by P. D. James
First published 2012
A chisel through the heart kills the administrative head of London's prestigious Steen Psychiatric Clinic. The weapon destroys more than a life. It shatters the institution's respectable reputation and exposes the turmoil beneath its polished surface. Scotland Yard Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh arrives to investigate the brutal crime. He discovers a maze of psychiatric treatment, pharmaceutical dependencies, and deliberate lies. Patients harbor deep anxieties and unfulfilled longings. Staff members conceal their own frustrated ambitions and unresolved tensions. Dalgliesh must decode the psychological landscape of everyone connected to the clinic. Someone among them has turned internal conflict into lethal action. The detective races to identify the calculating murderer before they strike again. In this second case featuring Dalgliesh, the investigation forces him to examine the human mind's capacity for both healing and destruction.
Genres: mystery, crime, detective, psychological-thriller
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigation, unreliable-narrator
Setting: London, Steen Psychiatric Clinic
Period: 20th-century
291 pages · Kindle Edition · Scribner
Content warnings: mental-illness