P.D. James - The Black Tower

Actor Roy Marsden's fourth outing as mystery author P.D. James's recurring hero Inspector Dalgliesh is a very satisfying affair: an unorthodox whodunit in a surprisingly creepy setting, all wrapped in a psychologically complex story in which love, duty, and loyalty become corrupting prisons for myriad characters. Beneath it all is Dalgliesh's own crisis of confidence after a bullet injury. An old mentor from school, a kindly chaplain, seeks the recuperating Dalgliesh's assistance with a problem at Toynton Grange, a nursing home. When the detective arrives, he finds the chaplain dead, a rash of threatening letters anonymously sent to the residents, a disabled man possibly murdered, and a Grange director twisted by missionary zeal, bitter disappointment, and the loathing of his staff and clients. Dalgliesh slowly penetrates the Grange's peculiarly insulated culture, looking for a pattern to bizarre events. James's lengthy story is gripping, but the splendid cast is reason enough to see this miniseries. --Tom Keogh