Death of an Expert Witness by P.D. James (1977)
4 out of 5 stars
“It was not, thought Dalgliesh, that she was unaware of the frayed and ragged edges of life. She would merely iron them out with a firm hand and neatly hem them down.”
Dr. Lorrimer was a top-notch forensic scientist, but miserable at maintaining good relationships with others. His abrasive personality made many of the other people in his lab breathe a small sigh of relief when he is murdered with the very mallet he is examining. Commander Adam Dalgliesh of the New Scotland Yard, London, must discover the murderer among Dr Lorrimer’s coworkers – all who have motive, opportunity, and the expertise to eliminate the evidence they’ve left behind. Unfortunately, the unlikability of the murdered man means people aren’t particularly interested in finding the murderer…and I found that I wasn’t exactly interested either.
It isn’t that this is a bad book. On the contrary, it is a very, very good book. P.D. James well deserves her reputation as a master at developing her characters and setting. The location is a little out-dated now – a book written on forensic science in 1977 feels archaic in comparison to the police dramas of today – but is detailed, and does make an interesting look into vintage forensic techniques. Her characters are as alive as you would expect from her novels, and it features a clever little twist. However, I just wasn’t drawn into this novel like I was into some of her other books, and I can’t identify why.
In short, if you’re looking for a good introduction to P.D. James, I preferred A Taste for Death. If you already like her writing, then you’ll like this one too.
As an aside: I highly appreciate that she, unlike other authors I’ve read, describes the process of gel electrophoresis accurately (I read a book recently – and can’t remember the title! – where the characters were laughably in awe of this “electrophoresis” system. It was obviously the author latching onto a science-y sounding word to make his book sound better). Kudos for her doing her research!
Photo of the 1st edition cover from Wikipedia.
