A review by iteechesinglish
Cover Her Face by P.D. James

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!