by P. D. James
First published 1973
At Nightingale House, young women train to become nurses. During a routine demonstration of medical procedures, a student playing the role of patient suffers a brutal death. What should have been a simple learning exercise becomes a murder scene. Detective Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard arrives to investigate. Soon another student dies under equally mysterious circumstances. Dalgliesh must navigate the closed world of the nursing school, where dedication to healing masks darker motives. Someone among the students, instructors, or staff has turned to murder. The killer believes death provides the ultimate cure for problems that seem unsolvable by other means. Dalgliesh faces a methodical murderer who understands both medicine and violence. The detective must uncover which member of this caring community has chosen to destroy rather than heal.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, methodical-killer
Setting: Nightingale House, Scotland Yard
Period: 20th-century
300 pages · Paperback · Sphere
Content warnings: death, violence