The oldies are the best.

Типично английско криминале. Ръкавицата е хвърлена, от другата страна на дуела е "Убийства в Мидсамър".

Well this series definitely intrigues me. I ended up reading a short story starring this character last year or the year before for Festive Tasks and then I ended up trying to start a stand alone with him and didn't realize it wasn't the first book. So I put it away and forget about reading this series until now. I have to say that P.D. James does a great job with all of the characters that are introduced, but the book starts off very slowly. It reminds me of some of Agatha Christie works, especially with a main character (Adam Dalgliesh) rounding up all of the suspects and explaining everything and revealing the murderer. I do like books that take place after World War II. You get to see an England that is still unsure of what direction it will go. We have some prejudices here that leak out when anyone discusses the murder victim.

"Cover Her Face" is the first book introducing Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard. The book starts off though following the Maxie family, their friends, and servants. The matriarch of the family hires a young unmarried single mother named Sally Jupp to help with Mrs. Maxie's bedridden husband. Some of the family members get a glimpse here and there of Sally's true nature (she seems sly and also full of malice towards Mrs. Maxie's daughter Deborah and seems to be flirting or something else with her son, Stephen). After the local fete though, Sally announces that Stephen Maxie has proposed to her. The following morning when they are unable to waken her, and realizing that the bedroom door is barred, Stephen and a friend of Deborah, Felix, climb through a window and find that Sally has been strangled. Then enters Dalgliesh who methodically questions every member of the household and then even the local doctor, vicar, and the previous employers and family members of Sally.

I thought that Dalgliesh at times was a bit too cold. We are given bare bone facts about him, but I wanted more. The Maxie family and their friends were interesting. We get some details on their loyal servant Martha, a woman who believes she has an understanding with Stephen Maxie, Catherine Bowers. And a man who hopes to marry Deborah, Felix Hearne.

I think we jumped around a bit too much to get a handle on everyone. We are given glimpses of people here and there, but there are too many things left dangling for me as a reader. For example, there is enough said about Stephen Maxie that I wonder if he is being portrayed as asexual or not. Another example is the character of Felix, we find out that is on edge being around any type of police, but I wouldn't consider the Gestapo and Scotland Yard along the same lines. So there were just things like that which confused me a bit while reading.

The flow of the book takes a long while to get going. I think that James wanted to make sure she set the scene, but it takes it a long while to get going and I was confused about who was who at first.

The setting of a post War World II England (this takes place in the 1960s) was interesting. You definitely get a sense that the Maxie and others see themselves as higher class based on previous riches the family experienced. However, you can see that the family is barely supporting itself and you have some characters slamming death duties.

The ending leaves a surprising romantic opening for Dalgliesh.

This was my first P.D. James book and I liked it, didn't love it. The plot moved along, there were twists and turns, the characters were well developed. I guess I didn't love it because, if given the chance, I would have committed the murder. Even though in the end the victim wasn't what she seemed, she was unlikeable and it would have been a hoot if every character took their turn killing her Oriental Express style. That being said, I will be reading the Adam Dalgliesh #2.

My first P.D. James book (her first, too). There's no hint here that Chief Inspector Dalgliesh is a character to warrant thirteen more novels over the next fifty years. The book's just engaging enough for me to be kind of interested in moving on to his following case in A Mind to Murder.

Приятна книга, която напомня мистериите на Агата Кристи, но не чак толкова интересно. Пренасяме се в провинцията на Англия в имението Мартингейл в началото или средата на века (малко трудно ми беше да разбера) и попадаме много бързо на местопрестъплението - млада прислужница е била убита. Оказва се, че никой не я е харесвал и хората по-скоро са я смятали за интригантка, много от тях предпочитали да е мъртва, но няма конкретен обвиняем с ясни мотиви. Когато обаче инспектор от Лондон се заема със случая, нещата много бързо идват по местата си. Адам Далглиш разплита мистерията с лекота.
Тъй като слушах книгата в аудиоформат ми беше малко трудно да се ориентирам с имената и да проследя роднинските връзки и приятелските кръгове между героите. Това малко или много ми попречи да се насладя на историята, защото при споменаването на всяко име ми трябваше по много време да се сетя кой беше този герой. От друга страна не се сетих кой е убиецът, но накрая разкритието кое как и защо е станало ми беше малко нескопосано. Ще видя и другите части от поредицата. 3*

This was surprisingly good! My first P.D. James story and her debut. It was more old fashioned than I thought it would be and I look forward to reading more of the series.

A lovely gentle bit of murder mystery with some top quality characters written in a lovely old fashioned style. What’s not to enjoy?

I like keeping a crime novel handy sometimes when I’m reading a nonfiction book. I tend to find fiction a bit more relaxing, and would prefer not to read a book like The Omnivore’s Dilemma (the other book I’m reading) before bed. This was James’ debut novel, and it reads quite assuredly for being such. A well constructed, if unsurprising, mystery. I don’t mean that the identity of the killer was unsurprising; I mean that, in general, the book stuck well within the confines of its genre. One thing I found notable – and quite liked – was the beginning of the novel. I enjoyed that James introduced us to her characters – and started the action – before the murder. She spent a fifth of her book setting us up – that was something of a surprise to me, and worked well. I’m sure I’ll read more P.D. James – but I’m in no hurry.

It's been a long time since I read a book by this author, but I think I remember having liked them. Maybe the other books were better or maybe I have just outgrown my interest in mysteries, at least the British variety with tea cups, jam jars, jumble sales and small gossipy villages. Whatever the reason, I was really unimpressed by this book.

Most of the suspects were introduced in tedious detail in the first chapter, but the murder did not occur until about the 25% point of the book. At that time Detective Adam Dalgliesh arrived on the scene, but he did very little "detecting" thereafter. He was barely in the book other than to conduct long interviews with the suspects and then, in the ultimate cliché, gather them all together in one room to declare the crime solved. The solution involved secret relatives and missing limbs. I had not guessed the criminal, so that's something in it's favor. I didn't really dislike this book, I've just moved on.

Cover Her Face is the first murder-mystery in the Dalgleish series and my first reading of the series. At present, I'm having mixed feelings about the book. Not quite sure if I enjoyed it really. The story was pretty straight for me and I guessed the murderer quite early. There were some twists and turns in the plot, but not strong enough to cast doubt on my conclusion. That was not a problem of course. The knowledge of the criminal never hinders my enjoyment of the story if it progressed well. And that was my issue - the way the story progressed. There wasn't enough suspension or intrigue to engage me with the story. Something was lacking - I think it is the excitement, and I couldn't connect with it entirely as I would have liked.

I liked Adam Dalgleish, however. He was sort of the modern detective I would like - clever, cool, patient, detached in his work, but underneath humane. He struck me quite a contrast with the two fictional detectives I'm acquainted with - Holmes and Poirot - both were rather eccentric, self-important, and proud. Although I loved them both, they are more fantastical to me than Dalgliesh, who was more human, more real.

This first disappointment will not stop me with continuing the series and I'm more hopeful of the rest. After all, we have to give a concession for a debut.

Great introduction to Inspector Dalgleish, although he was more in the background. Enjoyed the setting, characters, and intricate locked door mystery! Looking forward to the second book!