"On the morning of the first murder Miss Muriel Beale, Inspector of Nurse Training Schools to the General Nursing Council, stirred into wakefulness soon after six o'clock and into a sluggish morning awareness that it was Monday, 12 January, and the day of the John Carpendar Hospital Inspection."
When a young woman dies at a nurse's training college, it's treated as a tragic accident. When a second young woman dies, it's clear that there is something more sinister going on at Nightingale House. Shroud for a Nightingale is the fourth book in the well-loved Adam Dalgliesh mystery series. It was an assured and well-plotted mystery with suspects and motives abound but the real strength of this book is the setting. P.D. James worked for the NHS in the 1960s, and she uses her experiences to great effect. The shabby, faded glory of Nightingale House and the complicated friendships, rivalries, and backgrounds of the women who live there are brought fully to life.
However, Shroud For a Nightingale was written in the late 1960s and some of the attitudes have aged like milk. The casual misogyny and the constant male gaze were hard to ignore and at times female characters were described in such cruel and spiteful ways that it left a sour taste in my mouth. For me, this misogyny overshadowed everything and it spoiled my enjoyment of the whole book.
Read On: The next book in the series is The Black Tower but I'm not sure if I will continue with this series.
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