P. D. James

Roy Marsden

Cover Her Face (Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries)

Cover Her Face is the first crime novel in P. D. James’s much-loved crime fiction Adam Dalgliesh series. A parlour maid is found dead at Martingale manor house and Detective Chief-Inspector Adam Dalgliesh is called in to investigate, but he qickly becomes embroiled in the passions that run strong in this seemingly quiet English village. 

Cover her face

Lara Engle

P.D. James

The first in the series of scintillating mysteries to feature cunning Scotland Yard detective, Adam Dalgliesh from P.D. James, the bestselling author hailed by People magazine as “the greatest living mystery writer.” Sally Jupp was a sly and sensuous young woman who used her body and her brains to make her way up the social ladder. Now she lies across her bed with dark bruises from a strangler’s fingers forever marring her lily-white throat. Someone has decided that the wages of sin should be death...and it is up to Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh to find who that someone is. Cover Her Face is P.D. James’ delightful debut novel, an ingeniously plotted mystery that immediately placed her among the masters of suspense.

An Adam Dalgliesh Mystery

Cover Her Face

Colleen

3.5 Stars

*An engaging mystery reminiscent of Agatha Christie with its own twist*


I came across this series on a list of classic mysteries. Although I hadn't heard of the author, I decided to give it a try.

The setup for the plot has many elements of classic British mysteries. The murder takes place in a mansion in the English countryside. And it's a locked room mystery. But it was brought up to modern (for when it was written) times. Cover Her Face was probably a bit racy for its time actually. What with all the talk about unwed mothers and other social taboo topics for the time. The story explored the drastically shifting landscape of the Post-WWII era.

I was surprised how little the main detective of the series, Adam Dalgliesh, was featured. Much like Miss Marple in her first book, the detective was barely more than a cameo. Instead, the story spent most of its time setting up the crime and following the suspects through the aftermath of the murder. While I was puzzled by the limited involvement of the supposed main character, it was fascinating to watch the inside view of that fractured group of people dealing with their own levels of guilt throughout the murder investigation.

The plot kept me guessing, and even though I didn't particularly like any of the characters, I was still engaged in finding out what would happen to them. Overall, this was a good start to the series. Not only was this the first book in the series, it was also James’s debut novel. I'll definitely check out the next book.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 4 Stars
Level of Captivation: 4 Stars
Originality: 3 Stars

Cover Her Face (Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries)

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