Original Sin, by P.D. James (Penguin, £5.99)

Is it just me, or is there a distinctly Dickensian feel to this thriller? I mean, it is just another competently crafted and …

Is it just me, or is there a distinctly Dickensian feel to this thriller? I mean, it is just another competently crafted and compellingly readable volume in the series featuring the gloomy detective and poet, Adam Dalgliesh, to whom I have never warmed, especially in his colourless, odourless television incarnation. But the positively panoramic cast of characters, the architectural magnificence of the setting a publishing house whose home is a reproduction Venetian palace and, above all, the pervasive presence of the river Thames, its smells, its moods, the look of light on the water at different times of day, all combine to give Original Sin a considerably more 19th century feel than your average volume of detective fiction. Although, come to think of it, if Dickens were alive today, he would probably be cheerfully turning out Dalglieshes and Morses and Wexfords by the bucket load.

Arminta Wallace

Arminta Wallace

Arminta Wallace is a former Irish Times journalist