Customer Reviews
Straight forward mystery - By: Katja Beck, 07 Sep 2008 
A Mind To Murder is a typical who-dunnit murder mystery with unusal suspects. When the administrative head of a psychiatric clinic is found dead, Inspector Dalgliesh focuses on the staff members of the clinic rather than the patients. I believe that this novel is a great improvement over the author's first, Cover Her Face. It was much more fun to read. Dalgliesh has moved more into the foreground & we get to know him better as a person. Overall, the story is a little dated, especiallyin regards to the uses of LSD.
Dalgliesh Becomes a Memorable Detective - By: Donald Mitchell, 18 Feb 2006 In Cover Her Face, the first bookin this distinguished series, Adam Dalgliesh plays second fiddle to an intricate plot. In A Mind to Murder, the book revolves around the questioning mind of A.D. & he begins to come to life as an interesting character. The plot isn't nearly as intricate asin Cover Her Face, but the twists & turns are more entertainingly told.
Even physicians have to follow the administrative rules. When the administrator of the Steen Psychiatric Clinic starts counting the patient numbers, watching the expense accounts & insisting on proper paperwork, even the physicians find themselves annoyed & wanting her gone. But no one wanted her dead. Or did they? The circumstances of the murder seem to point inside the clinic. The method of death is a particularly strange one, seemingly appropriate for a psychiatric clinic.
The story has a certain anachronistic charm as it reflects practices & circumstances that have changed since 1963. The references to LSD as an analytic tool are particularly humorousin light of the drug's later uses (or misuses).
