Deadly serious

The Private Patient P D James From the moment that Rhoda Gradwyn appears in the blurb on the dust jacket of P D James's new novel, discussing the removal of a facial scar with a Harley Street surgeon, it is obvious that her life is in jeopardy. As it happens, the notorious investigative journalist, who is the eponymous "private patient", survives precariously until page 97, when she is throttled in a bedroom at Cheverell Manor, a Dorset house converted into a bespoke plastic surgery clinic. But that is perhaps beside the point, because this is a murder story, a narrative that is pivoted upon death. And, as such a story, this is one that proceeds with aplomb and panache. The intricately drawn plot unfolds in clear, stylish prose against a London of mullioned windows and a Dorset of standing stones and laurel bushes. The... [read full story]