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The Lighthouse

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The Lighthouse

By: P. D. James
Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
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About this listen

Combe Island off the Cornish coast has a bloodstained history of piracy and cruelty but now, privately owned, it offers respite to over-stressed men and women in positions of high authority who require privacy and guaranteed security. But the peace of Combe is violated when one of the distinguished visitors is bizarrely murdered.

Adam Dalgliesh is called in to solve the mystery quickly and discreetly, but at a difficult time for him and his depleted team. Dalgliesh is uncertain about his future with Emma Lavenham, the woman he loves, Detective Inspector Kate Miskin has her own emotional problems and the ambitious Anglo-Indian Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith is worried about working under Kate. Hardly have the team begun to unravel the complicated motives of the suspects that there is a second brutal killing and the whole investigation is jeopardised when Dalgliesh is faced with a danger more insidious and as potentially fatal as murder.

This eagerly awaited successor to The Murder Room displays the qualities which aficionados have come to expect of P D James: sensitive characterisation, an exciting and superbly structured plot and vivid evocation of place.

The Lighthouse is a subtle and powerful work of contemporary fiction.

©2015 Faber & Faber (P)2015 Faber & Faber Crime Fiction Mystery Fiction Suspense

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Critic reviews

"P. D. James at her finest." ( Daily Mail)
"P. D. James on top form and you will love it." ( Spectator)
"Formidable, classy whodunit...superlative scene-setting...expert, adroit and entertaining." ( Literary Review)
"Tightly structured and well-plotted and has enough twists, turns and false leaps to keep one gripped throughout." ( Mail on Sunday)
"James's people, places and plots are as artful as ever...long may she reign." ( Guardian)
Most relevant  
A real sense of place and tension. Would strongly recommend it if you enjoy a good all round story.

Great story. Perfect narration

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I have read / listened to most of PD James work
my only thing i have is ...... in all of her books people always eat the same food cold meats salad & soup !!!! and all the women wear the same clothes !! fine wool skirt or trousers in fawn or brown , silk blouses !!!!!
I know all very petty but it’s just something i have observed.
Daniel Weyman is an Amazing narrator , he really brings the characters to life 🍒

PD James on top form

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This is only a comment on the audio itself and NOT re the story or the otherwise excellent performance.
This man's voice is full of low frequencies and the recording is heavy on those compared to the upper register element.
I'm using an equaliser to try to offset this, but with max subtraction of the lows the impression is still a muffled one needing quite high attention levels to keep abreast of things.
This is quite unusual in the majority of Audible recordings, and for me if there were no equaliser available I'd struggle greatly to hear the (very high quality) performance.
So please don't take my scoring as anything other than a hopefully helpful note to others with imperfect hearing.

Attention if your hearing is not normal

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Another excellent storyline although I did guess towards the end whodunnit. I actually thought this was the last in the series the way it ended and perhaps it ought to have been. However there is one more to listen to so off I go.

Excellent as always

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Excellently read, as the story developed you find yourself visualising each character and become lost in the story.

Must Listen to.

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Intelligent writing and plotting,very readable.Some mispronunciations by reader,e.g. 'portentious' for 'portentous'.Didn't spoil it,though,overall, very well read.

PDJames on form again.

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Beautifully read. Always a pleasure to indulge in a PD James classic. Does not disappoint.

PD James at her best.

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Story excellent as expected.
Daniel Weyman has the perfect voice, l could listen to him all day.

So good

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Like all PD James novels the characters are beautifully moulded and the descriptions of people and places are excellent. She builds the story by placing all the characters first and bringing the detectives in afterwards. As a reader I have invested in her characterisation and her story development. What I don’t want is a quick denouement which does not require any build up any serious detective work or clever forensics - just a hunch of Dalgliesh’s and you are left wondering why the other detectives are sent off to do investigations that in the end are not required. Read it but bear in mind you might be a bit disappointed by the brief explanation as to who the murderer was

Intriguing but a cheat at the end

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Would you consider the audio edition of The Lighthouse to be better than the print version?

Not read the print version but it is my kind of book either way

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Lighthouse?

I enjoy the interaction between the characters which runs through this

What does Daniel Weyman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

His voice lends interest to this story

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Will anyone survive ?????

I enjoyed the style of this book Kind of dated

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