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The Black Tower
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Plot Summary of The Black Tower
"Commander Dalgliesh experiences a life-and-death experience in the beginning, and therefore wishes to foresake his long-lasted career. But he begins an investigation that a long separated old friend, Father Baddley, had requested before the old man mysteriously died, followed by three other mysterious deaths.

With the peculiarity of the deaths in this novel - deaths curiously natural at convenient times, the atmosphere of incompleteness builds on until we find the entire truth. A mixture of self-identity search, murder mystery, and a bit of action to throw into the mix, The Black Tower is definitely a must-read for those who loves Commander Dalgliesh's crime investigation series!"

Deirdra Dan, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of The Black Tower
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 30%




Tone of story - Dry-cynical
How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story: - 1980's-1999
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 70%
Murder of certain profession? - businessmen
Kind of investigator - skilled citizen investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - feelings towards family/friends
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - police/lawman
Age: - 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How much violence does he/she use? - just the right amount
Ethnicity/Race - British
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - physically sick

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - diplomat
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an average amount
Motive of antagonist - money/treasure
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK
Water? Yes
Water: - drowning
City? Yes
City: - London
Small town? Yes
Small town people: - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee
Misc setting - resort/hotel

Style
Part of a series? Yes
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths? - 3-4
Sex Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references
Unusual forms of death - asphyxiation - dropped from large heights - hanging
Unusual form of death? Yes
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
Most similar books to The Black Tower
The Big Gamble by Michael McGarrity
Hindsight by Barbara Rogan
Midlife Can Be Murder by Jane Isenberg
Dead Ringer by Lisa Scottoline
The Face on the Wall by Jane Langton


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P.D. James Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Tena van't Foort  

SCHOLARS:
Ramani Moses  Carly Phillips  Mildred Diamant  


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