• The Private Patient

  • By: P. D. James
  • Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
  • Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (598 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The Private Patient  By  cover art

The Private Patient

By: P. D. James
Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $22.50

Buy for $22.50

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Cheverell Manor is a lovely old house in deepest Dorset, now a private clinic belonging to the famous plastic surgeon George Chandler-Powell. When investigative journalist Rhoda Gradwyn arrived there one late autumn afternoon, scheduled to have a disfiguring and long-standing facial scar removed, she had every expectation of a successful operation and a pleasant week recuperating.

Two days later she was dead, the victim of murder. To Commander Adam Dalgliesh, who with his team is called in to investigate the case, the mystery at first seems absolute. Few things about it make sense. Yet as the detectives begin probing the lives and backgrounds of those connected with the dead woman the surgeon, members of the manor staff, close acquaintances suspects multiply all too rapidly. New confusions arise, including strange historical overtones of madness and a lynching 350 years in the past. Then there is a second murder, and Dalgliesh finds himself confronted by issues even more challenging than innocence or guilt.

P. D. James has gained an enviable reputation for creating detective stories of uncommon depth and intricacy, combined with the sort of humanity and perceptiveness found only in the finest novelists. The Private Patient ranks among her very best.

©2008 P.D. James (P)2008 Random House Audio

Featured Article: The Best Cozy Mysteries to Keep You Warm This Holiday Season


We’ve rounded up a list of some of the best cozy mystery audiobooks to help brighten up your winter listening. Here you'll find contemporary and historical cozies, classic whodunits and ingenious heist stories. While varying in tone, plot, and setting, these picks all share an irresistible holiday atmosphere. You'll find snowstorms galore, bakeries full of tasty holiday treats, glittering get-togethers, and picturesque English villages decked out in their holiday finest.

What listeners say about The Private Patient

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    285
  • 4 Stars
    197
  • 3 Stars
    82
  • 2 Stars
    27
  • 1 Stars
    7
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    226
  • 4 Stars
    83
  • 3 Stars
    40
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    8
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    202
  • 4 Stars
    104
  • 3 Stars
    44
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Problem with narrator.

She's good with the female voices, but the male voices tend to sound similar, very precise and even stuffy (including Dalgleish). Wish Charles Keating was still reading James; I thought he did an excellent job with The Lighthouse.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

28 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

James does not disappoint

I have been waiting for the latest P.D. James for quite a while. James is one of the authors whose books I download automatically with no need to sample.

"The Private Patient" is the ultimate P.D. James. First, she brings on her customary detail in setting the scene and creating sense of place. Then the characters appear, with their individual quirks, eccentricities and baggage, including motive, means, and opportunity. P.D. James writes a novel that just happens to be a mystery, not the other way around, and her narrative is full of emotional nuance and relatable situational backstories.

I have only one suggestion that would enhance the reader's experience: give us a "Cast of Characters" and a one-liner about the history of each one.

On the whole, Bravo!


Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

need Jenny Sterlin

The reader ruins the book, unfortunately. Jenny Sterlin would be a good choice for future James.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

What a disappointing PD James novel

As an avid reader (or rather listener) of PD James novels I feel compelled to write this negative review. The plot is well developed and holds your interest but there is so much padding and rambling about foodstuffs and other irrelevant topics, you feel like asking the author to get on with the story. Worst of all is the narrator and the dreadful snobbish and in my experience false English accents we have to endure.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

The music of her words

After getting past the narrator's inability to capture what I feel AD should sound like, this is another of the wonderful books by PD James that I enjoy listening to. The audio version allows me to listen to the symphony PD James composes with her words. Listening to the side descriptions that set up the plot is a joy. For some reason I miss this when I read the same material. Not many writers can capture me like this.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Narrator is a problem

Agree with other reviewers that the narrator does not do justice to the male characters, especially. Inspector Dalgliesh sounds much more pompous than I have to believe the author intended. It can also be hard to differentiate between characters. Plot started well but didn't hold too much suspense after 2/3 complete, then it is just winding the story down. Having read all the Dalgliesh books, this was a disappointment

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

How I Miss P.D. James!

I am writing to contradict many of the negative reviews. I have held off for three years before finally using a credit to listen to this book. I relied too heavily on negative reviews. I should have trusted my own knowledge of Rosalyn Landor and my love of Adam Dalgleish.

P.D. James was such a literate author. It is hard to find her quality in newer series. She had a real insight into the human condition and the careful way she introduced her characters and the subsequent crime were, to me, the best part of her plots. It was intriguing to learn about the problems that beset the players in each drama and heightened the anticipation of the crime and what came next, This book is not an exception.

I do understand the reviewers who were dissatisfied with the narration, but I don't agree. Ms Landor is heads and shoulders above Penelope Delaport. I was lucky enough to purchase many of the Michael Jayston narrations and I do wish the publisher would either re-record with Daniel Weyman or renegotiate for the Michael Jayston versions. However, Ms. Landor did an excellent job and I would prefer her to Ms. Dellaport. Unfortunately, Charles Keating is no longer living, so he is not an option.

I would encourage P.D. James fans to listen to this final Adam Dalgliesh novel. It's quite good.

I miss P.D. James. She was so good.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Voice of Adam Dalgliesh

I didn’t think the voice of Adam Dalgliesh was appropriate for his character after reading some of the books by P. D. James.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

This P. D James's most frightening tale

P. D. James is one of those authors that describes things so well you could listen to her describe a flower pot. This book has some terrifying moments and I detected a slight gothic feeling much like the "Black Tower." Some things were not explained at the end and the murderer was revealed quite a while from the end. Partly this was due to James's wish to not be confused with Agatha Christie. Her books never have the fantastic endings of a Christie novel and are in fact not her strongest point. It is the journey not the destination that is key.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Strange Males

The reader had trouble finding convincing voices for her male characters, and there were lots of them. The story suffered from the lack of a plausible murder suspect, and after a decent buildup the ending unraveled wildly. I gather that most readers would be familiar with Commander Dalgliesh, but as a first-time reader I found him a non-entity at the core of the novel.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful