My copy of the novel runs to 500 pages, and I feel it could have benefited by some severe editing. The miniseries runs to about 5 hours, and that's a lot of exposition and some unnecessary characters: the second killing of the power plant employee is set up so elaborately you want to say Get on with it! I'd like to give it a higher rating' because some of the acting is really superb, particularly Gemma Jones as the sister of the plant director, and Nicola Cowper as a reluctant activist in the protest against environmental hazards, but the tempo does drag at times.For those who worry about Roy Marsden's quiet acting style, I'd like to remind them that Dalgleish is a poet who drives a sports car, thus he's at the antipodes of standard detective heroes (George Gently comes to mind). He does get the job done though, and that's all that counts.

Couldn't disagree more with the sour reviewer who found this masterpiece and Roy Marsden to be disappointing. One wonders what this person's idea of a great mystery and detective is??As a huge fan of Marsden (the PERFECT Dalgleish) and the P.D. James mysteries starring him, "Devices and Desires" is by far my favorite. I cannot believe that it is the only one which is not available on DVD. (Update: it is now available on DVD).Everything about this production is excellent. What a cast! Full of fascinating twists, turns and bizarre subplots - not to mention a series of very creepy murders, this one is a winner. Available on VHS at many libraries.

This was my introductin to PD James, James Marsden and Inspector Dagliesh and it was a major letdown.Six episodes long, this thing was. There was suspenseful moments, but these had nothing to do with the serial killer. There just seemed to be lots of filler in this thing.Marsden has a look about him that he is bored with what is going on. I would see him as the vampire on Sherlock Holmes. He had a bit more to work with, but against Jeremy Brett, it was hardly Holmes meets Dagliesh, as tho that would be a salespitch.The focus of this story was we had a serial killer and apparently someone else would be killed, but did the serial killer do it? SPOILER. The killer would kill himself, confess to the crimes in a note, but reveal he didn't do one of the murders.Truthfully the revelation of the killer and the final incident with this person was just so patchy and strung together, I just looked at it and thought, I've sat here for six hours and this is all that happened? I would sit through one more Dagliesh before I decided (ironically as did the admitted killer during a flood) that I had had enough.Of all the English detectives, Morse, Allyn, Wainthripp, Foyle, Linley, this one, Dagliesh, stands as the only one who literally disappointed me, mainly because of Marsden, but the crimes were just too absurd.There is a new actor as Dalgliesh. Will be checking him out tonight, then seeing Rupert Everett next week as Holmes.But I have seen disappointment in the English detectives, and he was Marsden-Dagliesh.

This is a very intense mini series set on the Norfolk coast of England involving a Nuclear facility and a serial murderer. The cast includes several outstanding players in addition to Marsden, most notably Susannah York and Gemma Jones. Kate Beckinsale appears in a short sequence in episode 2. Marsden plays his part softly and without bravado. It is an intense mystery involving a wide range of individuals including local residents and nuclear plant employees. Certainly one of the outstanding examples of P.D. James mystery writing.