Vous voulez voir cette page en français ? Cliquez ici.

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
13 used & new from CDN$ 27.64

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Private Patient
 
See larger image
 

The Private Patient [Audiobook] [Unabridged] (Audio CD)

by P.D. James (Author), Rosalyn Landor (Reader)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 52.00
Price: CDN$ 32.76 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details
You Save: CDN$ 19.24 (37%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca. Gift-wrap available.

Only 1 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

10 new from CDN$ 27.64 3 used from CDN$ 34.74

Frequently Bought Together

The Private Patient + Careless In Red + The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Total List Price: CDN$ 77.49
Price For All Three: CDN$ 53.30

Show availability and shipping details

  • This item: The Private Patient by P.D. James

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details

  • Careless In Red by Elizabeth George

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details

  • The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

All the Colours of Darkness

All the Colours of Darkness

by Peter Robinson
2.8 out of 5 stars (5)  CDN$ 10.79
Doors Open

Doors Open

by Ian Rankin
4.0 out of 5 stars (1)  CDN$ 15.72
A Most Wanted Man

A Most Wanted Man

by John Le Carre
3.3 out of 5 stars (3)  CDN$ 20.16
Careless In Red

Careless In Red

by Elizabeth George
3.3 out of 5 stars (7)  CDN$ 8.99
The Lighthouse: An Adam Dalgliesh Mystery

The Lighthouse: An Adam Dalgliesh Mystery

by P.D. James
CDN$ 10.79
Explore similar items

Product Details


Product Description

Review

"Brilliant. . . . A jewel in [James's] crown."—Pittsburg-Post Gazette
 
 "No one is better than James at maintaining this tension between the cozy and the frightful."—The Washington Post
 
"[James is] a master. . . . Nothing is as it first appears."—The Boston Globe 

"[I]intricately plotted and suspenseful... James' clear-eyed, often sardonic prose describes rooms and people exactly as she sees them." —Providence Journal
 
"Elegant . . . compelling. . . . Continues the James tradition. . . . She comfortably tackles timeless concerns." —Chicago Tribune
 
"The ghost of literature past haunts P.D. James' newest novel. . . . The novel's pointed descriptions, its gothic settings, and its theme exploring the insidious legacies of family and class violence suggest Charles Dickens may have rested a hand on James' shoulder while she wrote this terrific literary mystery." —Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
 
"James is a wonderful writer." —Chicago Sun-Times
 
"James is in excellent form. . . . [She] offers her readers intelligence, wisdom, dry humor, knowledge both deep and wide-ranging, humanity, compassion, understanding and a wonderful way with words. . . . James is one of Britain's greatest living writers."—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
 


From the Trade Paperback edition.


Product Description

Cheverell Manor is a lovely old house in deepest Dorset, now a private clinic belonging to the famous plastic surgeon George Chandler-Powell. When investigative journalist Rhoda Gradwyn arrived there one late autumn afternoon, scheduled to have a disfiguring and long-standing facial scar removed, she had every expectation of a successful operation and a pleasant week recuperating.

Two days later she was dead, the victim of murder.

To Commander Adam Dalgliesh, who with his team is called in to investigate the case, the mystery at first seems absolute. Few things about it make sense. Yet as the detectives begin probing the lives and backgrounds of those connected with the dead woman—the surgeon, members of the manor staff, close acquaintances—suspects multiply all too rapidly. New confusions arise, including strange historical overtones of madness and a lynching 350 years in the past. Then there is a second murder, and Dalgliesh finds himself confronted by issues even more challenging than innocence or guilt.

P. D. James has gained an enviable reputation for creating detective stories of uncommon depth and intricacy, combined with the sort of humanity and perceptiveness found only in the finest novelists. The Private Patient ranks among her very best.

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

What do customers ultimately buy after viewing this item?

The Private Patient
87% buy the item featured on this page:
The Private Patient 4.3 out of 5 stars (6)
CDN$ 32.76
Three Cups Of Tea
4% buy
Three Cups Of Tea 4.7 out of 5 stars (75)
CDN$ 8.25
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
4% buy
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society 4.4 out of 5 stars (38)
CDN$ 11.55
The Cellist of Sarajevo
3% buy
The Cellist of Sarajevo 4.4 out of 5 stars (17)
CDN$ 15.33

 

Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most helpful customer reviews

 
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A MODULATED, PRECISE READING, Nov 28 2008
By Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
London born actress Rosalyn Landor is the perfect choice to read a P. D. James mystery. The daughter of an actor/broadcaster Landor grew up with reading aloud, story telling, and that love for the spoken word is reflected in her voice performances. Her readings are well modulated, precise as she carries listeners along to what is in this case a surprising denouement.

What lover of mysteries has not read or at least heard of P.D. James? The author of 19 books she spent some 30 years in the British Civil Service and recently celebrated her 88th birthday. One of her many gifts to readers is the creation of Commander Adam Dalgliesh, a consummate investigator who is often given to Holmesian discussions as he presents his thoughts to various characters and suspects.

With The Private Patient we visit an impressive old house, Cheverell Manor in Dorset. Once a family home it was sold of necessity to an eminent plastic surgeon, George H. Chandler-Powell, who now operates it as a clinic for the privileged. Rhoda Gradwyn comes to him for the removal of a disfiguring facial scar. She's an investigative journalist (her work is similar to that of a reporter for a supermarket tabloid in the USA). She's with us only briefly as she's soon dead of strangulation, a murder committed by an unknown person wearing latex gloves.

While the crime most definitely has affected Rhoda, it also affects the good doctor as who would want to come to a clinic where a murder has just occurred? Commander Dalgliesh is summoned to investigate. He has a great deal to look into considering the clinic staff, the departed's boyfriend, and others who were a part of her life for good or ill.

Once again James treats us to her vivid descriptions of setting and extensive vocabulary - the perfect word for every thought and situation. A pleasure to read - do so slowly and savor this author's unique style.

- Gail Cooke
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The private patient, a clever thriller, Jun 17 2009
By Emma Leer (Qc, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Private Patient (Paperback)
An excellent thriller. The author keeps us until the last word thinking that what we think being the thruth will come out. But she had something else in mind. Extremely well written, I felt the writing assurance of an expert writer, which I am convinced is the result of long hours of editing. Her perfectionism guaranties rewarding reading.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Under the knife, Jan 10 2009
By E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Private Patient (Paperback)

Most people who die because of plastic surgery have a bad reaction to the anesthetic or something like that.

Few plastic surgery patients are strangled. But that is the crime du jour of the fourteenth Adam Dalgleish novel, a quietly tangled web of motives and suspicious characters in a classic mystery setting. But P.D. James elevates your average whodunnit with her refined brand of police investigation, as well as the bittersweet meditations on aging, love and loneliness.

For the past thirty years, investigative journalist Rhoda Gradwyn has had a chasmic scar on her face. But now she decides to have it repaired by the eminent plastic surgeon George Chandler-Powell, at his beautiful old manorhouse. But mere hours after the surgery, Rhoda is found strangled, and Adam Dalgleish is called in to investigate who in the Manor wanted her dead.

Turns out that there are a number of motives, some more coldly rational than others -- Rhoda's boytoy, the mentor of a girl Gradwyn destroyed, and a young woman with a gruesome past. With plenty of people who could have done it, Dalgleish must unravel who actually did do it, and the secret motives that others are keeping hidden. But he may not be in time to prevent more deaths...

"The Private Patient" is a book preoccupied by the passage of time. Lonely futures, sad pasts, the "flattening" of aging, the world changing and people losing their family homes. Even Dalgleish's impending wedding has a bittersweet edge, since it heralds changes among his friendships. Yet P.D. James makes sure to remind us that love and friendship can overcome the sadness of change and loss.

And with the sure hand of an experienced writer, James spins a solid whodunnit with plenty of red herrings and a wealth of suspects. While the first few chapters are a bit slow -- do we REALLY need the life story of every member of the Manor staff? -- everything speeds up after the first murder. It quietly chugs along up through ghastly backstories (the child-murder case), right up to the hallucinatory, fiery climax at a ring of stones where an alleged witch was once burned.

While most of the story is devoted to basic police investigations, James also fills it with a beautiful, picturesque atmosphere ("... burnishing the trunks of the beech tees and bathing the stones of the manor in a silvery glow") and literary allusions (Oscar Wilde and Thomas Hardy, among others). Most strikingly, she gives the modern police grind a refined, elegant edge that harkens back to a previous age.

And James handles Dalgleish with fondness and warmth, whether it's making a horribly awkward visit to his future father-in-law (very "Importance of Being Earnest") or navigating a crime maze with his partners. And he has some personal problems to deal with as well, since some close friends are victims of a horrible crime -- plus there's that whole impending wedding thing.

As befits a mystery, the supporting characters are given the shadowy dimensions of acquaintances -- we have some idea of their lives and personalities, but not really whether they are the murderer. And James handles some of the seemingly cliche characters -- the crazy girl, the prettyboy wastrel, the haughty doctor -- quite gracefully.

"The Private Patient" is a murder mystery that blossoms into a bittersweet exploration of passing time, with haunting writing and a solid plot. Definitely deserving of notice.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A Kitchen Sink of a Crime Novel.
I know I am going to be seen as seriously offside when I make critical remarks about Britain's master crime writer on her latest book, "The Private Patient", but I have to make... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Ian Gordon Malcomson

5.0 out of 5 stars The Private Patient
Phyllis still rules as Queen of the British mystery genre. Adam Dalgleish will long be remembered as one of the great characters in the history of the "mystery" novel. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Ronald E. Dines

4.0 out of 5 stars The Consequences of Love and Its Lack in a Novel Where Crime Outpaces the Investigation

Adam Dalgliesh fans will feel wonderfully rewarded by a deep and long look at his work in diligently investigating this case while attempting to balance his life to leave... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Professor Donald Mitchell

Only search this product's reviews



Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Look for similar items by subject


Feedback


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.