Devices and Desires

Devices and Desires is a 1989 detective novel in the Adam Dalgliesh series by P. D. James. It takes place on Larksoken, an isolated headland in Norfolk.

Plot overview

Commander Adam Dalgliesh, having published his second volume of poetry, retreats to the remote Larksoken headland where his recently deceased aunt, Jane Dalgliesh, left him a converted windmill. However, a psychopathic mass murderer, known as the Norfolk Whistler, is on the loose and seems to have arrived at Larksoken when Dalgliesh finds the body of the nearby nuclear power plant's Acting Administrative Officer during an evening stroll on the beach. We then watch the effect a following series of interlocking plots have on each other, and on the lives of the book's protagonists.

Major themes

The book deals at length with such issues as nuclear power and its dangers/benefits; the loss of a wife and the effect it has on a family; the bond of siblings; the use and manifestations of both psychosis and duty; and, finally, the love among family members. The book is also notable in that Dalgliesh himself does not actually solve the crime; the book instead begins with different characters carrying on their lives with the bleak backdrop of a controversial power station and a prowling serial killer. Soon, however, after the copycat murder that propels the book along, we watch the characters interact, react, and strike out at one another, although very little actual detecting takes place. The book's merit is in its ability to entwine multiple human beings who must try to live their lives amidst chaotic circumstances. It should also be noted that the mystery actually has nothing at all do with the serial killer - his identity is revealed on page 203.