P. D. James

P.D. James, often called the Queen of Crime, passed away on Thanksgiving Day at the age of 94. And while I can’t say that I am a big P.D. James fan, you can’t argue with an author whose books have sold 10 million copies in the United States alone and have been translated into many languages; whose books have been adapted for the PBS Mystery series; who has been classed with the classic mystery authors Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and Margery Allingham.

It is interesting to note that Ms. James’ first novel, Cover Her Face, was not published until she was 42. A hospital administrator by trade, Cover Her Face was written in the early morning hours before going to her ‘real’ job.

Commander  Adam Dalgliesh is the main protagonist of her mysteries and in the New York Times obituary it quotes James “Perhaps Adam Dalgliesh is an idealized version of what I’d have liked to be if I had been born a man.” She envisioned “…a realistic cop…a dedicated and skilled professional, and yet something more than just a policeman…a complex and sensitive human being.”

Below is a list of her books:

Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries

1. Cover Her Face (1962)
2. A Mind to Murder (1963)
3. Unnatural Causes (1967)
4. Shroud for a Nightingale (1971)
5. The Black Tower (1975)
6. Death of an Expert Witness (1977)
7. A Taste for Death (1986)
8. Devices and Desires (1989)
9. Original Sin (1994)
10. A Certain Justice (1997)
11. Death in Holy Orders (2001)
12. The Murder Room (2003)
13. The Lighthouse (2005)
14. The Private Patient (2008)

Cordelia Gray Mysteries

• An Unsuitable Job for a Woman  (1972)
• The Skull Beneath the Skin (1982)

Miscellaneous novels

• Innocent Blood (1980)
• The Children of Men (1992)
• Death Comes to Pemberley (2011)

For her NY Times obituary, click here.

Who knows, maybe it’s time to give James another read.