Devices and Desires

Couldn't disagree more with the sour reviewer who found this masterpiece and Roy Marsden to be disappointing. One wonders what this person's idea of a great mystery and detective is??

As a huge fan of Marsden (the PERFECT Dalgleish) and the P.D. James mysteries starring him, "Devices and Desires" is by far my favorite. I cannot believe that it is the only one which is not available on DVD. (Update: it is now available on DVD).

Everything about this production is excellent. What a cast! Full of fascinating twists, turns and bizarre subplots - not to mention a series of very creepy murders, this one is a winner. Available on VHS at many libraries.

For me the story was too drawn out, often boring. Would have been better at 3 hours. But most annoying was the way the scenes cut, sometimes after less than a minute. I appreciate switching from one scene to the next for suspense, but this was often ridiculous.

Too many subplots, way melodramatic at times.

As someone else said, Dalgliesh had barely anything to do. What was that stranger with the shoe doing in the story? Some of the characters were made way more important than they needed to be.

Series is increasingly getting worse with each story. Wonder how Unnatural Causes is going to be like.

My copy of the novel runs to 500 pages, and I feel it could have benefited by some severe editing. The miniseries runs to about 5 hours, and that's a lot of exposition and some unnecessary characters: the second killing of a power plant employee is set up so elaborately you want to say Get on with it! There is some very effective acting, particularly from Gemma Jones as the sister of the plant director, and Nicola Cowper as a reluctant activist in the protest against environmental hazards. Lisa Ellis, who's had parts in many series, notably EastEnders, is very good as Blaney's daughter, but the tempo does drag at times.

For those who worry about Roy Marsden's quiet acting style, I'd like to remind them that Dalgleish is a poet who drives a sports car, thus he's at the antipodes of standard detective heroes (George Gently comes to mind). This is one of those stories in which the detectives, for all their competence, are peripheral to the action. The killers do their work, and are dealt with summarily by the author.

This is a very intense mini series set on the Norfolk coast of England involving a Nuclear facility and a serial murderer. The cast includes several outstanding players in addition to Marsden, most notably Susannah York and Gemma Jones. Kate Beckinsale appears in a short sequence in episode 2. Marsden plays his part softly and without bravado. It is an intense mystery involving a wide range of individuals including local residents and nuclear plant employees. Certainly one of the outstanding examples of P.D. James mystery writing.