An Adam Dalgliesh mystery, this my first exposure to James’ incisive characterization and tightly spooled plots. Dark, nitty-gritty and somewhat sexually charged, the story gave every evidence of being solvable; I’m not sure I did justice to this option, embroiled as I was in a mystery of my own: Can I get all my assignments done? In any case, Dalgliesh, and his accomplice, Massingham, when viewed together seem to hold seeds of redemption; their personalities and philosophies will be sufficiently intriguing to bring me back. (As it turns out, this was episode # 6 in the Dalgliesh series!)