When the administrator of a psychiatric clinic is murdered, Commander Dalgliesh finds himself caught in a whirlwind of political intrigue, blackmail and deceit.

As the acknowledged "Queen of Crime," P. D. James was frequently commissioned by newspapers and magazines to write a special short story for Christmas. Four of the best have been collected together for the first time in one volume [...] P. D. James's understanding of human nature illuminates each of these stories, making them ideal reading for the darkest days of the year. Each treats the reader to her masterfully atmospheric storytelling, a mystery...

Explores the true meaning of justice when a brilliant, but widely unpopular, defense attorney is found stabbed to death, a barrister's wig on her head, and her body drenched in blood that is not her own.

Combe Island off the Cornish coast has a bloodstained history of piracy and cruelty but now, privately owned, it offers respite to over-stressed men and women in positions of high authority who require privacy and guaranteed security. But the peace of Combe is violated when one of the distinguished visitors is bizarrely murdered. Commander Adam Dalgliesh is called in to solve the mystery quickly and discreetly, but at a difficult time for him and...

Inspector Dalgliesh and his extraordinary aunt set out to discover the shocking truth about the past of a famous mystery writer--whose ghastly murder left a circle of bizarre friends terrified that they are next on the killer's list.

Commander Dalgliesh is asked by Sir Alfred Treeves, a successful businessman, to investigate the death of his son, one of the young ordinands of the theological college of St. Anselm's in East Anglia.