Devices and Desires was the first PD James novel I ever read, back in my teens after a long, much-loved run of Agatha Christie. Admittedly, it was quite late in his career to meet the series detective, Adam Dalgliesh, for the first time but it was a wonderful gateway to what was already a remarkable body of work. Devices and Desires — published in 1989 and the eighth in the 14-novel sequence that began with Cover Her Face in 1962 — is a sparkling showcase for James’s writing.
It distils everything that she does brilliantly into one superlative piece of crime fiction: beautiful descriptive writing and a strong sense of place; a consummately plotted detective story that re-energises the genre; and credible crimes that stem naturally from deep-seated personal motivation, not just for murder but for everyday acts of love and hate..
