Death of an Expert Witness Audiobook By P. D. James cover art

Death of an Expert Witness

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Death of an Expert Witness

By: P. D. James
Narrated by: Penelope Dellaporta
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An evil-tempered forensic scientist is put to death, putting many of his colleagues out of misery. Dr. Lorrimer appeared to be the picture of a bloodless, coldly efficient scientist. Only when his brutally slain body is discovered and his secret past dissected does the image begin to change. Once again, Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh learns that there is more to human beings than meets the eye and more to solving a murder than the obvious clues.©2001 P.D. James (P)2008 Random House Crime Thrillers Detective Fiction Mystery Police Procedural Suspense Thriller Thriller & Suspense Traditional Detectives Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Crime

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Enthralling Story • Classic Mystery • Cultured Voice • Compelling Characters • Beautiful Writing • Gifted Writers
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maybe it's just the story... the story itself, was just ... too... wordy...and ... all ... over... the ...place....
even the performer audibly sometimes had to remember to come back and change voices, intonations and emotions on time to make sense...

a thrice murder mystery review

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I felt there was too much reverb in the recording levels making it difficult to understand without paying a lot of careful attention.

Hard to Hear

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PD James has been a favorite of mine for many years. I consider her to be an author whose works will stand the test of time, for the same reason Josephine Tey and Agatha Christie are beloved even today. They are gifted writers.

Penelope Dellaporta is a wonderful narrator and I love listening to her PD James readings. I normally listen at 1.0 because I don't want to miss any of the luscious details found in every book. With this specific book, however, I recommend bumping the audio speed up to 1.5. 1.0 is too slow and not, I think, true to the original recording.

This murder mystery is classic James. Moody environment and characters, and enough viable suspects to keep the reader wondering until the reveal.

I like to use immersion reading when listening to PD James. It allows me to go back and find details I feel I might have missed, or just reread and listen to the wonderfully atmospheric descriptions of the countryside or architecture in a particular location.

Ms Dellaporta sounds like I think P.D. James would, based on nothing more than than her photo on the back of her books and a snippet of an interview I heard many years ago. I feel like I'm listening to her read her own books.

Great bargain if bought with a credit.

Another example of beautiful writing.

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Of all the P D James books which I have listened to this seems the most contrived. She doesn't spend much time developing her iconic detective, Adam Dagleish. He seems to move through the story in a detached way, In her other books the reader (listener) gets to practically camp out in his brain as he discovers clues, experiences architecture and landscapes and interacts and makes judgments about suspects and supporting characters, but not here. This was still early in the series (1972) so I would guess that may be part of it. Don M of Queen Creek, AZ

Even Masters of Crime Fiction can be ponderous

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Nice Daglish mystery. Typicality over-convoluted. Ms. Dellaporta is ideally suited to narrate the book. The recording quality was just OK. It sound like it was in a smallish echo chamber

Clever mystery with a cultured voice

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PD James is great. The narrator not so much. Difficult to distinguish different characters' voices. Tale could be more colorful.

Hard to hear different voices.

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This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Classic PD James is always for me

Any additional comments?

The quality of this recording is abysmal, old, fuzzy and clearly in need of an update. Given that the audiobook is listed at top price that is simply terrible PR.

Very hard to hear.

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I didn't find it hard to hear on my MacBook Pro. I'm extremely happy to have these P. D. James audiobooks to enjoy again and again.

P. D. James' wonderful writing read beautifully

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This book took its time to enthrall me, but enthrall me it did. I had to start over from the beginning at least twice. I finished it. Once I was hooked I couldn’t stop listening. Dalgliesh impressed me as a wise and authentic investigator. His gentleness during difficult questioning was appealing. The narrator is excellent. The characters are compelling. Well done! Well worth persistent listening.

Excellent But

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What disappointed you about Death of an Expert Witness?

The characters are boring. I never cared what happened to any of them. I'm not sure there was a plot, except a man did die of course. I have loved the Adam Dagliesh mysteries until this one! I can hardly believe this one could be so bad when the others are so good.

What does Penelope Dellaporta bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

As with all her renditions of PD James' books, somehow with her one voice she does all their voices. It's wonderful theater.

Can't Believe PD James wrote such a terrible book!

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