Listen free for 30 days
-
Devices and Desires
- Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
- Series: Adam Dalgliesh, Book 8
- Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £20.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Original Sin
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
- Length: 15 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An Adam Dalgliesh Mystery. Set on the banks of the River Thames in the literary world, P. D. James' Original Sin is the ninth Adam Dalgliesh mystery and a brilliant work of crime fiction from the best-selling author of Death Comes to Pemberley. The Peverell Press, a 200-year-old publishing firm housed in a dramatic mock-Venetian palace on the Thames, is certainly ripe for change.
-
-
P D James at her best.
- By Maryb on 20-03-16
-
One Corpse Too Many
- The Second Chronicle of Brother Cadfael
- By: Ellis Peters
- Narrated by: Stephen Thorne
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1138, war between King Stephen and the Empress Maud takes brother Cadfael from the quiet world of his garden to the bloody battlefield. Not far from the safety of the Abbey walls, Shrewsbury Castle falls, leaving its ninety-four defenders loyal to the empress to hang as traitors. With a heavy heart, Brother Cadfael agrees to bury the dead, only to make a grisly discovery: 95 bodies lie in a row, and the extra corpse tells Cadfael that the killer is both clever and ruthless. But one death among so many seems unimportant to all but the good Benedictine.
-
-
Transports you away to another time and place!
- By Phil on 20-06-20
-
Dry Bones That Dream
- The 7th DCI Banks Mystery
- By: Peter Robinson
- Narrated by: Simon Slater
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was 2:47 a.m. when Chief Inspector Alan Banks arrived at the barn and saw the body of Keith Rothwell for the first time. Only hours earlier two masked men had walked the mild-mannered accountant out of his farmhouse and clinically blasted him with a shotgun. Clearly this is a professional hit - but Keith was hardly the sort of person to make deadly enemies. Or was he? For the police investigation soon raises more questions than answers. And who, exactly, is Robert Clavert?
-
-
twist and turns in every chapter.
- By Frankwalker on 22-01-22
-
A Reconstructed Corpse
- By: Simon Brett
- Narrated by: Simon Brett
- Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charles Paris’ acting career plumbs new depths when he takes the part of a possible murder victim in ‘Public Enemies’, a true-crime television series. Finding himself in a bizarre world somewhere between police procedure and showbiz, Charles is inexorably drawn into the investigation... especially after the dismembered limbs start turning up. The viewers of ‘Public Enemies’ get caught up in the macabre jigsaw puzzle of death; it is ghastly, of course, but it does make good television.
-
-
A very enjoyable listen
- By crochetdiva on 17-01-22
-
Broadland
- British Detective Tanner Murder Mystery Series, Book 1
- By: David Blake
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a girl’s body is found strangled, raped, and horrifically mutilated by a boat’s propeller, deep in the heart of the Norfolk Broads, newly arrived Detective Inspector John Tanner is asked to assist with the investigation. At first, all the evidence points to a man who had a multi-million-pound reason to kill her. But when an alibi is produced from an unexpected source, and another body appears at the base of a slipway, Tanner finds himself turning to local girl Detective Constable Jenny Evans for help.
-
-
Broadland
- By Daisy on 13-09-19
-
Dead Beat
- PI Kate Brannigan, Book 1
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Chloe Massey
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a favour, Kate agrees to track down a missing songwriter, Moria Pollock. It was supposed to be a nice simple case, but the search soon leads Kate into the dark underworld of Leeds, Manchester and Bradford – and finally to a shocking confrontation with a killer.
-
-
Fun detective story
- By Freckles on 22-03-19
-
Original Sin
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
- Length: 15 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An Adam Dalgliesh Mystery. Set on the banks of the River Thames in the literary world, P. D. James' Original Sin is the ninth Adam Dalgliesh mystery and a brilliant work of crime fiction from the best-selling author of Death Comes to Pemberley. The Peverell Press, a 200-year-old publishing firm housed in a dramatic mock-Venetian palace on the Thames, is certainly ripe for change.
-
-
P D James at her best.
- By Maryb on 20-03-16
-
One Corpse Too Many
- The Second Chronicle of Brother Cadfael
- By: Ellis Peters
- Narrated by: Stephen Thorne
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1138, war between King Stephen and the Empress Maud takes brother Cadfael from the quiet world of his garden to the bloody battlefield. Not far from the safety of the Abbey walls, Shrewsbury Castle falls, leaving its ninety-four defenders loyal to the empress to hang as traitors. With a heavy heart, Brother Cadfael agrees to bury the dead, only to make a grisly discovery: 95 bodies lie in a row, and the extra corpse tells Cadfael that the killer is both clever and ruthless. But one death among so many seems unimportant to all but the good Benedictine.
-
-
Transports you away to another time and place!
- By Phil on 20-06-20
-
Dry Bones That Dream
- The 7th DCI Banks Mystery
- By: Peter Robinson
- Narrated by: Simon Slater
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was 2:47 a.m. when Chief Inspector Alan Banks arrived at the barn and saw the body of Keith Rothwell for the first time. Only hours earlier two masked men had walked the mild-mannered accountant out of his farmhouse and clinically blasted him with a shotgun. Clearly this is a professional hit - but Keith was hardly the sort of person to make deadly enemies. Or was he? For the police investigation soon raises more questions than answers. And who, exactly, is Robert Clavert?
-
-
twist and turns in every chapter.
- By Frankwalker on 22-01-22
-
A Reconstructed Corpse
- By: Simon Brett
- Narrated by: Simon Brett
- Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charles Paris’ acting career plumbs new depths when he takes the part of a possible murder victim in ‘Public Enemies’, a true-crime television series. Finding himself in a bizarre world somewhere between police procedure and showbiz, Charles is inexorably drawn into the investigation... especially after the dismembered limbs start turning up. The viewers of ‘Public Enemies’ get caught up in the macabre jigsaw puzzle of death; it is ghastly, of course, but it does make good television.
-
-
A very enjoyable listen
- By crochetdiva on 17-01-22
-
Broadland
- British Detective Tanner Murder Mystery Series, Book 1
- By: David Blake
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a girl’s body is found strangled, raped, and horrifically mutilated by a boat’s propeller, deep in the heart of the Norfolk Broads, newly arrived Detective Inspector John Tanner is asked to assist with the investigation. At first, all the evidence points to a man who had a multi-million-pound reason to kill her. But when an alibi is produced from an unexpected source, and another body appears at the base of a slipway, Tanner finds himself turning to local girl Detective Constable Jenny Evans for help.
-
-
Broadland
- By Daisy on 13-09-19
-
Dead Beat
- PI Kate Brannigan, Book 1
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Chloe Massey
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a favour, Kate agrees to track down a missing songwriter, Moria Pollock. It was supposed to be a nice simple case, but the search soon leads Kate into the dark underworld of Leeds, Manchester and Bradford – and finally to a shocking confrontation with a killer.
-
-
Fun detective story
- By Freckles on 22-03-19
-
The Body in the Marsh
- DCI Craig Gillard, Book 1
- By: Nick Louth
- Narrated by: Marston York
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Criminologist Martin Knight lives a gilded life and is a thorn in the side of the police. But then his wife, Liz, goes missing. There is no good explanation and no sign of Martin.... To make things worse, Liz is the ex-girlfriend of DCI Craig Gillard who is drawn into the investigation. Is it just a missing person or something worse? And what relevance do the events around the shocking Girl F case, so taken up by Knight, have to do with the present? The truth is darker than you could ever have imagined.
-
-
Tired old tropes.
- By K on 18-09-20
-
The Skull Beneath the Skin
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Katie Scarfe
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Cordelia Gray Mystery. Marking the return of Cordelia Gray, The Skull Beneath the Skin is a complex mystery which more than lives up to its predecessor, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman. Hired to protect a beautiful but neurotic actress, Cordelia Gray soon becomes embroiled in a case as dangerous to her own life as it is mysterious. Clarissa Lisle hopes to make a spectacular comeback in a production of The Duchess of Malfi, to be played in Ambrose Gorringe's sinister castle at Courcy Island.
-
-
Performance of narrator
- By Maureen Frost on 10-04-21
-
Sleep No More
- Six Murderous Tales
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The acknowledged 'Queen of Crime', P. D. James, was a past master of the short story, weaving together motifs of the golden age of crime writing with deep psychological insight to create gripping, suspenseful tales. The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories contained four of these perfectly formed stories, and this companion volume contains a further six, published here together for the first time. As the six murderous tales unfold, the dark motive of revenge is revealed at the heart of each.
-
-
Reassuringly, with no incongruity; PD James! ;)
- By Kat Mac on 07-12-19
-
Innocent Blood
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Kaite Scarfe
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Innocent Blood is a standalone thriller and chilling mystery from P.D. James, the best-selling author of Death Comes to Pemberley and Children of Men. Philippa Palfrey, adopted as a child, believes herself to be the motherless, illegitimate daughter of an aristocratic father. At eighteen she exercises her right to find out the truth. What she discovers will change her life forever.
-
-
Innocent Blood
- By Gerald on 16-08-17
-
Death Comes to Pemberley
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Katie Scarfe
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two great literary minds - master of suspense P.D. James and literary icon Jane Austen - come together in Death Comes to Pemberley, a bestselling historical crime fiction tribute to Pride and Prejudice. Conjuring the world of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and combining the trappings of Regency society with a classic murder mystery, James creates a delightful new story that will intrigue any fan of Jane Austen.
-
-
It's ok
- By Steph H on 01-05-16
-
The Children of Men
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year is 2021. No child has been born for 25 years. The human race faces extinction. Under the despotic rule of Xan Lyppiat, the Warden of England, the old are despairing and the young cruel. Theo Faren, a cousin of the warden, lives a solitary life in this ominous atmosphere. That is until a chance encounter with a young woman leads him into contact with a group of dissenters. Suddenly his life is changed irrevocably as he faces agonising choices which could affect the future of mankind.
-
-
This book explores a very interesting idea
- By Ariel on 18-07-18
-
Intimate Kill
- By: Margaret Yorke
- Narrated by: Trevor Nichols
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After serving ten years of a life sentence for murder, Stephen Dawes was released on licence to start a new life. But Stephen could not let the past bury itself; he alone knew he had not killed his wife Marcia. As Stephen set out to reconstruct Marcia's last hours, the time she must have spent plotting a suicide meant to look like murder, he gradually began to realize that nothing was as it had seemed, and that he was chasing a murderer himself...and putting his own life in jeopardy.
-
-
Would recommend
- By Stephen Lennon on 20-02-21
-
The Girl in the Cellar
- By: Patricia Wentworth
- Narrated by: Diana Bishop
- Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
She awakes in a dark place. A young woman with a shattered memory, she knows neither who she is nor how she came to be in this abandoned house. All she possesses is a faint sense that someone is lying dead at the foot of the stairs. Horrifyingly, she is correct. In the cellar lies a young woman, her body broken, her head split, her life undone by a revolver’s shell. The amnesiac flees and finally has a stroke of luck: She meets Maud Silver.
-
-
Amnesia and Silver again
- By Melissa on 21-09-14
-
Death of a Ghost
- By: Margery Allingham
- Narrated by: Francis Matthews
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The unrivalled Albert Campion returns to solve another shocking murder - classic crime fiction at its very best. J.S. Lafcadio, the painter, is dead. He wanted lasting fame and he left instructions to his wife for one painting to be exhibited every year after his death. Eight years later in Little Venice, a group of friends and family gather to view the painting. They are treated instead to a murder....
-
-
Albert Campion - Ghost Buster!
- By Roger on 26-07-15
-
Saints of the Shadow Bible
- By: Ian Rankin
- Narrated by: James MacPherson
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sunday Times number-one best seller Ian Rankin returns with his gripping new Rebus novel. Unabridged edition featuring a bonus interview with Ian Rankin and James MacPherson. Rebus is back on the force, albeit with a demotion and a chip on his shoulder. A 30-year-old case is being reopened, and Rebus' team from back then is suspected of foul play. With Malcolm Fox as the investigating officer, are the past and present about to collide in a shocking and murderous fashion?
-
-
Yes, yes, yes, Rankin right back on top of form!
- By Jill on 10-11-13
-
The Death of Remembrance
- By: Denzil Meyrick
- Narrated by: David Monteath
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the present, an old fisherman is found dead by the shoreline and a stranger with a mission moves into a shabby Kinloch flat/ Meanwhile, D.C.I. Jim Daley is trying to help Brian Scott stay sober, and the good people of Kinloch are still mourning the death of one of their own. As past and present collide, Daley finds himself face to face with old friends and foes. Memories can only last as long as those who keep them, and ghosts will not be silenced.
-
-
Shadows from the past and murder in the present
- By Vicuña on 03-06-22
-
Maigret and the Good People of Montparnasse
- Inspector Maigret, 58
- By: Georges Simenon
- Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 3 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A retired manufacturer has been shot dead by his own pistol, last seen alive by his son-in-law. In this seemingly motiveless murder, Inspector Maigret must rely on his famous intuition to discover the truth. This novel has been published in a previous translation as Maigret and the Black Sheep.
-
-
Complete
- By Elizabeth on 29-08-20
Summary
Devices and Desires by P.D. James is the eighth Adam Dalgliesh mystery. Set against the remote Norfolk coastline under the shadow of a nuclear power station, a serial killer known as the Whistler is terrorising the neighbourhood.
When Commander Adam Dalgliesh visits Larksoken, a remote headland community on the Norfolk coast in the shadow of a nuclear power station, he expects to be engaged only in the sad business of tying up his aunt's estate. But the peace of Larksoken is illusory.
A serial killer known as the Whistler is terrorising the neighbourhood, and Dalgliesh is drawn into the lives of the headlanders when it quickly becomes apparent that the Whistler isn't the only murderer at work under the sinister shadow of the power station.
Critic reviews
More from the same
Narrator
What listeners say about Devices and Desires
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mrs
- 15-06-19
superb P.D. James
Daniel Weymans superb narration kept me spellbound. superb story line with twists and turns. P.D. James at her best.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- pauline wallin
- 22-01-19
Brilliant.
This is PD James at her brilliant best: blood, gore, intricate plotting, and Adam Dalgliesh in the background, a shadowy figure who observes the action but knows most of the answers. One of the most powerful characters is the roiling north Norfolk coastline and the weather blowing in from the sea like the roar of a god. The death toll is high before the thrilling conclusion but none of the killings are sensationalised simply to shock ... there are, though many spine chilling moments before sanity resumes and Dalgliesh departs his childhood territory to return to his private sanctuary high above the river Thames and a further thrilling case.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Pavarotta
- 05-09-20
Disappointingly tedious
I have tried several times to read/listen to P. D. James' stories. I can't understand why she is as beloved a crime writer as she clearly is; the stories aren't bad but there is so much unnecessary filler that it's just tedious at times. Maybe editors are too in awe of her reputation to suggest the cuts needed? Sorry- I should stop griping- it's a matter of personal taste. Lots of people love her work, so I will just button it, and get myself something else to listen to!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Flint
- 25-10-17
Disappointing
I didn't enjoy this book very much, it was too complicated and it was difficult to follow and the plot wasn't particularly interesting. I have enjoyed other books by this author which were read well by the same narrator but on this occasion the narration was not up to the usual standard. The book is set in Norfolk and it is not unreasonable to expect place names to be consistently pronounced correctly. I am not sure if the narrator was attempting a Norfolk accent but at least one of the characters sounded Australian for no obvious reason. I will try more books by this author and I would be happy to listen to other books read by the narrator, but this book was disappointing.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- NJ
- 06-10-20
Surprisingly good
I found a couple of P D James' books a bit twee and predicable. I half expected this to be the same because of the setting.
It wasn't at all what I expected and I really enjoyed it!
Perfectly read as ever by Daniel Weyman.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- S. Hall
- 05-04-15
Surprising that Insp Dalglish isnt in charge
Great narration by Daniel again and it is a very interesting story but seemed strange to me Adam Dalglish was not running the investigation which held him back and I missed him. Otherwise very good as always but not my favourite
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- taylor
- 14-05-22
Brilliant
I have just finished listening to this book, full of twists and turns truly enjoyable
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- amazonian
- 28-04-22
Not the usual Dalgleish story
Missed the usual Dalgleish insight and was marred by the peripheral part he played in the drama
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Darrel
- 01-01-22
Heavy going
I found this to be a slow burner. So much time is spent describing the characters that the overall plot is diluted. The final third of the story does move along though.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 12-11-21
An excellent book.
I so enjoyed this audiobook especially as it is narrated by Daniel Weyman who is a master at giving a voice to the characters. PD James”’ descriptive excellence brings the book alive and holds your interest until the last page.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Colin
- 25-04-21
One of her best
One of the very best of a catalogue of outstanding stories...a plot with twists & turns, complex characters whose relations ships change as the story progresses, several cliff- hanger moments & the slow building of tension make this an outstanding story.
Well read by Daniel Wayman.
Having recently listened to Cover her face, The Lighthouse, The Murder Room, The Private Patient & Death in Holy Orders one can chart the development of the author as well as the character of Adam Dalgleish.
Highly recommended as a book or an Audible presentation.