Shroud for a Nightingale

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Shroud for a Nightingale

Shroud for a Nightingale

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Price: £9.9
£9.9 FREE Shipping

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Tagged with: ★ 4 Stars, 1970s, British, Health Service, London, Murder, Mystery, Narrative, Review, World War 2 Since adaptations of mystery novels often suffer from short running times and insufficient consideration of clues, you would think a 5-hr. miniseries format would be ideal for letting the viewer try to solve the mystery herself. Thus it's disappointing when, after investing so much time, SfaN gives up on the "fair play" solve-it-yourself aspect, choosing simply to reveal the answer in a way that no viewer could discover. (And it's not the only Dalgliesh miniseries to do this.) Strangely, SfaN goes on and on for 5 hours but never seems to think about clues any more than a 90 minute movie. Right. If tube feeding is to continue for more than forty-eight hours we must ensure that the diet is adequate in calories, protein and vitamins. At what temperature are you giving the feed, Nurse?" As the two friends were to tell each other for years to come, with that cosy predilection for re-stating the obvious which is one of the pleasures of long intimacy, she could hardly have been more wrong. Miss Beale, expecting nothing worse of the day than a tedious drive, an arduous inspection, and a possible tussle with those members of the Hospital Nurse Education Committee who took the trouble to attend, dragged her dressing-gown around her shoulders, stubbed her feet into her bedroom slippers and shuffled off into the bathroom. She had taken the first steps on her way to witness a murder. Nurse Pardoe shrugged: "Perhaps it wasn't meant for Pearce. Jo Fallon was supposed to act as patient today, wasn't she? It was Fallon's name next on the list. If she hadn't been taken ill last night, it would have been Fallon in that bed this morning."

It was much better than the three previous books — Cover Her Face (1962), A Mind to Murder (1963), and Unnatural Causes (1967) — but not as good as the ones that would follow. This wasn't a natural death. There was something other than milk in that feed. Well, that's obvious to all of us I should have thought. We'd better call the police. I'll get on to the Yard. I know someone there, as it happens. One of the Assistant Commissioners." This story opening in Nightingale House in 1975 where a group of trainee nurses are being taught. In the class they are giving a demonstration of how to feed a patient through a tube, with a nurse playing the part of the patient... as soon as the liquid in the tube reaches her stomach she reacts violently and dies. It appears that somebody has replaced the milk meant to be used with disinfectant. Inspector Adam Dalgliesh and DS Charles Masterson turn up to investigate. As the case progresses various suspects and motives emerge. Just take this road to the left, Miss, and keep straight on past the mortuary till you get to the resident medical quarters. Then turn to the right. There's a signpost where the road forks. You can't miss it." This must be the shortest inspection on record. What on earth will I say to the General Nursing Council?"This feels like a step-up in confidence for James's Dalgleish series: it still has its roots in the classic Christie-esque (the closed community, the poisonings, the limited circle of suspects, the secret lives beneath the surface) but the NHS setting gives it oomph. I did wonder if women in the 1970s were quite this old-fashioned (49 is impending old age, nurse's training is abandoned on marriage, a whiskey night-cap is an indicator of racy behaviour) but that's a question, not a criticism. Nurse Dakers dutifully began. She was a pale, thin girl who blushed unbecomingly as she spoke. It was difficult to hear her but she knew her facts and presented them well. A conscientious little thing, thought Miss Beale, not outstandingly intelligent, perhaps, but hard working and reliable. It was a pity that no one had done anything about her acne. She retained her air of bright professional interest whilst Nurse Dakers propounded the fictional medical history of Mrs. Stokes and took the opportunity of a close look at the remaining students in the class, making her customary private assessment of their characters and ability.

Each book is your typical murder-mystery whodunit with Inspector Dalgliesh set the seemingly impossible task of unmasking the culprit. What is the book about? Strange and scary things happen at the nursing school. Right at the practical lesson, a student dies. Do you know the procedure of anal feeding when a patient cannot eat for some reason? Her skill, like any other, should be worked out by future sisters, and fellow students serve as a model for procedures in turn. The one to whom this has fallen today is injected with another substance instead of warm milk. And a day later - another death. Nurse Pearce is acting the part of our patient this morning. We have just been going through her history. She is Mrs. Stokes, the fifty-year-old mother of four children, wife of a council refuse collector. She has had a laryngectomy for the treatment of cancer." She turned to a student sitting on her right.

Episodes

I had heard of P.D. James before but had never read any of her works, and I didn't really know she wrote mysteries. So I was quite pleasantly surprised by Shroud for a Nightingale--so much so that I've since read another James and am onto a third. The ending was really good. I wasn't expecting it and I liked how in the end Dalgliesh was right, but you wonder at the cost of him being right and unmovable. This is the fourth book in the Adam Dalgliesh series. I have recently been re-reading these novels and, although I have enjoyed the previous books, this certainly represents a seeming increase in ability and confidence in the writing and storyline. “Shroud for a Nightingale,” is set in a nurse training school and P D James worked for the NHS for many years, so it is an environment she would have been extremely familiar with.

I exaggerate a bit, but their condescension and awareness-of-status/position/class is glaringly clear in so many books I read by English writers, even those set in the present day. It’s not the first time that James’ protagonist, who was featured in 14 books from 1962-2008, has been brought to the small screen (Roy Marsden and Martin Shaw played in him the ITV and BBC adaptations and there were several British radio iterations), but it’s the first time that Carvel, an Olivier Award-winning actor, has taken the role. He proves to be a fine, workmanlike addition to the oeuvre — nothing fancy or too clever, but he gets the job done. Sometimes less is more, without distracting character tics early on. It’s a typical Dalgliesh move, understated and subtle, but he remains aloof. Maybe nobody knows him. He’s recently widowed. He’s a published poet but doesn’t talk about it much (Masterson is incredulous, most of the women are intrigued), and he is a man of few words. Policing and poetry work together for him. He observes and reflects, and he’s challenging to read, although one character thinks she has him figured out. Except Dalgliesh has a core of kindness and the brutality of police work. The all-female community from the top down flutters around him, except grumpy Sister Brumfett, who tells him he is bullying everyone and disturbing the routine. I enjoyed this one a lot better than the last book in the series. Probably because it wasn't so muddled. There was immediate concern. Only Nurse Harper made no move to help. The rest gathered around the girl, glad of the chance to be doing something. Nurse Goodale said: "I'll take her to the downstairs cloakroom."

Cast & Crew

Right, Nurse," said Sister Gearing. "So we are faced with the problem of a post-operative patient, already seriously under-nourished and now unable to take food by mouth. That means what? Yes, Nurse?"



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