by P. D. James
First published 2010
Commander Adam Dalgliesh arrives at St. Matthew's Church to find two corpses in the Little Vestry, their throats slashed. The victims could not be more different: an aristocratic government minister and a homeless vagrant from the streets. Scotland Yard must determine what brought these men from opposite worlds to die together in the same sacred space. Dalgliesh investigates a tangle of suspects with countless reasons to kill. He examines a partially burned diary that holds secrets. He questions a violet-eyed widow carrying a child and harboring deep resentment. The commander searches for the missing piece that will explain how these two lives intersected in violent death. Each clue reveals new motives and fresh complications. Dalgliesh must bridge the gap between the victims' vastly different circumstances to solve the puzzle of their shared fate.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigation, multiple-suspects
Setting: Scotland Yard, St. Matthew's Church
Period: 20th-century
457 pages · Kindle Edition · Vintage