond, Allan Corduner
- Length: 15 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway's latest novel, she has no reason to think it will be much different from any of his others. After working with the best-selling crime writer for years, she's intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. An homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, Alan's traditional formula has proved hugely successful.
-
-
A British Whodunit
- By Sara on 07-24-17
By: Anthony Horowitz
-
Relic
- Pendergast, Book 1
- By: Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 13 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just days before a massive exhibition opens at the popular New York Museum of Natural History, visitors are being savagely murdered in the museum's dark hallways and secret rooms. Autopsies indicate that the killer cannot be human.... But the museum's directors plan to go ahead with a big bash to celebrate the new exhibition, in spite of the murders.
-
-
Non-Perishable
- By Snoodely on 05-26-10
By: Douglas Preston, and others
-
The Black Echo: Special Edition
- Harry Bosch, Book 1
- By: Michael Connelly
- Narrated by: Titus Welliver
- Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For maverick LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch, the body in the drainpipe at Mulholland Dam is more than another anonymous statistic. This one is personal...because the murdered man was a fellow Vietnam "tunnel rat" who had fought side by side with him in a hellish underground war. Now Bosch is about to relive the horror of Nam. From a dangerous maze of blind alleys to a daring criminal heist beneath the city, his survival instincts will once again be tested to their limit.
-
-
Titus Welliver has really stepped in it!
- By George Moneo on 04-08-20
By: Michael Connelly
-
Howdunit
- A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club
- By: Martin Edwards
- Narrated by: Malk Williams, Joan Walker
- Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ninety crime writers from the world’s oldest and most famous crime writing network give tips and insights into successful crime and thriller fiction. Howdunit! offers a fresh perspective on the craft of crime writing from leading exponents of the genre, past and present. The book offers invaluable advice to people interested in writing crime fiction, but it also provides a fascinating picture of the way that the best crime writers have honed their skills over the years.
-
-
Loved it. Learned a lot
- By Josephblu on 03-09-21
By: Martin Edwards
-
The Cold, Cold Ground
- Detective Sean Duffy, Book 1
- By: Adrian McKinty
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Northern Ireland, spring 1981. Hunger strikes, riots, power cuts, a homophobic serial killer with a penchant for opera, and a young woman’s suicide that may yet turn out to be murder: on the surface, the events are unconnected, but then things—and people—aren’t always what they seem. Detective Sergeant Duffy is the man tasked with trying to get to the bottom of it all. It’s no easy job—especially when it turns out that one of the victims was involved in the IRA but was last seen discussing business with someone from the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force.
-
-
Listen to this book. You won't be disappointed.
- By Christopher on 01-21-12
By: Adrian McKinty
-
The Keeper of Lost Causes
- Department Q, Book 1
- By: Jussi Adler-Olsen
- Narrated by: Erik Davies
- Length: 15 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carl Mørck used to be one of Denmark’s best homicide detectives. Then a hail of bullets destroyed the lives of two fellow cops, and Carl - who didn’t draw his weapon - blames himself. So a promotion is the last thing he expects. But Department Q is a department of one, and Carl’s got only a stack of cold cases for company. His colleagues snicker, but Carl may have the last laugh, because one file keeps nagging at him: A liberal politician vanished five years earlier and is presumed dead. But she isn’t dead...yet.
-
-
Dark, Cold, and Danish
- By Ted on 11-28-12
-
Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories
- A Miss Marple Collection
- By: Agatha Christie
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Miss Marple: The Complete Story Collection gathers together in one magnificent volume all of Agatha Christie’s short stories featuring her beloved intrepid investigator, Miss Marple. It’s an unparalleled compendium of murder, mayhem, mystery, and detection that represents some of the finest short form fiction in the crime fiction field, and is an essential omnibus for Christie fans.
-
-
Classic Miss Marple - uneven narration
- By Lyric G. Eads on 11-09-22
By: Agatha Christie
-
The Dark Yorkshire Series: Books 1-3
- The DI Caslin Box Set
- By: J M Dalgliesh
- Narrated by: Greg Patmore
- Length: 28 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Dark Yorkshire Series - fast-paced crime fiction stories featuring DI Nathaniel Caslin. The first three full-length books in this best-selling series are brought together for the first time in this great value set.
-
-
Nothing spectacular. A good value with the first 3
- By K. Berg on 05-05-20
By: J M Dalgliesh
Critic reviews
"There are very few thriller writers who can compete with P. D. James at her best ... One of the things that sets P. D. James apart from other writers in this genre is the intellectual assurance of her work. This is manifest in her use of language - she writes beautifully - but also in the light touch with which she displays her learning ... DEATH IN HOLY ORDERS is pure pleasure." --Charlotte Joll, The Spectator
"DEATH IN HOLY ORDERS is a page-turner ... but it is also so well-written that you linger over James's beautifully-observed descriptions of characters or scenes ... More, please, P. D. James." --Rosita Boland, The Irish Times
"Adam Dalgliesh's latest outing possesses the confident interplay of classical discipline, contemporary morality and strong evocation of place that had hitherto distinguished James's novels. Writing for the most part within the conventions of the detective story, she has again proved its constraints to be a liberating force for the creative imagination, drawing on accepted generic elements to produce a thoughtful, beautifully-written book which is far more complex than the sum of its parts." --Nicola Upson, The Observer
Featured Article: The Best Cozy Mysteries to Keep You Warm This Holiday Season
We’ve rounded up a list of some of the best cozy mystery audiobooks to help brighten up your winter listening. Here you'll find contemporary and historical cozies, classic whodunits and ingenious heist stories. While varying in tone, plot, and setting, these picks all share an irresistible holiday atmosphere. You'll find snowstorms galore, bakeries full of tasty holiday treats, glittering get-togethers, and picturesque English villages decked out in their holiday finest.
Related to this topic
-
Talking About Detective Fiction
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Diana Bishop
- Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To judge by the worldwide success of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie's Poirot, it is not only the Anglo-Saxons who have an appetite for mystery and mayhem. Talking about the craft of detective writing and sharing her personal thoughts and observations on one of the most popular and enduring forms of literature, P. D. James examines the challenges, achievements and potential of a genre which has fascinated her as a novelist for nearly 50 years.
-
-
Fascinating and Informative
- By Nancy J on 03-17-13
By: P. D. James
-
The Golden Age of Murder
- By: Martin Edwards
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A real-life detective story, investigating how Agatha Christie and colleagues in a mysterious literary club transformed crime fiction, writing books casting new light on unsolved murders whilst hiding clues to their authors' darkest secrets. This is the first book about the Detection Club, the world's most famous and most mysterious social network of crime writers. Drawing on years of in-depth research, it reveals the astonishing story of how members such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers reinvented detective fiction.
-
-
Doesn't work as an audiobook
- By Pat on 08-02-15
By: Martin Edwards
-
The Art of the English Murder
- From Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock
- By: Lucy Worsley
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Art of the English Murder, Lucy Worsley explores this phenomenon in forensic detail, revisiting notorious crimes like the Ratcliff Highway Murders, which caused a nationwide panic in the early 19th century, and the case of Frederick and Maria Manning, the suburban couple who were hanged after killing Maria's lover and burying him under their kitchen floor. Our fascination with crimes like these became a form of national entertainment, inspiring novels and plays, prose and paintings, poetry and true-crime journalism.
-
-
Should Come With a Spoiler Alert
- By Jessica on 04-15-16
By: Lucy Worsley
-
The Perversion of Virtue
- Understanding Murder-Suicide
- By: Thomas Joiner
- Narrated by: Chris Kayser
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Perversion of Virtue, leading suicide researcher Thomas Joiner explores the nature of murder-suicide and offers a unique new theory to explain this nearly unexplainable act: that murder-suicides always involve the wrongheaded invocation of one of four interpersonal virtues: mercy, justice, duty, and glory. The parent who murders his child and then himself seeks to save his child from a fatherless life of hardship; the wife who murders her husband and then herself seeks to right the wrongs he committed against her, and so on.
-
-
I cannot more highly recommend this book
- By Emily Karp on 05-07-18
By: Thomas Joiner
-
Stay
- A History of Suicide and the Philosophies Against It
- By: Jennifer Michael Hecht
- Narrated by: Jennifer Michael Hecht
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Worldwide, more people die by suicide than by murder, and many more are left behind to grieve. Despite distressing statistics that show suicide rates rising, the subject, long a taboo, is infrequently talked about. In this sweeping intellectual and cultural history, poet and historian Jennifer Michael Hecht channels her grief for two friends lost to suicide into a search for history’s most persuasive arguments against the irretrievable act, arguments she hopes to bring back into public consciousness.
-
-
Informative but oddly dispassionate
- By Scott on 01-07-14
-
Wonder Woman Unbound
- The Curious History of the World's Most Famous Heroine
- By: Tim Hanley
- Narrated by: Colby Elliott
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This close look at Wonder Woman's history portrays a complicated heroine who is more than just a female Superman with a golden lasso and bullet-deflecting bracelets. The original Wonder Woman was ahead of her time, advocating female superiority and the benefits of matriarchy in the 1940s. At the same time, her creator filled the comics with titillating bondage imagery, and Wonder Woman was tied up as often as she saved the world.
-
-
facts about how Wonder Woman has been portrayed
- By Midwestbonsai on 07-25-16
By: Tim Hanley
-
Talking About Detective Fiction
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Diana Bishop
- Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To judge by the worldwide success of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie's Poirot, it is not only the Anglo-Saxons who have an appetite for mystery and mayhem. Talking about the craft of detective writing and sharing her personal thoughts and observations on one of the most popular and enduring forms of literature, P. D. James examines the challenges, achievements and potential of a genre which has fascinated her as a novelist for nearly 50 years.
-
-
Fascinating and Informative
- By Nancy J on 03-17-13
By: P. D. James
-
The Golden Age of Murder
- By: Martin Edwards
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A real-life detective story, investigating how Agatha Christie and colleagues in a mysterious literary club transformed crime fiction, writing books casting new light on unsolved murders whilst hiding clues to their authors' darkest secrets. This is the first book about the Detection Club, the world's most famous and most mysterious social network of crime writers. Drawing on years of in-depth research, it reveals the astonishing story of how members such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers reinvented detective fiction.
-
-
Doesn't work as an audiobook
- By Pat on 08-02-15
By: Martin Edwards
-
The Art of the English Murder
- From Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock
- By: Lucy Worsley
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Art of the English Murder, Lucy Worsley explores this phenomenon in forensic detail, revisiting notorious crimes like the Ratcliff Highway Murders, which caused a nationwide panic in the early 19th century, and the case of Frederick and Maria Manning, the suburban couple who were hanged after killing Maria's lover and burying him under their kitchen floor. Our fascination with crimes like these became a form of national entertainment, inspiring novels and plays, prose and paintings, poetry and true-crime journalism.
-
-
Should Come With a Spoiler Alert
- By Jessica on 04-15-16
By: Lucy Worsley
-
The Perversion of Virtue
- Understanding Murder-Suicide
- By: Thomas Joiner
- Narrated by: Chris Kayser
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Perversion of Virtue, leading suicide researcher Thomas Joiner explores the nature of murder-suicide and offers a unique new theory to explain this nearly unexplainable act: that murder-suicides always involve the wrongheaded invocation of one of four interpersonal virtues: mercy, justice, duty, and glory. The parent who murders his child and then himself seeks to save his child from a fatherless life of hardship; the wife who murders her husband and then herself seeks to right the wrongs he committed against her, and so on.
-
-
I cannot more highly recommend this book
- By Emily Karp on 05-07-18
By: Thomas Joiner
-
Stay
- A History of Suicide and the Philosophies Against It
- By: Jennifer Michael Hecht
- Narrated by: Jennifer Michael Hecht
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Worldwide, more people die by suicide than by murder, and many more are left behind to grieve. Despite distressing statistics that show suicide rates rising, the subject, long a taboo, is infrequently talked about. In this sweeping intellectual and cultural history, poet and historian Jennifer Michael Hecht channels her grief for two friends lost to suicide into a search for history’s most persuasive arguments against the irretrievable act, arguments she hopes to bring back into public consciousness.
-
-
Informative but oddly dispassionate
- By Scott on 01-07-14
-
Wonder Woman Unbound
- The Curious History of the World's Most Famous Heroine
- By: Tim Hanley
- Narrated by: Colby Elliott
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This close look at Wonder Woman's history portrays a complicated heroine who is more than just a female Superman with a golden lasso and bullet-deflecting bracelets. The original Wonder Woman was ahead of her time, advocating female superiority and the benefits of matriarchy in the 1940s. At the same time, her creator filled the comics with titillating bondage imagery, and Wonder Woman was tied up as often as she saved the world.
-
-
facts about how Wonder Woman has been portrayed
- By Midwestbonsai on 07-25-16
By: Tim Hanley
-
The Art of Fiction
- By: Ayn Rand
- Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ayn Rand discusses how a writer combines abstract ideas with concrete action and description to achieve a unity of theme, plot, characterization, and style, the four essential elements of fiction. Here, too, are Rand's illuminating analyses of passages from famous writers, rewrites of scenes from her own works, and fascinating rules for building dramatic plots and characters with depth.
-
-
Get Stein on Writing
- By Lois on 12-04-09
By: Ayn Rand
-
Story
- Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting
- By: Robert McKee
- Narrated by: Robert McKee
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert McKee's screenwriting workshops have earned him an international reputation for inspiring novices, refining works in progress, and putting major screenwriting careers back on track. Quincy Jones, Diane Keaton, Gloria Steinem, Julia Roberts, John Cleese, and David Bowie are just a few of his celebrity alumni. Writers, producers, development executives, and agents all flock to his lecture series, praising it as a mesmerizing and intense learning experience.
-
-
Only 5 Chapters
- By Stephen Buck on 02-15-11
By: Robert McKee
-
Looking for the Good War
- American Amnesia and the Violent Pursuit of Happiness
- By: Elizabeth D. Samet
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Looking for the Good War, Elizabeth D. Samet reexamines the literature, art, and culture that emerged after World War II, bringing her expertise as a professor of English at West Point to bear on the complexity of the postwar period in national life. She exposes the confusion about American identity that was expressed during and immediately after the war, and the deep national ambivalence toward war, violence, and veterans - all of which were suppressed in subsequent decades by a dangerously sentimental attitude toward the United States' "exceptional" history and destiny.
-
-
Essential reading for military officers and political decision makers.
- By Arlene S. Burke on 02-23-22
-
The Western Canon
- The Books and School of the Ages
- By: Harold Bloom
- Narrated by: James Armstrong
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harold Bloom explores our Western literary tradition by concentrating on the works of twenty-six authors central to the Canon. He argues against ideology in literary criticism; he laments the loss of intellectual and aesthetic standards; he deplores multiculturalism, Marxism, feminism, neoconservatism, Afrocentrism, and the New Historicism. Insisting instead upon "the autonomy of aesthetic," Bloom places Shakespeare at the center of the Western Canon.....
-
-
A personal and opinionated book on the Canon
- By Steffen on 07-23-12
By: Harold Bloom
-
Six Walks in the Fictional Woods
- By: Umberto Eco
- Narrated by: Nick Sullivan
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this exhilarating book, we accompany Umberto Eco as he explores the intricacies of fictional form and method. Using examples ranging from fairy tales and Flaubert, Poe and Mickey Spillane, Eco draws us in by means of a novelist's techniques, making us his collaborators in the creation of his text and in the investigation of some of fiction's most basic mechanisms.
-
-
big ideas presented simply
- By Ashton on 01-31-14
By: Umberto Eco
-
Batman Unauthorized
- Vigilantes, Jokers, and Heroes in Gotham City
- By: Dennis O'Neil - editor, Leah Wilson - editor
- Narrated by: Colby Elliott
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Compiled by a veteran writer of the comic series, this collection of essays explores Batman’s motivations and actions, as well as those of his foes. Batman is a creature of the night, more about vengeance than justice, more plagued by doubts than full of self-assurance, and more darkness than light. He has no superpowers, just skill, drive, and a really well-made suit.
-
-
batman uninformed opinions
- By Aurey C. on 04-13-17
By: Dennis O'Neil - editor, and others
-
If I Had Lunch with C. S. Lewis
- Exploring the Ideas of C. S. Lewis on the Meaning of Life
- By: Alister McGrath
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Have you ever wondered…whether God exists? whether life has meaning? Whether pain and suffering have a purpose? This audiobook is my invitation to sit down with C. S. Lewis and me to think about some of the persistent questions and dilemmas every person faces in life. We’ll explore Lewis’s thoughts on everything from friendships to heaven, from the reasons for faith to the power of stories.
-
-
A great overview
- By Kevin on 12-31-14
By: Alister McGrath
-
C. S. Lewis - A Life
- Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet
- By: Alister E. McGrath
- Narrated by: Robin Sachs
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In honor of the 50th anniversary of C. S. Lewis' death, celebrated Oxford don Dr. Alister McGrath presents us with a compelling and definitive portrait of the life of C. S. Lewis, the author of the well-known Narnia series. For more than half a century, C. S. Lewis’ Narnia series has captured the imaginations of millions. In C. S. Lewis - A Life, Dr. Alister McGrath recounts the unlikely path of this Oxford don, who spent his days teaching English literature to the brightest students in the world and his spare time writing.
-
-
Awakening my curiosity and desire to read more!
- By Pearl Glacier on 03-13-13
-
To Show and to Tell
- The Craft of Literary Nonfiction
- By: Phillip Lopate
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Distinguished author Phillip Lopate, editor of the celebrated anthology The Art of the Personal Essay, is universally acclaimed as “one of our best personal essayists” ( Dallas Morning News). Here, combining more than 40 years of lessons from his storied career as a writer and professor, he brings us this highly anticipated nuts-and-bolts guide to writing literary nonfiction. A phenomenal master class shaped by Lopate’s informative, accessible tone, and immense gift for storytelling.
-
-
Not a guide on writing personal essays
- By A. Yoshida on 08-07-13
By: Phillip Lopate
-
Cold Case Reopened
- The Princes in the Tower
- By: Mark Garber
- Narrated by: Guy Bethell
- Length: 2 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this short audiobook, a retired detective reopens this cold case and attempts to piece together the evidence and answer the great mystery about what really happened to the young Princes. Were they really murdered? If so, what happened to the bodies and who did the evil deed? Or were they left unharmed and left to live out their days in peace? Was a challenging offered up in place of Richard, Duke of York by Elizabeth Woodville and was that why Henry VII was so concerned by Perkin Warbeck?
-
-
Fresh View, Historical Hiccups
- By Cherise on 07-05-20
By: Mark Garber
-
Georgette Heyer
- Biography of a Bestseller
- By: Jennifer Kloester
- Narrated by: Phyllida Nash
- Length: 14 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Georgette Heyer remains an enduring international best seller, read and loved by four generations of readers and extolled by today's best-selling authors. Despite her enormous popularity, she never gave an interview or appeared in public. Georgette Heyer wrote her first novel, The Black Moth, when she was 17 in order to amuse her convalescent brother. It was published in 1921 to instant success, and 90 years later it has never been out of print.
-
-
Heyer as a person
- By Jerri C on 06-15-15
-
The Man Who Invented Fiction
- How Cervantes Ushered in the Modern World
- By: William Egginton
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the early 17th century, a crippled, graying, almost toothless veteran of Spain's wars against the Ottoman Empire published a novel. It was the story of a poor nobleman, his brain addled from studying too many novels of chivalry, who deludes himself that he is a knight errant and sets off on hilarious adventures. That story, Don Quixote, went on to sell more copies than any other book beside the Bible, making its author, Miguel de Cervantes, the single most-read author in human history.
-
-
Very Interesting and Informative, but Poorly Read
- By LCorSMT on 06-21-23
By: William Egginton
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Cover Her Face
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Penelope Dellaporta
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Headstrong and beautiful, the young housemaid Sally Jupp is put rudely in her place, strangled in her bed behind a bolted door. Coolly brilliant policeman Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard must find her killer among a houseful of suspects, most of whom had very good reason to wish her ill. Cover Her Face is P. D. James' electric debut novel, an ingeniously plotted mystery that immediately placed her among the masters of suspense.
-
-
OK but...
- By NoelleJ on 11-14-14
By: P. D. James
-
The Children of Men
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: David Case
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year is 2021. No child has been born for twenty-five years. The human race faces extinction. Under the despotic rule of Xan Lyppiat, the Warden of England, the old are despairing and the young cruel. Theo Faren, a cousin of the Warden, lives a solitary life in this ominous atmosphere. That is, until a chance encounter with a young woman leads him into contact with a group of dissenters. Suddenly his life is changed irrevocably as he faces agonising choices which could affect the future of mankind.
-
-
Perfect Narrator for a Brilliant Satire
- By Peter Crawford on 12-11-15
By: P. D. James
-
P. D. James BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Seven Full-Cast Dramatisations
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Greta Scacchi, Hugh Grant, full cast, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seven BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations of P. D. James' acclaimed mysteries, plus P. D. James in Her Own Words. This collection includes: Cover Her Face, A Taste for Death, Devices and Desires, A Certain Justice, The Private Patient, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman and The Skull Beneath the Skin.
-
-
Desert Island drama
- By Adeliese Baumann on 02-13-18
By: P. D. James
-
The Mistletoe Murder
- And Other Stories
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Jenny Agutter, Daniel Weyman
- Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Four previously uncollected stories from one of the great mystery writers of our time - swift, cunning murder mysteries (two of which feature the young Adam Dalgliesh) that together, to borrow the author's own word, add up to a delightful "entertainment".
-
-
I worship at the alter of p d james
- By Sherrie Lindley on 08-09-17
By: P. D. James
-
Death Comes to Pemberley
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1803, six years since Elizabeth and Darcy embarked on their life together at Pemberley, Darcy’s magnificent estate. Their peaceful, orderly world seems almost unassailable. Elizabeth has found her footing as the chatelaine of the great house. They have two fine sons, Fitzwilliam and Charles. Elizabeth’s sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live nearby; her father visits often; there is optimistic talk about the prospects of marriage for Darcy’s sister Georgiana. And preparations are under way for their much-anticipated annual autumn ball.
-
-
doesn't quite work
- By Kindle Customer on 12-07-11
By: P. D. James
-
A Great Deliverance
- By: Elizabeth George
- Narrated by: Derek Jacobi
- Length: 2 hrs and 58 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To this day, the low, thin wail of an infant can be heard in Keldale's lush green valleys. Three hundred years ago, as legend goes, the frightened Yorkshire villagers smothered a crying babe in Keldale Abbey, where they'd hidden to escape the ravages of Cromwell's raiders. Now into Keldale's pastoral web of old houses and older secrets comes Scotland Yard Inspector Thomas Lynley, the eighth earl of Asherton. Along with the redoubtable Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, Lynley has been sent to solve a savage murder that has stunned the peaceful countryside.
-
-
YUCK, UGH, DOUBLE YUCK!!!
- By Nancy Stubbs on 03-30-12
By: Elizabeth George
-
Cover Her Face
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Penelope Dellaporta
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Headstrong and beautiful, the young housemaid Sally Jupp is put rudely in her place, strangled in her bed behind a bolted door. Coolly brilliant policeman Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard must find her killer among a houseful of suspects, most of whom had very good reason to wish her ill. Cover Her Face is P. D. James' electric debut novel, an ingeniously plotted mystery that immediately placed her among the masters of suspense.
-
-
OK but...
- By NoelleJ on 11-14-14
By: P. D. James
-
The Children of Men
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: David Case
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year is 2021. No child has been born for twenty-five years. The human race faces extinction. Under the despotic rule of Xan Lyppiat, the Warden of England, the old are despairing and the young cruel. Theo Faren, a cousin of the Warden, lives a solitary life in this ominous atmosphere. That is, until a chance encounter with a young woman leads him into contact with a group of dissenters. Suddenly his life is changed irrevocably as he faces agonising choices which could affect the future of mankind.
-
-
Perfect Narrator for a Brilliant Satire
- By Peter Crawford on 12-11-15
By: P. D. James
-
P. D. James BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Seven Full-Cast Dramatisations
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Greta Scacchi, Hugh Grant, full cast, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seven BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations of P. D. James' acclaimed mysteries, plus P. D. James in Her Own Words. This collection includes: Cover Her Face, A Taste for Death, Devices and Desires, A Certain Justice, The Private Patient, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman and The Skull Beneath the Skin.
-
-
Desert Island drama
- By Adeliese Baumann on 02-13-18
By: P. D. James
-
The Mistletoe Murder
- And Other Stories
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Jenny Agutter, Daniel Weyman
- Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Four previously uncollected stories from one of the great mystery writers of our time - swift, cunning murder mysteries (two of which feature the young Adam Dalgliesh) that together, to borrow the author's own word, add up to a delightful "entertainment".
-
-
I worship at the alter of p d james
- By Sherrie Lindley on 08-09-17
By: P. D. James
-
Death Comes to Pemberley
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1803, six years since Elizabeth and Darcy embarked on their life together at Pemberley, Darcy’s magnificent estate. Their peaceful, orderly world seems almost unassailable. Elizabeth has found her footing as the chatelaine of the great house. They have two fine sons, Fitzwilliam and Charles. Elizabeth’s sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live nearby; her father visits often; there is optimistic talk about the prospects of marriage for Darcy’s sister Georgiana. And preparations are under way for their much-anticipated annual autumn ball.
-
-
doesn't quite work
- By Kindle Customer on 12-07-11
By: P. D. James
-
A Great Deliverance
- By: Elizabeth George
- Narrated by: Derek Jacobi
- Length: 2 hrs and 58 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To this day, the low, thin wail of an infant can be heard in Keldale's lush green valleys. Three hundred years ago, as legend goes, the frightened Yorkshire villagers smothered a crying babe in Keldale Abbey, where they'd hidden to escape the ravages of Cromwell's raiders. Now into Keldale's pastoral web of old houses and older secrets comes Scotland Yard Inspector Thomas Lynley, the eighth earl of Asherton. Along with the redoubtable Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, Lynley has been sent to solve a savage murder that has stunned the peaceful countryside.
-
-
YUCK, UGH, DOUBLE YUCK!!!
- By Nancy Stubbs on 03-30-12
By: Elizabeth George
What listeners say about Death in Holy Orders
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- Jacko45
- 01-20-05
Outstanding
This is the best audio book I've heard. The narration is excellent, perfectly paced for the subject, with great accents. The plot and characterisation sustain interest throughout.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
16 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jennifer Carr
- 11-27-12
Clever, twisting and turning mystery
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes good British mystery novels. I think the characters are excellently well developed and the story is great. I was sad when it ended, but love how P.D. James gives the story epilogue to tie everything together.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Laurie
- 06-01-23
Good book
I always like PD James. Enjoyed this one also. Looking forward to the next in the series.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- connie
- 07-28-09
Relaxing atmospheric listen
-not for fans of bubbly Stephanie Plum et. al. mysteries. Not literary enough to be a dense listen, but not fluff either.
This is very traditional British in mood (if that can be called a mood), as much about the setting, character and social relations as whodunnit- more details of a room's furniture or the sand along the beach than the fullness of a character's lips or breasts.
I liked the slow careful narration style-not many or varied voices, but more a book that is "read." This matched the precise and descriptive prose. The story winds along like the East Anglia coast and slowly uncovers what's hidden. This was my first PD James but not my last, even though I am not much of a mystery fan.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Sharlene
- 09-25-04
Lengthy, slow moving
For the most part I enjoyed this book, especially the intricate description of scenes and characters that made them real and 3-dimensional.
However, the book was painfully s-l-o-w moving and drawn out over 14 hours - a bit much.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 07-15-20
Poor production
The production is very poor. Chapters and sequences are not manageable and out of water. It appears that this is a haphazard audio production.
Naturally come on Charles Keating is a new voice as of this particular sequel, and it will take some getting used to. Nevertheless, he is not as apt to distinguish voices and characters as effectively as previous narrators.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Kathy
- 03-12-11
pretty good
not a bad book and the speaker is OK. Book maybe a tad too long, but....
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- bella
- 03-30-18
Satisfying read
I like reading anything by PDJames. This takes place in a religious order where a death may have been a murder. A well known detective just happens to be there on a personal retreat. This was another entertaining story and I recommend it. #mystery#priests#suspenseful#detective#murders#catholicchurch#tagsgiving#sweepstakes
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- puplhunt
- 12-21-22
Incredibly boring
I’m sure all these boring bits and pieces will all come together in an incredible denouement… eventually!?
This narrator is preferable to the shrieking deliverances of Penelope Dellaporta but even he cannot inject much excitement into the presentation. I have returned the books narrated by Penelope. I’m going to try to stick with this one just to see if there’s any improvement … but there’s no danger of my purchasing another one.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- FJWynne
- 12-20-07
Architecture and Mortality
In her later books, P. D. James tends to Adam Dalgleish away from contemporary London to investigate some gothic murder in a closed environment, chipping away slowly at the warped psychology of a small group of suspects. In many was it is in such quasi 'locked room' mysteries that she is at her best - her books have never been procedurals, more meditations on human iniquity with Dalgleish as a flawed Gabriel. Though this is not quite as good as "Original Sin", James slowly weaves a dense, suspenseful narrative - unpeeling the onion layers of secrets, lies and sinfulness which bind the characters. The denouement is a little abrupt, but Michael Jayston, as always, is a magnificent narrator
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
10 people found this helpful