2.5 STARS

The mystery aspect was fine, but sadly that was pretty the entire book. There was absolutely no personal plot into Dalgliesh or any of the secondary characters. It wasn't a bad read, but I prefer more personal connections to the characters.


Don't think I'll be reading future installments.

This book was another result of me aimlessly browsing the available audiobook downloads from my library, and since I had read one PD James mystery (The Skull Beneath the Skin) and enjoyed it, I decided to give this a shot. This is actually James’ debut mystery, so I’m willing to forgive the more clunky aspects of the book in light of that.

The story follows your basic murder mystery formula, where we have a wealthy family in an English country manor, and muuuuuurder.

It’s a perfectly serviceable mystery, although not particularly memorable. There are some very, very obvious moments (like when one of the characters is saying that she’s sure her husband has an alibi for the night of the murder because she checked the clock when he came in, and it’s clear immediately that he adjusted the time) and I honestly can’t remember a lot of the finer details of the story. Everything gets wrapped up neatly, and the detective’s solution doesn’t have any obvious holes in it, so overall, solid three stars – no more, no less.

Why was the title to this book “Cover Her Face” I wonder. When the women was murdered, her face was not covered.

I did not guess ‘whodunit’, so that is good.

When Mrs. Maxie, the matriarch of the family, was found to be the murderer, it was like nobody gave a damn about Sally Jupp being murdered ... the family was all worried about Mrs. Maxie and looking forward to when she would get out of prison.

I liked this quote because it was evocative:
•tShe was dressed in a short tweed skirt and a man’s white shirt with a yellow and green woven tie which reminded Stephen unpleasantly of a squashed cabbage caterpillar.

El principio fue un poco lento y después se puso algo más interesante. Aunque está bien escrito no me parece el mejor de la autora quizás por ser el primero. Se parece mucho a otros policiales ingleses, con los nobles en la casa de campo, los parientes, el pueblito cercano, etc. Ninguna sorpresa (hay un solo giro interesante en toda la trama).
El final es decepcionante y hasta me resultó algo aburrido.

Nažalost, kod nas je bila popularnija serija snimljena po romanima o inspektori Daglišu nego sami roman P.D. Džejms... :) Ko je još nije čitao neka požuri, mnogo je propustio :)

Dame Agatha Christie and Her Peers
BOOK 7
I read a P.D.James book years ago, and instead of finding a "Christie-Cozy" relaxing read, I found it to be overly challenging and confusing at times: I had to focus a bit more while reading James than other 'who-did-it' type authors. So, I'm going to give James another try, starting with this, the first in the Dalgiesh series.
CAST=3 stars: Here, Detective Chief Inspector Adam Dalgiesh feels rather flat, but at a first outing, no author wants to give too much away about a series P.I./detective. Mrs. Eleanor Maxie had given a dinner party about 3 months previous to the current time-line in this book. Something happened, we aren't told what. Dr. Charles Epps, Vicar Bernard Hinks, Miss Liddel (warden of St. Mary's Refuge for Girls), Catherine Bowers (an amicable nurse), and Dr. Stephen Maxie were at that party, and it appears Bowers and Maxie had been 'involved." Others had attended that previous party, but here is where things get tricky: some characters in the current time-line/party didn't attend the last one, like Miss Pollock who is 2nd in charge at St. Mary's. I liked that in the edition I read (and this might be true of all editions), a list of characters were provided up front. (The edition of "War and Peace" I read had a nice, thick bookmark with all the main characters and their various names printed on that bookmark, front and back. Great idea, I'd like to see more of that in books with large casts.) Back to "Cover Her Face", I thought the cast solid but no one really stood out. (Well, other than the person who may or may not have been standing on a ladder...sorry, bad pun, couldn't help it.)
ATMOSPHERE/PLACE - 2 stars: The Martingale house might be fabulous, might be falling apart, we just don't know. There is a church function. One character's bedroom is initially described as a big, functional nursery with no personal belongings. Later, when Dalgiesh questions the character, we learn there had been figurines on a windowsill which are now broken. Did James realize only late in the book she needed decorative figurines to be broken to advance the plot. Or was the room decorated by the inhabitant as the novel progressed? It's impossible (well, for me) to tell. Given this novel is James first in the series, I did get the impression she was feeling her way through: thus my 2-star rating for this element.
PLOT/CRIME - 4 stars: During the current time-line/house party, "X" is strangled. That's rather common, but James does add a locked-room mystery to the murder, so I'm adding a star for a 4-star plot/crime element. In addition, the author opens the novel with what is either a great red herring or a big clue to the solution itself: "Exactly 3 months before the killing at Martingale, Mrs. Maxie gave a dinner party....[She'd] looked back on that spring evening as the opening scene of tragedy." You decide: are the clues in the past, or in the present? And of those people who attended or did not attend that party, which of them might be the killer in the current time-line. Great potential here for a mind-stretching exercise!
INVESTIGATION - 2 stars. Dagliesh has his work cut out for him. He must interview a lot of people, then re-interview them. He digs deep. But here is my problem: I have eleven (yes, 11) pages of notes and questions. Like a list of people who arrived Friday evening for the weekend party just before dinner, then who arrived later Friday night, then the arrivals on Saturday morning. For the Friday dinner, for example, Dagliesh knows Dr. Maxie had arrived late but Catherine (his romantic love interest?) had arrived early. Sunday morning, someone has a headache and takes what appears to be aspirin, but is Sommeil. I could go on and on. Is the need for 11 pages of notes indicative of a good mystery, or does that mean James didn't really have a specific goal? I'll go with the latter explanation in this case.
SOLUTION - 1 star: A spectacular failure. James commits the ultimate 'sin' in the world of murder mysteries: she introduces a new character at almost the end of the book. Things change so dramatically and quickly that the first 2/3rds of the book (and 10 pages of my notes) were rendered pointless.
SUMMARY: 2.4. P.D. James goes for 'big' here and even though the author does explain the central crime (mostly), withholding final clues is just irritating. And some of my written questions in my notes weren't answered, like, "Felix Hearne, a current suspect. was NOT at the previous party 3 months ago. IF the tragedy had truly began 3 months ago (as James suggested in the opening of the novel) and thus the murder plans had started 3 months ago, when did Felix become involved?" Or, "On page 87, what did Mrs. Maxie ask her son when he called the cops after the crime had been committed?" As I said, I remembered James as being challenging. I remembered correctly. And this may have been the book I read! I'm going to read more of James and take a different approach: maybe I should just forego taking notes. (But I so like to figure 'who-did-it' and notes usually help.) While I do admire her 'big' goal, James' talent as represented here isn't within her grasp.

Cover Her Face (Adam Dagliesh, #1) by P.D. James. CD

Introducing Adam Dagliesh. This was my first book by this author, but it most definitely won't be my last. This author writes/wrote with the splendor reminiscent of the golden age of mysteries. The depth of her words and the characters brought me into the excitement of this emotional mystery. The narrator/performer John Franklyn-Robbins brought the characters to life.
Sally Jupp was far from being an innocent although she appeared as a lithe childlike often times mischievous sprite of a young woman. So lovely to look at and yet deep hatred lies within her heart and her actions. She was hired at Mattingale straight out of a home for unwed mother's. That didn't sit well with some especially the mistress of Mattingale Mrs. Maxie. Confusion followed by animosity and then murder.
Excellent 5 star book. Highly recommended.

It has been a while since I read a classic crime novel, as my tastes have changed over the years.
But it was an enjoyable read once I got into it. The first chapters took me a while to get through as there were a lot of characters and names presented in a short amount of time and it was a little confusing at first. But once I got into the story it got more interesting.

Published in 1962, this is a very British mystery. By that I mean there are distinctive British class differences, a straightforward whodunit, a limited number of suspects, and a Sherlockian bent to the resolution. P.D. James is a classic author of the genre, and I felt it was about time I read some of what made her famous. This is the first book in her long running Adam Dalgliesh series, and I really enjoyed it. If you enjoy British mysteries, you will probably enjoy it too. I'll definitely read more of this series.

The first novel by P. D. James. Also, the first book of P. D. James that I have read.

I was interested in reading up a P. D. James book since I have finished up most of Agatha Christie's books and James seems to be a good replacement for Christie.

Of the two, I think James is the better murder mystery writer - based on the proof of this one book. Her writing is more realistic and true to life. Her characters are more nuanced and three dimensional than Christie's.

Agatha Christie's books are all focussed on the crime with normal life happening somewhere on the periphery. James' book is about - and centered on - normal life. The normalcy is upended by a crime and the book deals with how each character adjusts to that disruption.

Very impressed with P. D. James' writing. I will definitely be reading more of her murder mysteries in the future.

This is another of P.D. James' very early Dalgliesh novels. Much like UNNATURAL CAUSES, it displays a certain dated view of society no longer seen in the 21st century. Whereas it is displayed in UNNATURAL CAUSES in the author's attitude toward disability, in COVER HER FACE it emerges in the portrayal of an unwed mother as a sly, deceitful, and wicked person who happens to be physically beautiful, but is targeted by virtually everyone around her a sinner and a wretch from whom gratitude is expected. Of its time,perhaps, but still irritating.

The fact that the said "wicked person" is actually quite clever and manipulative meets with its moral due in that this character is the murder victim.

Having said this, James actually is more creative with this situation, and the plot turns several corners and holds quite a few surprises, so the result is not quite as ham-handed as the earlier book.

A good mystery, to be sure, but noteworthy mostly in an anthropological way to see how P.D. James evolved over time.

Began 24 April 2008. Lots of background info. Slow start.
First mystery I've read by P.D. James. Not bad--certainly got better as it went along; she lays a lot of foundation and then builds on it. However, at the end of the book she leaves you with the promise of more interesting things to come for her hero, Adam Dalgleish, in future books.