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iteechesinglish's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Rereading this after many years and couldn't remember who the murderer was because my memory is crap, so it was like reading it for the first time! I was introduced to PD James by reading an Unsuitable Job for a Woman in college so it's interesting to go back and read her earlier works. Most of her novels feature the detective Adam Dalgliesh but at least in this novel he is mostly in the background, popping up in here and there for questioning with the spotlight mostly on the cast of possible suspects. It's a classic British mystery in the tradition of Agatha Christie and doesn't quite stand out in any way, but the writing is good and the characters are compelling.
Summary for myself: The Maxies are an aristocratic family whose fortunes are declining. They take on Sally Jupp as a a maid. Sally is a single mother from a home that "rehabilitates" young women who have fallen from grace and immediately starts causing problems in the household which come to a head when she announces that the son Stephen has proposed to her. The next day she is found murdered in her room with the door locked from the inside. Who could have done it!
kangokaren's review against another edition
4.0
Finished last night. I found the writing to be very good. The plot left me questioning until the very end, but wasn't so far off that it didn't make sense. Good all around murder mystery.
lilkatesbooknook's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
laila4343's review against another edition
3.0
A well-written classic British mystery. I'd read more in the series.
qu33nofbookz's review against another edition
3.0
A mystery very reminiscent of the Poirot series by Agatha Christy it's a skilled detective who takes in all the clues, puts his brain to use, gathers the suspects and lays out the case which no one else would be able to. The only gripe about this is that the attitudes and language used are that of late 1800's to pre world war I but the timeline is very late 1940's or early 1950's, the date is not given but it is said that one of the characters was a resistance fighter in world war II.
debs4jc's review against another edition
this is a classic english mystery along the lines of an agatha christie story. there is the upper class family who lives in their family manor and is attended to by servants. one of these, sally jupp, was a meddlesome single mother and her death by strangulation is what brings inspector adam dalgliesh into the the case. in typical fashion he interviews all the suspects, looks beyond the obvious solutions, and in a confrontation gets the killer to admit to the crime. few other writers today capture the feeling of christies mysteries, and p.d. james does a great job of that. but i found the pace slow as she spends a long time building up the backgroud before we get to the crime. the puzzle was also not as complex as christie and it was easy to guess who the culprit was. inspector dalgliesh was an excellent sleuth, as the hints to his background were enought to be intriguing but not enough to answer all the readers questions. which would make you want to read on through the rest of the series to find out more about him. on this narration, the reader did a good job, but not an excellent one.
debs4jc's review against another edition
2.0
This is a classic English mystery along the lines of an Agatha Christie story. There is the upper class family who lives in their family manor and is attended to by servants. One of these, Sally Jupp, was a meddlesome single mother and her death by strangulation is what brings Inspector Adam Dalgliesh into the the case. In typical fashion he interviews all the suspects, looks beyond the obvious solutions, and in a confrontation gets the killer to admit to the crime. Few other writers today capture the feeling of Christies mysteries, and P.D. James does a great job of that. But I found the pace slow as she spends a long time building up the backgroud before we get to the crime. The puzzle was also not as complex as Christie and it was easy to guess who the culprit was. Inspector Dalgliesh was an excellent sleuth, as the hints to his background were enought to be intriguing but not enough to answer all the readers questions. Which would make you want to read on through the rest of the series to find out more about him. On this narration, the reader did a good job, but not an excellent one.
vandermeer's review against another edition
1.0
Unglaublich schlecht. Liest sich, als wäre es vor hundert Jahren geschrieben, aber nicht in a good way. 4% DNF
rageofachilles's review against another edition
3.0
I recently decided to read genres that I normally shy away from, and P.D. James was the perfect author to dip my toes in with murder mysteries. She wrote Children of Men, and while the book wasn't great, the movie was fantastic. She also has a well-respected reputation as a writer whose genre fiction transcends that genre's tropes. I also happened to randomly pick up this book at a library book sale last year--so what did I have to lose? This novel isn't great. The reader can tell that this is her first novel, and she hasn't quite come in to the full power of her voice. The murder, itself, isn't really that interesting. What is interesting, though, is how the clues accumulate and grate against each other in a way that is reminiscent of Eco's Name of the Rose.
I will continue to read P.D. James.
I will continue to read P.D. James.