I hear of P.D. James a while ago because of a BBC TV adaptation of her Adam Dalgliesh story The Murder Room. I really enjoyed the adaptation, and Dalgliesh seemed like a pretty interesting character, so P.D. James was added to my list of used books to buy. What an excellent author, what an excellent story, and what an excellent character.
In Cover Her Face, Sally Jupp has come to Martingale to serve as a housemaid. She is an unwed mother, so many frown upon this appointment, but Sally works hard and seems to catch the eye of the young Dr. Epps. This wouldn’t be a problem if he weren’t the son of the lady of the house, so expects him to marry someone else. Soon after announcing their engagement, Sally is murdered in her bed, behind a locked door. Adam Dalgliesh must solve the crime by choosing which person in house thought their reason to kill Sally was important enough to go to prison.
Adam Dalgliesh is everything that I want in a British detective. He is thoughtful, observant, and quick-witted. The setting was just right, with the small country manor, the town fete, and the locked room whodunit. All in all, Cover Her Face was like a perfect, long lost but way more mature Agatha Christie mystery. (Don’t get me wrong; Dame Agatha is my favorite mystery writer ever. Dalgliesh is not a caricature, like Poirot or Marple can sometimes come off as being.) If you like British mysteries like Christie's, you should definitely check out P.D. James. Even if you just like mysteries that aren’t the funny, Carl Haissen kind, but more of the locked-room country estate kind, check P.D. James out.
Rating: 5 Purrs for a truly exciting, tightly written mystery
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