...
Show More
Read this at the same time as James's latest Dalgliesh novel (The Private Patient). Enjoyed it, but enjoyed how much her craft has improved even more. I hope she's contagious.
Ease Reading-Find Your Next Favorite Book
Adam Dalgliesh #1
Cover Her Face
...
Show More
Headstrong and beautiful, the young housemaid Sally Jupp is put rudely in her place, strangled in her bed behind a bolted door. Coolly brilliant policeman Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard must find her killer among a houseful of suspects, most of whom had very good reason to wish her ill.
Cover Her Face is P. D. James's electric debut novel, an ingeniously plotted mystery that immediately placed her among the masters of suspense.
250 pages, Paperback
First published January 1,1962
This edition
- Format
-
250 pages, Paperback
- Published
-
May 8, 2001 by Scribner
- ISBN
-
9780743219570
- ASIN
-
B001KTB3M4
- Language
-
English
Characters More characters
-
Adam Dalgliesh
Adam Dalgliesh (pronounced "dal-gleash") is a fictional character who has been the protagonist of fourteen mystery novels by P. D. James; the first being Jamess 1962 novel Cover Her Face. He also appears in the two novels featuring James other...
About the author
...
Show More
P. D. James, byname of Phyllis Dorothy James White, Baroness James of Holland Park, (born August 3, 1920, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England—died November 27, 2014, Oxford), British mystery novelist best known for her fictional detective Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard.
The daughter of a middle-grade civil servant, James grew up in the university town of Cambridge. Her formal education, however, ended at age 16 because of lack of funds, and she was thereafter self-educated. In 1941 she married Ernest C.B. White, a medical student and future physician, who returned home from wartime service mentally deranged and spent much of the rest of his life in psychiatric hospitals. To support her family (which included two children), she took work in hospital administration and, after her husband's death in 1964, became a civil servant in the criminal section of the Department of Home Affairs. Her first mystery novel, Cover Her Face (1962), introduced Dalgliesh and was followed by six more mysteries before she retired from government service in 1979 to devote full time to writing.
Dalgliesh, James's master detective who rises from chief inspector in the first novel to chief superintendent and then to commander, is a serious, introspective person, moralistic yet realistic. The novels in which he appears are peopled by fully rounded characters, who are civilized, genteel, and motivated. The public resonance created by James's singular characterization and deployment of classic mystery devices led to most of the novels featuring Dalgliesh being filmed for television. James, who earned the sobriquet “Queen of Crime,” penned 14 Dalgliesh novels, with the last, The Private Patient, appearing in 2008.
James also wrote An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972) and The Skull Beneath the Skin (1982), which centre on Cordelia Gray, a young private detective. The first of these novels was the basis for both a television movie and a short-lived series. James expanded beyond the mystery genre in The Children of Men (1992; film 2006), which explores a dystopian world in which the human race has become infertile. Her final work, Death Comes to Pemberley (2011)—a sequel to Pride and Prejudice (1813)—amplifies the class and relationship tensions between Jane Austen's characters by situating them in the midst of a murder investigation. James's nonfiction works include The Maul and the Pear Tree (1971), a telling of the Ratcliffe Highway murders of 1811 written with historian T.A. Critchley, and the insightful Talking About Detective Fiction (2009). Her memoir, Time to Be in Earnest, was published in 2000. She was made OBE in 1983 and was named a life peer in 1991.
The daughter of a middle-grade civil servant, James grew up in the university town of Cambridge. Her formal education, however, ended at age 16 because of lack of funds, and she was thereafter self-educated. In 1941 she married Ernest C.B. White, a medical student and future physician, who returned home from wartime service mentally deranged and spent much of the rest of his life in psychiatric hospitals. To support her family (which included two children), she took work in hospital administration and, after her husband's death in 1964, became a civil servant in the criminal section of the Department of Home Affairs. Her first mystery novel, Cover Her Face (1962), introduced Dalgliesh and was followed by six more mysteries before she retired from government service in 1979 to devote full time to writing.
Dalgliesh, James's master detective who rises from chief inspector in the first novel to chief superintendent and then to commander, is a serious, introspective person, moralistic yet realistic. The novels in which he appears are peopled by fully rounded characters, who are civilized, genteel, and motivated. The public resonance created by James's singular characterization and deployment of classic mystery devices led to most of the novels featuring Dalgliesh being filmed for television. James, who earned the sobriquet “Queen of Crime,” penned 14 Dalgliesh novels, with the last, The Private Patient, appearing in 2008.
James also wrote An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972) and The Skull Beneath the Skin (1982), which centre on Cordelia Gray, a young private detective. The first of these novels was the basis for both a television movie and a short-lived series. James expanded beyond the mystery genre in The Children of Men (1992; film 2006), which explores a dystopian world in which the human race has become infertile. Her final work, Death Comes to Pemberley (2011)—a sequel to Pride and Prejudice (1813)—amplifies the class and relationship tensions between Jane Austen's characters by situating them in the midst of a murder investigation. James's nonfiction works include The Maul and the Pear Tree (1971), a telling of the Ratcliffe Highway murders of 1811 written with historian T.A. Critchley, and the insightful Talking About Detective Fiction (2009). Her memoir, Time to Be in Earnest, was published in 2000. She was made OBE in 1983 and was named a life peer in 1991.
Readers also enjoyed
Community Reviews
Rating(4 / 5.0, 99 votes)
5 stars
33(33%)
4 stars
35(35%)
3 stars
31(31%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
99 reviews All reviews
...
Show More
One of those contrived English murder at the country house stories that Agatha Christie did sooooo much better. I'm not a fan of P.D. James. She starts with a great premise but in words and dry unemotional narrative, delivers little. Same as in The Children of Men...nice premise, cold and wordy execution! Boring! This is the last time I'll try reading her...just not my cup of tea!
...
Show More
לסקירה מפורטת בעברית, קישור לבלוג שלי -
https://sivi-the-avid-reader.com/cove...
https://sivi-the-avid-reader.com/cove...
...
Show More
Un libro de detectives al puro estilo británico pero con un twist.
En un pueblo británico tenemos a la casa de los Maxie, llamada Martingale, el dueño Simon Maxi está enfermo y postrado en su cama al cuidado de su esposa, tienen dos hijos, Stephen y Deborah, ya jóvenes adultos.
La casa parece ser el centro de todo, como un ente vivo que necesita cuidado y atención para no morir, debido a que la fortuna ha mermado, los Maxie deben hacer economías en sus gastos, por lo que sólo tienen de fijo a Martha, una leal sirvienta que ha estado por años a su servicio, para descargarle un poco de trabajo contratan a Sally Jupp una bella muchacha que es madre y soltera.
A partir de aquí empiezan los problemas y por supuesto un asesinato por resolver, no falta el médico del pueblo, un párroco, una enamorada de Stephen y un enamorado para Deborah.
Algo que me gusto es que los personajes no son del todo simpáticos, todos tienen sus claroscuros, unos más que otros. Deborah es inteligente, segura de si misma pero muy elitista, Stephen es médico, aunque aparenta ser un buen chico, tiene un mundo interior sumamente complejo y egoísta, Martha tiene un profundo amor por la familia, pero desprecia a la gente de menor rango, pero la joya de la corona es Sally, una chica aparentemente vulnerable, que genera compasión debido a su estatus de madre soltera y su manera tan humilde de comportarse, pero que guarda en su interior a una mujer lista, segura de si misma y muy resentida.
Disfrute mucho leyendo el desarrollo de la historia, como las apariencias a veces lo son todo y no permiten ver las cosas con claridad.
El misterio de un cuarto cerrado
En un pueblo británico tenemos a la casa de los Maxie, llamada Martingale, el dueño Simon Maxi está enfermo y postrado en su cama al cuidado de su esposa, tienen dos hijos, Stephen y Deborah, ya jóvenes adultos.
La casa parece ser el centro de todo, como un ente vivo que necesita cuidado y atención para no morir, debido a que la fortuna ha mermado, los Maxie deben hacer economías en sus gastos, por lo que sólo tienen de fijo a Martha, una leal sirvienta que ha estado por años a su servicio, para descargarle un poco de trabajo contratan a Sally Jupp una bella muchacha que es madre y soltera.
A partir de aquí empiezan los problemas y por supuesto un asesinato por resolver, no falta el médico del pueblo, un párroco, una enamorada de Stephen y un enamorado para Deborah.
Algo que me gusto es que los personajes no son del todo simpáticos, todos tienen sus claroscuros, unos más que otros. Deborah es inteligente, segura de si misma pero muy elitista, Stephen es médico, aunque aparenta ser un buen chico, tiene un mundo interior sumamente complejo y egoísta, Martha tiene un profundo amor por la familia, pero desprecia a la gente de menor rango, pero la joya de la corona es Sally, una chica aparentemente vulnerable, que genera compasión debido a su estatus de madre soltera y su manera tan humilde de comportarse, pero que guarda en su interior a una mujer lista, segura de si misma y muy resentida.
Disfrute mucho leyendo el desarrollo de la historia, como las apariencias a veces lo son todo y no permiten ver las cosas con claridad.
El misterio de un cuarto cerrado
...
Show More
The first story to feature Adam Dalgliesh as the DCI investigating a murder in which all the family members are suspects. The revelation at the end is not an "ah-ha" moment, and the writing is pretty much uneven. A perfectly passable story but if you are here for Dalgliesh I would recommend reading the later ones.
My Rating -3/5
My Rating -3/5
...
Show More
I enjoyed this visit back to the first mystery series I ever picked up in my late teens. Sometimes, it's a good thing that my memory is so poor, as this felt like a first-time read.
I love the way James writes. She has a great sense of place, and is able to concisely communicate various people's states of mind amazingly well. She is also able to manage this equally well from a man's or a woman's point of view.
The murderer was a surprise, and there were a couple of twists at the end I didn't see coming. The last chapter hints at a possible developing relationship between one of the characters and the (recurring) detective. I'll definitely be continuing on with this series, and hopefully revisiting the English countryside in the process.
I love the way James writes. She has a great sense of place, and is able to concisely communicate various people's states of mind amazingly well. She is also able to manage this equally well from a man's or a woman's point of view.
The murderer was a surprise, and there were a couple of twists at the end I didn't see coming. The last chapter hints at a possible developing relationship between one of the characters and the (recurring) detective. I'll definitely be continuing on with this series, and hopefully revisiting the English countryside in the process.
...
Show More
Thoroughly enjoyed this smart and engaging book! I adored the English estate setting and the somewhat alarming misconceptions of the time. I’ve been meaning to check this series out for years. So glad it exceeded my expectations and cannot wait to get started on the next one!
...
Show More
Ok, lets start with a murder, maybe in a locked room, yeah something like that, you know and then maybe the whole thing should have a closed in kinda claustrophobic feel to it, like in a country manor, yeah, I like that. Just for the fun of it, lets have it take place around a celebration or party or something like that so we can have at least five or six people around at the time. Oooh, I know, I know, lets give them all a motive for wanting to have done the victim in. Man, this is getting good. Better yet, maybe they should all have questionable alibi's, maybe we could throw in a few twist and turns to kinda shake things up and keep everybody on edge (call them red herrings maybe?) Ok, ok, and at the end I see this thing where all the suspects are gathered around in the same room while this detective guy kinda rehashes the whole story while each of them stares at the others wondering who the real killer is. OMG! the tension.
Wow ...I can't stand it, lead me to a typewriter, I got to write this down, while it's still fresh, and before somebody else beats me to it!
All right, all right, calm down, I know, its been done before, maybe more than once, but you know, you put P.D. James behind that typewriter and you could still get yourself a pretty good little story.
So chill!
Wow ...I can't stand it, lead me to a typewriter, I got to write this down, while it's still fresh, and before somebody else beats me to it!
All right, all right, calm down, I know, its been done before, maybe more than once, but you know, you put P.D. James behind that typewriter and you could still get yourself a pretty good little story.
So chill!
Leave a Review