Born in 1920 in United Kingdom, P. D. James has been acclaimed as “the greatest living mystery writer” by People’s Magazine. Having worked in the British Police and Criminal Law Department for a large part of her life, and also as a result of being a magistrate and Governor of BBC, P. D. James has an appealing sense of mystery writing. As a writer of crime novels, it is essential to keep the reader in suspense and try surprising them with an unusual or unexpected end, and P. D. James does exactly that. Original Sin and Death in Holy Orders are some of her more well known works.
Cover Her Face, is P. D. James’ debut novel into the realm of crime and mystery. The novel is the first in the Adam Dalgliesh Series, which recounts the deductive skills of the dashing Scotland Yard detective. The book opens with a dinner party being hosted at a medieval manor house by Mrs. Eleanor Maxie at Martingale. Her dinner guests include her son and daughter, Stephen Maxie and Deborah Riscoe. Among the other guests are Dr. Charles Epps, Bernard Hicks - the vicar, Miss Liddell - the warden at a Refuge for girls and Catherine Bowers, who had been in a relationship with the owners son Stephen Maxie. Serving at this dinner party is Sally Jupp - the help, hired at the recommendation of Miss Lidell.
Sally Jupp, both beautiful and headstrong, has her sights set high, and believes in doing anything to get there. She catches the eye of Stephen Maxie. He is all praises for Sally. However, this does not please the other house guests. Especially Deborah, who feels that Sally is going to cause trouble and Martha Bultitaft - Maxie’s long time domestic help. A few days later, when Deborah goes to visit her brother at a hospital, she sees him talking to Sally. Sally claims to be visiting on the pretext of returning Stephen’s father’s medicines. Stephen is once again all praises for the beautiful Sally.
On returning to the manor, Sally behaves highhandedly and taunts Martha for not taking proper care of her husband. Not doing a very good job of keeping herself in her master’s good books, Sally adds more fuel to the fire by turning up in the exact outfit and accessories as Deborah on the day of a fete. This does not go down well with anyone. Later, Sally announces that Stephen has asked her to marry him. Everyone is shocked and Miss Liddell especially, is distraught. Words are exchanged between Sally and Liddell. The next day, Martha goes to wake up Sally, incorrectly assuming that Sally has overslept. Instead, she finds Sally dead in her bead, strangulated and apparently drugged. The local police call for Scotland Yard to send an experienced homicide detective. Enter Detective Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh. He interviews the family and friends.
The Detective unearths a lot of secrets pertaining to Sally Jupp and the Maxie family. In spite of many twists and turns, Detective Dalgliesh discovers the identity of the murderer, who is then convicted of manslaughter and sent to prison. Even though the book is not as descriptive as P.D James’ other novels, the story is a good first novel in crime and mystery. It helps the reader create images and scenes in their minds, and build on the descriptions provided. As a mystery the book is brilliant. It creates a level of suspense till the very end, and surprises everyone with an unexpected ending.
For readers who enjoy a good detective novel, “Cover Her Face” is definitely a must read. With plentiful suspects, and twists and turns throughout, the book keeps the reader enraptured to the very end.
+-+Authored+by+PD+James+-+The+first+Adam+Dalgliesh+murder+novel.jpg "Cover Her Face (Published in 1962) - Authored by PD James - The first Adam Dalgliesh murder novel")
Cover Her Face, is P. D. James’ debut novel into the realm of crime and mystery. The novel is the first in the Adam Dalgliesh Series, which recounts the deductive skills of the dashing Scotland Yard detective. The book opens with a dinner party being hosted at a medieval manor house by Mrs. Eleanor Maxie at Martingale. Her dinner guests include her son and daughter, Stephen Maxie and Deborah Riscoe. Among the other guests are Dr. Charles Epps, Bernard Hicks - the vicar, Miss Liddell - the warden at a Refuge for girls and Catherine Bowers, who had been in a relationship with the owners son Stephen Maxie. Serving at this dinner party is Sally Jupp - the help, hired at the recommendation of Miss Lidell.
Sally Jupp, both beautiful and headstrong, has her sights set high, and believes in doing anything to get there. She catches the eye of Stephen Maxie. He is all praises for Sally. However, this does not please the other house guests. Especially Deborah, who feels that Sally is going to cause trouble and Martha Bultitaft - Maxie’s long time domestic help. A few days later, when Deborah goes to visit her brother at a hospital, she sees him talking to Sally. Sally claims to be visiting on the pretext of returning Stephen’s father’s medicines. Stephen is once again all praises for the beautiful Sally.
On returning to the manor, Sally behaves highhandedly and taunts Martha for not taking proper care of her husband. Not doing a very good job of keeping herself in her master’s good books, Sally adds more fuel to the fire by turning up in the exact outfit and accessories as Deborah on the day of a fete. This does not go down well with anyone. Later, Sally announces that Stephen has asked her to marry him. Everyone is shocked and Miss Liddell especially, is distraught. Words are exchanged between Sally and Liddell. The next day, Martha goes to wake up Sally, incorrectly assuming that Sally has overslept. Instead, she finds Sally dead in her bead, strangulated and apparently drugged. The local police call for Scotland Yard to send an experienced homicide detective. Enter Detective Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh. He interviews the family and friends.
The Detective unearths a lot of secrets pertaining to Sally Jupp and the Maxie family. In spite of many twists and turns, Detective Dalgliesh discovers the identity of the murderer, who is then convicted of manslaughter and sent to prison. Even though the book is not as descriptive as P.D James’ other novels, the story is a good first novel in crime and mystery. It helps the reader create images and scenes in their minds, and build on the descriptions provided. As a mystery the book is brilliant. It creates a level of suspense till the very end, and surprises everyone with an unexpected ending.
For readers who enjoy a good detective novel, “Cover Her Face” is definitely a must read. With plentiful suspects, and twists and turns throughout, the book keeps the reader enraptured to the very end.
No comments:
Post a Comment