Last rites

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P.D. James

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.

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Neil White

"Twenty years ago, Claude Gilbert, murdered his wife, buried her alive and then killed himself - so everyone believes. But as Gilbert disappeared without a trace on the night of the murder, the mystery has remained unsolved. Until now ... When Lancashire crime beat reporter Jack Garrett is contacted by someone alleging that Gilbert is alive, he eagerly leaps on the chance to solve a decades-old enigma. But as Jack sets off on Gilbert's trail, he quickly finds that the truth is stranger than the headlines. Jack and girlfriend PC Laura McGanity quickly realise that they are now pawns in a twisted game, and the rules are about to get nasty ..."--Publisher description.

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Anne Perry

When Charlotte learns of her mother's distress in losing a locket with a compromising picture, she has no idea that it's just the beginning of a series of bizarre events that will end in sudden death.

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Peter Lovesey

"Two police officers are about to head home after a long night shift when they receive one last call: a suspicious nude person has been spotted in the wee hours of the morning. En route to the call, the patrol car spins off the road, killing one of the exhausted cops instantly and leaving the other in critical condition. Whenever a police car is involved in an accident, the matter must be taken very seriously. Inspector Peter Diamond is assigned to look into the case. His supervisor is desperately hoping Diamond will not discover that the car was speeding or that the driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol--that would make the police look very bad indeed. Instead, Diamond discovers something even worse--a civilian on a motorized tricycle was involved in the crash, and has been lying on the side of the road by the accident for hours undiscovered. Diamond administers CPR, but no one can say whether the man will pull through. If a civilian has been killed by a police vehicle, the department has very big problems on its hands. Meanwhile, Diamond has become suspicious of the civilian victim, and begins a private inquiry. Why was he out in the middle of the night, carrying a funeral urn of ashes? Diamond's somewhat illegal and highly secret break-in into the man's house only exposes increasingly awful information, and leads Diamond to a trail of uninvestigated deaths. As the man lingers on life support, Diamond must wrestle with the fact that he may have saved the life of a serial killer"--