Devices and Desires
An Adam Dalgliesh Mystery, Book 8
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Narrated by:
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Penelope Dellaporta
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By:
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P. D. James
About this listen
Featuring the famous Commander Adam Dalgliesh, Devices and Desires is a thrilling and insightfully crafted novel of fallible people caught in a net of secrets, ambitions, and schemes on a lonely stretch of Norfolk coastline.
Commander Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard has just published a new book of poems and has taken a brief respite from publicity on the remote Larksoken headland on the Norfolk coast in a converted windmill left to him by his aunt. But he cannot so easily escape murder.
A psychotic strangler of young women is at large in Norfolk, and getting nearer to Larksoken with every killing. And when Dalgliesh discovers the murdered body of the Acting Administrative Officer on the beach, he finds himself caught up in the passions and dangerous secrets of the headland community and in one of the most baffling murder cases of his career.
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Critic reviews
"Taut.... Absorbing.... Better than her best." (The New York Times Book Review)
"I have often thought of mysteries as the sorbets of literature, something light and tangy to clear the palate between more serious courses. The books of P.D. James, however are more substantial fare, fulfilling as well as delicious, and Devices and Desires is no exception." (The Washington Post Book World)
"A masterful writer.... Devices and Desires seems to be that highly prized work - a terrific tale suspense and detection that also delivers the satisfaction of a mainstream novel." (The Wall Street Journal)
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For Gideon Mack, faithless minister, unfaithful husband, and troubled soul, the existence of God, let alone the Devil, is no more credible than that of ghosts or fairies - until the day he falls into a gorge and is rescued by someone who might just be Satan.
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Fantastic
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By: James Robertson
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Red Ribbons
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A missing schoolgirl is found buried in the Dublin Mountains, hands clasped together in prayer, two red ribbons in her hair. Twenty-four hours later, a second schoolgirl is found in a shallow grave - her body identically arranged. The hunt for the killer is on. The police call in criminal psychologist Kate Pearson to get inside the mind of the murderer before he strikes again. But the more Kate discovers about the killings, the more it all feels terrifyingly familiar.
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A true psychological thriller
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A Pleasure and a Calling
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You won't remember Mr. Heming. He was the estate agent who showed you around your comfortable home, suggested a financial package, negotiated a price with the owner, and called you with the good news. The less good news is that, all these years later, he still has the key. That's absurd, you laugh. Of all the many hundreds of houses he has sold, why would he still have the key to mine? The answer is; he has the keys to them all. William Heming's most at home in a stranger's private things.
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The Invisible Man
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Scobie, a police officer in a West African colony, is a good and honest man. But when he falls in love, he is forced into a betrayal of everything that he has ever believed in, and his struggle to maintain the happiness of two women destroys him.
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Starts Very Slowly then Boom!
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Helmut Schauffler, a young Nazi working in the small English village of Comerford, sets out to play upon the post-war sensibilities and fears by terrorizing his new neighbors.
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A peek into an earlier time.
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Ralph and Anna Eldred are an exemplary couple, devoting themselves to doing good. 30 years ago as missionaries in Africa, the worst that could happen did. Shattered by their encounter with inexplicable evil, they returned to England, never to speak of it again. But when Ralph falls into an affair, Anna finds no forgiveness in her heart, and 30 years of repressed rage and grief explode, destroying not only a marriage but also their love, their faith, and everything they thought they were.
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Beautifully written
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Gold Dagger Award winner Arnaldur Indridason’s novels featuring Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson became international sensations on their way to selling millions of copies worldwide. The debut of morose detective Sveinsson finds the inspector and his team delving into the murder of a retiree with horrifying secrets.
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Cerebral Police Procedural
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The Magus
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John Fowles’s The Magus was a literary landmark of the 1960s. Nicholas Urfe goes to a Greek island to teach at a private school and becomes enmeshed in curious happenings at the home of a mysterious Greek recluse, Maurice Conchis. Are these events, involving attractive young English sisters, just psychological games, or an elaborate joke, or more? Reality shifts as the story unfolds. The Magus reflected the issues of the 1960s perfectly, and it continues to create tension and concern today.
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One of the best novels that I really think I hate.
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The Stranger House
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For years, the Stranger House has stood in the village of Illthwaite, offering refuge to travellers. People like Sam, a brilliant young mathematician, who believes that anything that can't be explained by maths isn't worth explaining. And Miguel, a historian running from a priests' seminary, who sees ghosts. Sam is an experienced young woman, Miguel a 26-year-old virgin.
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an OK read
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Ian Rutledge returns to his career at Scotland Yard after years fighting in the First World War. Unknown to his colleagues he is still suffering from shell shock, and is burdened with the guilt of having had executed a young soldier on the battlefield for refusing to fight. A jealous colleague has learned of his secret and has managed to have Rutledge assigned to a difficult case which could spell disaster for Rutledge whatever the outcome. A retired officer has been murdered, and Rutledge goes to investigate.
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Difficult to follow the narrator
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What listeners say about Devices and Desires
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- BookLovin'Mom
- 03-11-22
Not my favorite
I usually love the details but this time it was too easy to get confused. Not sure if too many characters and subplots or if reader didn't help me tell them apart. I was losing track of a lot of it.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Gary F.
- 02-13-16
Adam Dalgliesh is a secondary character
What was most disappointing about P. D. James’s story?
This is as well written as any of her other books, but if you want to watch Adam Dalgliesh solve a case, this book is a little disappointing. He is central to the storyline, but not a central character.
What about Penelope Dellaporta’s performance did you like?
I really enjoy her reading of these books. She does an excellent job.
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2 people found this helpful
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- swambold
- 03-29-21
Windmill of My Mind
Although I liked A Taste of Death better than this title, this was a fine tale. Adam Dalgliesh goes to settle his Aunt Jane’s estate and stays in her windmill home. Of course, he encounters murder. The philosophical passages are absorbing. Dalgliesh is as perceptive as the listener would expect. There is one episode that I would have preferred left out. See if you can determine which one. Listen with mostly pleasure!
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- Helen Stephens
- 08-15-22
Well done.
I love P. D. James and this is one of her very best. Thank you Ms. James.
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- Paul Hapip
- 11-03-23
A complex riveting story
PD James is a master of the complex mystery with many twists and turns and red herrings in evidence. All her books are wonderful.
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Overall
- night owl
- 07-13-17
Great Plot Ruined by too much introspection
Great plot with great characters. Problem is there isn't a scene without deep philosophic thought or memories.there are also too many long conversations. I like a book that makes me think ,but not one that tells me what to think. I got used to Miss Dellaporta but she's definitely past her prime.P D James is still heads above others writers even with my complaints.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Voracious Reader
- 11-23-22
Well read but too long.
The narrator is excellent.
I watched the TV series "Dalgleish" and enjoyed it. I didn't realize how much it was abridged. Having never read P.D. James before now, I found the actual story much too long and all the in-depth character studies a bit tedious. I was also disappointed that Dalgliesh wasn't more central to the story. I acknowledge that P.D. James is an excellent writer, I just don't know if I will listen to another book.
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- Sherri
- 05-05-12
Another book ruined
Yet another book ruined by an ill-chosen narrator. I usually, always, listen to the preview of the book because the narrator can make or break the book for me. This time I realized instantly that I did not. While Ms. Dallaporta's normal voice can be characterized as 'fingernails on a chalkboard,' when the characters become emotional, she squawks like an hysterical myna bird. Ugh. I made it two-thirds of the way through before I concluded that the victim probably committed suicide to avoid listening to Ms. Dellaporta any longer. Listen only if you have an extremely insensitive ear to unattractive female voices.
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13 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-19-12
Great Interesting Read, Good Performance
I enjoy the English reader, she does a good job with this book. Nice change of pace. The story is the thinking kind of mystery with enough colorful characters and interesting English countryside to hold your interest through a relatively long book.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Pattie Kassube
- 06-23-16
Character development rich, unexpected plot twist
As usual, Ms James' Adam Dalgleish does not disappoint. With Adam being more of an observer, this story seems to develop characters that you see and feel their presence. Great plot twist and epilogue.
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1 person found this helpful