The Lighthouse

While I hesitate to say that The Lighthouse concludes my current survey of P.D. James' Adam Dalgliesh novels — given that I've run from A Taste for Death to The Private Patient, it might be better to say that I've surveyed the Kate Miskin years — it does at least bring me more or less up to date. So without more ado, a few thoughts on a novel that, despite a few reservations, I rather liked.

Set of the coast of Cornwall, Combe Island provides a discreet retreat for professionals escaping from the pressures of modern life. One of these professionals is Nathan Oliver, brilliant novelist and appalling human being, who uses his status as the only person born on the island for two hundred years to come and go as he pleases. Worried that his writerly powers are starting to fade, Oliver has decided to settle on the island and to do so, he has demanded that Emily Holcombe, the octogenarian descendant of the original owners of the island, be evicted from her cottage in his favour. When Oliver is found dead, his body dangling from the gallery of a disused lighthouse, it is natural to assume that the murder was committed either by one of the visitors or by one of the island's eccentric staff.

Despite being well outside his normal remit, Dalgliesh finds himself called into investigate in order to ensure that the murder is resolved well ahead of a forthcoming political conference to be held on the island. Helicoptered in with Kate Miskin and Francis Benton-Smith, Dalgliesh promptly catches SARS from a visiting diplomat — a development that drops the investigation into Kate's lap and effectively places the island in quarantine, denying the police any further help.

I rather enjoyed The Lighthouse and particularly liked the character of the appalling Nathan Oliver, his put-upon daughter Miranda and Dennis Tremlett, his amanuensis. Oliver himself seemed to me to be a classic Murdochian enchanter: completely egotistical, determined to use everyone and everything in service of his talent, but also terrified that his defining ability is draining away. And like every good enchanter, Oliver seems to have a knack for beguiling people, despite his dreadful behaviour, although this gift isn't enough to stop him from being murdered.

The rest of the cast, although overshadowed by Oliver, made for a decent bunch of suspects. Could the killer be the failed priest? Or the medical researcher beset by animal rights activists? Or the guilt ridden doctor and his bored wife? Or the last scion of the Holcombes? Or her butler? Or perhaps Oliver's own daughter, finally tired of her years of servitude? Or Dennis, whose contributions to Oliver's great novels are obvious greater than is apparent to his adoring fans?

And if some of the elements of the plot are a little too convenient — like Dalgliesh's voguish bout of SARS — these can be forgiven because of the end that they serve. In particular, I thought it was nice to see Kate finally getting a chance to come out of her boss's shadow, to demonstrate her stuff despite her own self doubts, and to finally settle her slightly troubled relations with Benton.