PDJames – The Lighthouse

Review by Malcolm Martland 4 June 2009
I like PDJames books but this one just did not cut the mustard with me. I read a review of The Lighthouse in the Guardian couple of weeks ago and thought could she have based this on Scilly – so I had to buy it.Set in Cornwall on inappropriately named Combe Island 12 miles off Newquay – Combe would be OK for Devon but Cornwall would be a Saints name or something really Celtic - like Tresco maybe?

The island is set aside for the famous, the well off and those in high public office – it is an anachronism where exhausted bigwigs take an undeserved break – probably on their parliamentary expenses!

Transport to the island is either by the harbourmaster’s boat or helicopter as they have their own helipad. Once on the ground visitors can get about by golf buggy or bicycle – sound familiar.

Accommodation on the island is at The House or in cottages dotted about the isle with names like Dolphin Cottage, Seal Cottage, Peregrine Cottage, Atlantic Cottage, Puffin Cottage. This is not however self catering but catered – formal meals are provided at the house or delivered to the cottages. Those staff who do not have their own accommodation live in the stable block – how nice and quaint.

Apart from administrative and catering staff residents include a once disgraced doctor and his nurse wife, a drunken vicar on rehab., an author Nathan Oliver who was born on the island and his daughter and assistant cum daughter’s lover, and the last female descendent of the island family.

But if PD James based any of this on Scilly it must have only been on a very indifferent day trip – she has no feel at all for these Atlantic islands and any resemblance to our islands is purely superficial. Her writing is for great tracts trivial and dull – matter of fact – obsessed with doilies – or similar such items - sizes of windows and flower borders of no relevance to either the plot or to literature. Stupid use of vocabulary – laughably she uses “risible” several times – I didn’t find it that amusing- the idea of 2 policemen attending a crime scene on bicycles – risible – give us a break Dame Phyllis. I know it is much easier to criticize a novel than write one but this disappointed me immensely. And she repeats herself eve within paragraphs – and also contradicts herself – Murder Victim 1 Nathan Oliver – was in pretty good shape for a man of 68 – same paragraph - victim was quite frail – author, make your mind up before this book joins the ranks of Dan Brown and Ian McEwan in my dustbin.

And the action – the first murder has already happened at the beginning of the book –the great novelist – bad tempered Nathan Oliver found hanging by a rope form the top of the lighthouse – but with signs of having been strangled first- but can Devon and Cornwall Constabulary deal with it? No – because of the sensitivity and privilege of the site Commander Dalgliesh from Scotland Yard and his team are flown in – and they ponder and ponder for nearly 300 pages.

Then quite suddenly the old PD James is back – another murder – the drunken priest this time – and the detectives are suddenly galvanized out of their terminal introspection and solve the murders and prevent yet another in a dashing dazzling finale.

But I still don’t know why they had to wait for the next high tide until they looked for evidence on the beach below the cliffs – have I just not lived here long enough to understand this – I know that low tide would have been better (thanks Lydia for supporting me on this).

I’m sure it’ll make a great TV drama but I thought it was quite poor in very many places. Don’t buy is my verdict!