P.D. James
Best-selling author P.D. James is a renowned and popular mystery writer who has been crowned the modern day Agatha Christie. Phyllis Dorothy James White was born in Oxford, England in 1920. Although she had to leave school at the tender age of 16 to help support her family, James clearly was an imaginative child and an avid reader. She has said that although being a lifelong fan of Jane Austen, she was inspired to begin writing by her enjoyment of reading the mysteries of Dorothy L. Sayers.
Prior to WWl, James married a young doctor and the couple had two daughters. Upon returning from the war, her husband suffered a devastating mental breakdown which forced James to become the sole support for her family. Beginning her career in a hospital, she spent more than 30 years in government service including stints with the Police and Criminal Law Department of Great Britain's Home Office. She later served as a magistrate and a governor of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
P.D. James' books are more than a step above the typical whodunit. Her novels are intelligent and well-crafted with as much emphasis on character development and place as there is on corpses and murder weapons.
James cites that her inspiration often stems from visiting a specific locale be that an abandoned lighthouse perched high on the cliffs of Cornwall or an obscure museum. She breathes in the essence of the location and begins to weave a cast of characters who might inhabit that place be it a seminary, office, college or hospital.
P.D. James' famous detective, Adam Dalgliesh of New Scotland Yard, is as much a modern day rival of Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot as James is as talented as Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie.
Making his debut in Cover Her Face, Commander Dalgliesh is much more than a tall, dark and handsome detective. Dalgliesh is also headstrong, unorthodox, and exasperatingly aloof. Skeptical on the point of religious faith, Dalgliesh is definitely not a believer, unlike his creator P.D. James, who is a devout member of the Anglican church.
Like most fictional detectives, Dalgliesh has his own private demons and is as complex a man as he is a hero. Dalgliesh's grief following the death of his wife and infant son shows in the detective's every step. He walks into crime scenes knowing that tragedy can and will show itself when you least expect it. Perhaps Dalgliesh's emotions are better left to his poetical inspirations.
Aside from his recognition as a poet, Dalgliesh solves crimes in record time and has shot up the bureaucratic ladder at New Scotland Yard. His success has earned him enemies who resent his leading a special unit of the Metropolitan Police where he and his team are set loose to handle politically sensitive cases.
P.D. James' first Dalgliesh mystery book, Cover Her Face, was published in 1962 and her latest mystery, The Lighthouse, was published in 2006. Aside from the Dalgleish series, James also created a female working detective, Cordelia Gray, who was featured in two novels. In addition, James has entranced fans with her remarkable and vivid biography, Time to Be in Earnest, which debuted in 2000.
P.D. James currently resides in London and Oxford, England. She has garnered critical praise for decades and is the recipient of the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and the Diamond Dagger from the British Crime Writer's Association.
Murder Mysteries by P.D. James:
The Lighthouse, 2006
The Children of Men, 2006
A Taste for Death, 2005
The Murder Room, 2004
Devices and Desires, 2004
Death in Holy Orders, 2001
A Certain Justice, 1997
Original Sin, 1995
Skull Beneath the Skin, 1982
Innocent Blood, 1980
Death of an Expert Witness, 1977
The Black Tower, 1975
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, 1972
Maul and the Pear Tree, 1971
Shroud for a Nightingale, 1971
Unnatural Causes, 1967
A Mind to Murder, 1963
Cover Her Face, 1962
