An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (Cordelia Gray Mysteries

After James Patterson's violent mysteries, I needed to return to my English cozies. P.D. James' An Unsuitable Job for a Woman fit the requirement. Only this time, I listened to the great mystery over the weekend.

Ah…a nice clean murder. Clear clues I can follow and understand. Tension. Danger. There’s nothing like cozies for a cerebral puzzle. Logical, that’s what I’d call James’ An Unsuitable Job for a Woman. I loved Tammy Ustinov’s rendition of the book. The characters were distinct, and she never lost me in the story.

The reader meets the young man, Mark Callender, after his supposed suicide and learns to care for him just as Cordelia Gray, a newly minted private investigator does. We discover the type of person Mark was from his friends and family. And through these details, we unravel the whys of the story. As I’ve said. I love cozies! This is my first experience with a P.D. James novel. Perhaps I should pick up another.

Cordelia Gray is having what could be termed a slump. It's only two months since she became a partner with Bernie Pryde in Pryde's Detective Agency, and the glow from Bernie's faith in her is much diminished. Bernie discovered he had cancer, and committed suicide in his office, forever blood-staining the new carpet, the only good piece of furnishing in their shabby office suite. Bernie had given her a rent-free bed-sit in his house, but after his death she found out he didn't own the house. There's no current case or cases and the last month's office rent is overdue. Bernie hadn't even paid for the new embossed stationary showing both partners on the letterhead. He's left her everything in his will, but that isn't saying much, except for an unlicensed revolver.

Then, just in time for her self-respect, Cordelia impresses Sir Ronald Callender enough for him to hire her. Eighteen days before, his estranged 21 year-old son, Mark, committed suicide. Sir Ronald has no doubt it's suicide. What he wants Cordelia to find out is why. Mark had been doing well at Cambridge, he was not a thwarted lover, and he was due a large inheritance from his grandfather when he turned 25. Why did he leave college, take a job as a gardener living in a run-down cottage, and then hang himself with his belt?

Cordelia sets out to investigate, securing 5£ per day plus expenses, which seems almost too good to be true (this is 1972). And visiting Cambridge is not too shabby a prospect, either. She needs to visit Mark's cottage, his employer, his tutor and his best friends. Cordelia is told by a couple people that hers is "an unsuitable job for a woman". What she doesn't know is that it will also be a dangerous job.

"An Unsuitable Job for a Woman" is a well-plotted mystery, perhaps a bit old-fashioned and slow-moving. A couple of times I thought I had the mystery figured out, when a plot twist proved me wrong. This is an intelligently written mystery, too. Here, Cordelia observes Chris Lunn at dinner: "He ate slowly, with finicky attention to the arrangement of the food on his plate, and from time to time, smiled secretly into his wine."

While Phyllis Dorothy (PD) James doesn't quite fill her books with erudite quotes in the manner of Dorothy L. Sayers (of Lord Peter Wimsey fame), she does include her share. For example, Hugo Tilling, one of Mark's Cambridge friends, seems to be showing off here, with an almost spot-on Shakespeare quote (that I had to look up) which tells you a lot about Hugo and Lunn, "Everyone knows Lunn. Seldom he smiles and smiles in such a way as if he mocked himself and scorned his spirit that could be moved to smile at anything. I should concentrate on Lunn."

PD James wrote four of her Adam Dalgliesh mysteries before penning "An Unsuitable Job For a Woman", the first of five Cordelia Gray mysteries. Dalgliesh makes a cameo near the end, but Cordelia does very fine on her own, thank you!

Happy Reader

Writing great mysteries in not an unsuitable job for a fine mystery author named P.D. James! One of her most delightful characters is Cordelia Gray. Cordelia is only featured in two of James' novels "An Unsuitable Job for a Woman" and "The Skull Beneath the Skin." An Unsuitable Job for a Woman" was published in 1977. It is a short book of 250 pages. The book has held up well. It is perfect for a day at the beach or a quiet evening before a good fireplace in the deepest of winters.
The Plot: Cordelia Gray's private eye partner Bernie Pryde has committed suicide. It is now up to Cornelia to run the detective agency. Miss Gray's first case is concerned with the death of a young Cambridge dropout named Mark Callender. Cordelia is hired by Ronald
Callender the father of Mark. Mark was found hanging by the neck in an apparent suicide,. Mark was working as a gardener at the time of his death. He was a quiet young man who had never been in trouble with the law. Cordelia belives the lad may have been murdered. Was Mark a murder victim? What secrets need to be brought to life about the Callender family in order to solve the mystery? Miss Gay finds guilty secrets and foul deeds at every corner of this story. James is adept at writing in a felicitous literary style enhancing the story she weaves on the loom of her imagination.
One regrets that there are only two Cordelia Gray novels in the James canon. I find Gray as interesting as Adam Dalgliesh the major character in James fiction.

Written in 1972 and winner of the Best Novel Award by the Mystery Writers of America in 1973, this clever mystery by P. D. James features a female detective who is no Miss Marple. Cordelia Gray, is a contemporary detective, liberated and independent. An attractive young woman in her early twenties, she has inherited a detective agency from her partner Bernie Pryde, and she intends to keep it running, make it profitable, and create a career for herself. Polite and at ease in elegant circumstances, Cordelia is also willing to take chances and do all the dirty work--and carry a gun.

On her first case following the death of Bernie Pryde, Cordelia is hired by famed environmentalist Sir Ronald Callender of Garforth House, to find out why his son Mark has hanged himself. Sir Ronald has had little interest in or affection for his son during his lifetime but now seems determined to understand the reasons for his son's shocking suicide. Cordelia soon learns that just prior to his death, Mark dropped out of college and found work as a gardener, severing relations with his father from whom he declared he would accept no money or support. Further investigation leads Cordelia to believe that Mark was murdered.

The characters, though "thin" and somewhat stereotypical, are quirky and memorable enough to keep the reader interested in their behavior--Mark's friends, who know more than they are willing to reveal; Sir Ronald's household, including Elizabeth Leaming, his secretary, formerly a student of literature; Miss Markland, the sad single mother who once lived in the cottage where Mark's body was found; and Christopher Lunn, assistant to Sir Ronald at the scientific foundation where they both work. Soon an attempt is made on Cordelia's life, and three more deaths occur before Mark's murderer and motive are revealed.

James is a master at keeping the reader guessing till the very end, creating numerous plot twists which change the reader's perceptions and expectations at every turn. The tension remains high throughout, and the conclusion, in which Cordelia has to make a report to Adam Dalgiesh, Bernie Pryde's mentor (and the main character of James's best-known series), allows James to connect Cornelia's story with that series and, perhaps, give it additional credibility. Cordelia Gray is an engaging detective conveying just the right balance of ingenuousness and fierce determination, traits that continue her appeal in James's The Skull Beneath the Skin. One of James's best novels, "Unsuitable Job" will keep even jaded mystery readers on the edge of their chairs. n Mary Whipple

The idea of a book being written about an inexperienced detective is in itself unusual. Ms James made you want to help her private detective and showed you at the end how really her smarts given to her by her flakey partner really was very professional. Especially since she was compared to one of the authors proudest creations, Adam Dalgleash. I enjoyed it completely, as most authors put to many extra explanations to fill the book. I never had to skip through sections as I usually do from the boredom of lengthy unneeded descriptions. I haven't any more books of P. D. James to read... What a shame, as all have been fun.
SABJr

This book, originally written in the 1970s, follows the exploits of a young female PI named Cordelia Gray as she inherits her partner's detective agency and embarks on her first case. When the son of a prominent British scientist commits suicide, he hires Cordelia to find out why. Soon Cordelia is wrapped up in the case where everything is not quite as it seems - from living in the deceased's home to interviewing his friends to embarking on increasingly dangerous interviews and following suspicious leads.

Although the book may seem a touch dated at times, it provides a captivating whydunnit as opposed to a whodunnit that will keep you guessing until the end - as any good mystery novel should. This is the first Cordelia Gray novel (as far as I know) but I believe there are sequels as well if you're interested. A nice change of pace from the modern detective novel, this book is both quaint and enjoyable as Cordelia's guesswork seems perfectly logical most of the time, rather than far-fetched and unprobable as many modern books tend to be.

Baroness James deserves great credit for coming up with this most unusual and interesting novel. Her detective, private investigator Cordelia Grey, is a landmark in the history of female detective fiction. The clever way that Ms. James connects this unlikely operative to the mighty Adam Dalgliesh adds great insight into both characters. The story itself is full of the unexpected . . . while maintaining touch with the ordinary. The combination is enough to keep you misdirected and fascinated until the very end.

I recently decided to reread the book to see if it still ranks up there as one of my favorite detective novels . . . and came away even more impressed than ever.

Cordelia Gray is a young woman learning her investigatory trade when her partner, Bernie Pryde, cuts his life short. Bernie has set up matters to give her as good a chance as possible to prosper in sole detection, including leaving her an unregistered gun. But will she have any clients?

It's a relief when a prospective client shows up looking for Bernie and takes Cordelia back for an interview with the famous father of Mark Callender, who recently killed himself. What father wouldn't want to know why? Cordelia in short order finds herself off on a five pounds a day assignment.

As she tracks backwards through the last days of Mark Callender, Cordelia finds that she likes him and wants to do right by his memory. Using the lessons that Bernie taught her, that he, in turn, learned from Dalgliesh, Cordelia soon has her suspicions about the suicide. Before long, she's being threatened as well.

What's it all about?

Bring a big imagination, grab a very comfy chair, turn on a good reading light and settle down for a treat!

P.D. James, aka Phyllis Dorothy James White, has painted the mystery genre with a literary hue which has delighted fans for decades. Her writing is stylish and extremely well-crafted. Her characters are so fully developed that they seem almost like friends the reader delights in meeting again. James' heroine in this book, Cordelia Grey, lacks the long and rich legacy of Adam Dalgliesh - the author's usual sharp-witted and charming P.I., but she does pack a wallop in the two books she appears in.

Mature and wise beyond her years - Cordelia is only 22 when we meet her - this heroine knows how to draw us into the murder at hand - in this case the neglected but privileged son of a powerful scientist. Brave and insightful sometimes, scared and confused often, Cordelia soldiers through this mystery from one deduced fact to the next and arrives at a somewhat unusual (for this genre) denoument. I won't tell you what that is but it causes a bemused Adam Dalgliesh to pop up at the end of the book in a half-hearted attempt to break down Cordelia's defenses.

Cordelia is an appealing and well-drawn character who only appeared in two of James' novels. She later, mistakenly she says, sold Cordelia, or the rights to her existence anyway, to the BBC, which subsequently did a TV series based on the character.

I picked up this book as a dog-eared paperback in a used book store because the title kept popping up in lists of "bests" for this genre - most recently in an essay by Anna Quindlan. I haven't read a mystery in years but found myself really enjoying this one - for the story, the lovable Cordelia, and for the craftsmanship of the author. Recommended.

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P.D. James at her best! Fans of Inspector Dalgliesh, and those new to P.D. James will both enjoy this. Dalgliesh appears very briefly on the fringes of the story. The heroine is a likeable, determined, very human young woman, who isn't going to be swayed by the popular opinion that being a detective is "an unsuitable job for a woman".
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Cordelia Gray has just inherited full ownership of a detective agency on the brink of bankruptcy. Their main assets now are a gun and Cordelia's determination. She gets caught up in the investigation of a young man's suicide, and won't let go despite danger to herself.
~ - ~
The solution to the mystery was quite a surprise. (Being such a mystery fan, many books are now transparent) As always-, James has a clever, unexpected solution, and a dramatically satisfying ending.
If you've heard of P.D.James - this is a great mystery to jump into! James fans- Don't miss it!

Despite its rather mundane and unalluring title and the name of her lead character, Cordelia Gray, PD James has concocted a fairly riveting tale of murder, deception and betrayal.

She introduces us to Cordelia Gray, a 23 year old private detective who inherits her own agency when her older partner commits suicide due to untreatable cancer. Her first solo case comes in the form of investigating the suicide death of a young man. His father, a noted scientist, wants Cordelia to find out why he killed himself.

James' mainstay Adam Dalgleish is a ghost in most of the book but he does come in for the final section. Of course, Cordelia's digging leads her to believe the suicide is really a murder, and finds her own life in danger.

James' prose is highly atmospheric and she fills the book with interesting, if somewhat unlikeable, characters (Are Brits really as self-centered and pompous as they appear in these mysteries?).

AN UNSUITABLE JOB FOR A WOMAN is a well written mystery and again demonstrates the popularity of Ms. James.

This is a reprint of a novel copyrighted in 1977. It predates Sue Grafton's novels about P.I. Kinsey Millhone, and introduces London P.I. Cordelia Gray, a young woman with a family background even more unusual than Kinsey's. Having grown up in foster homes and a Catholic boarding school, at the age of 16 she began traveling through Europe with her father's band of left-wing revolutionaries. Finally settling in London, a job with a temp agency took her to the office of P.I. Bernie Pryde. She is now 22, and had become an associate of Pryde, inheriting the business on his death.
This is Cordelia's first independent case. She has been hired to investigate the apparent suicide of a prominent scientist's only son. The case takes some unexpected twists and turns, and she finds herself in danger before the case winds down to a conclusion. At the end, she meets Chief Inspector Dalgliesh, the main character of other novels by the author.
The monetary amounts mentioned (i.e., five pounds a day plus expenses) may seem strange to U.S. readers, even taking into account the 1972 time frame, but one must keep in mind that things were cheaper than they are today and that pay standards in the U.K. have always been less than in the U.S. - one reason for immigration (the old World War II complaint about U.S. servicemen was "overpaid, oversexed, and over here")
The sequel to this novel is "The Skull Beneath the Skin." Sue Grafton's fans should enjoy these novels.

An excellent thriller/mystery with a twist. With several twists. The hero of some others of James' books, the poet/superintendent Adam Dalgliesh, apart from a brief and probably unnecessary appearance at the end of the book, is merely a brooding presence over the plot. Dalgliesh inspired Cordelia Gray's dead detective agency partner in every way, and his remebered quotes give Gray the ability to uncover the solution to the problem laid before her: Why did the young son of a very successful scientist drop out of Cambridge and commit suicide? Every character is coherent and supportable in their actions and words; every line and thread of the plot is believable and woven inexorably into the whole. This is detective writing at its best.

Despite its rather mundane and unalluring title and the name of her lead character, Cordelia Gray, PD James has concocted a fairly riveting tale of murder, deception and betrayal.

She introduces us to Cordelia Gray, a 23 year old private detective who inherits her own agency when her older partner commits suicide due to untreatable cancer. Her first solo case comes in the form of investigating the suicide death of a young man. His father, a noted scientist, wants Cordelia to find out why he killed himself.

James' mainstay Adam Dalgleish is a ghost in most of the book but he does come in for the final section. Of course, Cordelia's digging leads her to believe the suicide is really a murder, and finds her own life in danger.

James' prose is highly atmospheric and she fills the book with interesting, if somewhat unlikeable, characters (Are Brits really as self-centered and pompous as they appear in these mysteries?).

AN UNSUITABLE JOB FOR A WOMAN is a well written mystery and again demonstrates the popularity of Ms. James.

This is a reprint of a novel copyrighted in 1977. It predates Sue Grafton's novels about P.I. Kinsey Millhone, and introduces London P.I. Cordelia Gray, a young woman with a family background even more unusual than Kinsey's. Having grown up in foster homes and a Catholic boarding school, at the age of 16 she began traveling through Europe with her father's band of left-wing revolutionaries. Finally settling in London, a job with a temp agency took her to the office of P.I. Bernie Pryde. She is now 22, and had become an associate of Pryde, inheriting the business on his death.
This is Cordelia's first independent case. She has been hired to investigate the apparent suicide of a prominent scientist's only son. The case takes some unexpected twists and turns, and she finds herself in danger before the case winds down to a conclusion. At the end, she meets Chief Inspector Dalgliesh, the main character of other novels by the author.
The monetary amounts mentioned (i.e., five pounds a day plus expenses) may seem strange to U.S. readers, even taking into account the 1972 time frame, but one must keep in mind that things were cheaper than they are today and that pay standards in the U.K. have always been less than in the U.S. - one reason for immigration (the old World War II complaint about U.S. servicemen was "overpaid, oversexed, and over here")
The sequel to this novel is "The Skull Beneath the Skin." Sue Grafton's fans should enjoy these novels.

An excellent thriller/mystery with a twist. With several twists. The hero of some others of James' books, the poet/superintendent Adam Dalgliesh, apart from a brief and probably unnecessary appearance at the end of the book, is merely a brooding presence over the plot. Dalgliesh inspired Cordelia Gray's dead detective agency partner in every way, and his remebered quotes give Gray the ability to uncover the solution to the problem laid before her: Why did the young son of a very successful scientist drop out of Cambridge and commit suicide? Every character is coherent and supportable in their actions and words; every line and thread of the plot is believable and woven inexorably into the whole. This is detective writing at its best.

Written in the 1970s this Cordelia Gray PI mystery shows how some things have changed for women and some things are still the same, but good detective work remains the same.

[...]

With her bag at her feet she sat down by the body. She said a brief convent-taught prayer to the God she wasn’t sure existed for the soul which Bernie had never believed he possessed and waited quietly for the police.
--P.D. James (An Unsuitable Job For a Woman p 215)
Perhaps it’s only when people are dead that we can safely show how much we cared about them. We know that it’s too late then for them to do anything about it.
-- P.D. James (An Unsuitable Job For a Woman p 246)
…love was as destructive as hate.
-- P.D. James (An Unsuitable Job For a Woman p 412)

Having now read several of James's Adam Dalgliesh police procedurals -- a couple of earlier ones and a couple of the far superior later ones -- I decided it was time to dip into her non-Dalgliesh work. This is the first one featuring Miss Cordelia Gray, private detective. Isn't not a long story, only a bit over 200 pages, but it's not bad. Cordelia, having been taken on by Bernie Pryde as an apprentice detective, suddenly finds herself the sole proprietor when Bernie offs himself because of terminal cancer. Bernie was an ex-Met cop, fond of quoting methods and principles learned at the knee of then-DCI Dalgliesh (who later had him sacked for lack of basic competence), and who had drilled those same principles into Cordelia, . . . who wonders sometimes if her boss's old boss is a mythological creature. Now she's been invited to Cambridge to look into the suicide of the son of a nationally known microbiologist; or, actually, Bernie was invited, but Cordelia now has the case. Young Mark, an idealistic university student, hanged himself for no discernible reason and his father wants to know why. Cordelia, of course, soon has reason to think Mark actually was murdered. The narrative follows her through her investigations as she comes up with reasonable hypotheses, and reasonable ways of determining their validity (or not). She owns a gun (illegally) but she's not about to use it, so she has to rely on her considerable wits. Cordelia is an appealing character, filled with idealism herself, and somewhat more interested in justice than (necessarily) in truth. And she eventually discovers some of the truth about Dalgliesh, too.

James who is most famous for her books of Inspector Dalgleish, takes time to create a female PI in 1970s London. This book which was written in 1972 and later revised by James an set in 1977, should have been set in 1937. By the time this book was written, Agatha Christie had written ten Miss Marple books and the Avenger's Mrs. Peel had been a spy for eight years. Cordelia Gray's character is so much out of the thirties, and the 'young' people she meets seem to be part of the 'lost generation' from between the wars.

James' late 1970s London, seems never to have heard of the 1960s or The Beatles or Carnaby Street, etc. I'm not english, but, as an example, how many young people in 1977 went 'punting' on the Thames around Cambridge. You would think that it was something for 'old' people to do. And the french woman, Isabel, is something out of the 1920s, with her rich Papa back home lending her money and the occasional Renoir (as small one!) to hang in her rooms.

The story itself is interesting, a sort of locked room suicide that turns out to be a homicide. She even gets in a few digs at Dalgleish (she had written five of his novels by then) and what a 'fuss pot' he was for details. But the book just hasn't aged well like Christie, and seems to be done by a 'hack'. Too bad.

I suspect most authors committed to a mystery genre often grow tired of their creations. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes at one point, only to resurrect him at the demand of his fans. Elizabeth George too has recently attempted to bypass her Inspector Lynley, much to her fans chagrin (include me among that list). With "An Unsuitable Job for a Woman," I suspect we find the same motive with P.D. James' divergence from the Dalgliesh novels. Instead of the inimitable and formidable Dalgliesh, we have the 22-year-old, sometimes uncertain Cordelia Gray attempting to jumpstart a detective agency willed to her through the suicide of her benefactor and mentor, Bernie Pryde.
In the course of "Unsuitable" and a companion book "The Skull Beneath the Skin," Ms. James produces one of the great characters of detective fiction. Lacking very little professional experience, Cordelia uses instinct, a sharp mind and surprising courage to unravel the truth to murders that on the surface seem so obviously solvable.
It is not until the conclusion of the "Unsuitable" case that Dalgliesh shows up to clear away some of the messy details, but its clearly Cordelia's story that Ms. James is focused upon.
Read this book, and then immediate procure "Skull," the far superior book in the very short two-book series. In my mind, they both are far better written, more exciting than any of the Dalgliesh series (I can't believe I am saying that - that's like saying an orange is better than an apple).
Ms. James never returns to Cordelia, other than a couple of brief mentions in later Dalgliesh stories. Once, she sends Dalgliesh flowers and a short note while he is recovering from an illness, and there is a slight hint of romantic interest - moreso on her part than perhaps on the continual mourning Dalgliesh.
About a year ago, Ms. James was in my hometown promoting her autobiography (a nice read, but not particularly well put together). Numerous questions were posed regarding Cordelia. Her response was that she is constantly amazed how popular a character is Cordelia, and admits that yes, SHE too loved her. But, she said, Dalgliesh pulled her back. I personally asked her during the book autographing stage whether Cordelia any chance of reappearing. Keeping in mind that Ms. James is well into her 80s, it was probably a silly question. But she said she had considered it, but that she made an awful mistake. She said she had "inexplicably sold Cordelia" to the BBC, who had promised her that when dramatizing "Unsuitable" and "Skull," they would keep the character true to the book. They did so until the actress portraying her came up pregnant during filming, so they wrote into it that Cordelia was also pregnant from a liason with a lover that she no longer was seeing. Anyone who has read and loved these books know that that would have been totally out of character for Cordelia. Ms. James said she was so angry that she traveled the book circuit saying Cordelia of the BBC was NOT the Cordelia of her two books. Unfortunately, she said, "I don't know how I can bring her back onto the pages. She's dead to me now."
So read the books, but never no never go near the televised series. Cordelia is very much alive in these pages, and you will be ever so glad.

Cordelia Gray is on her own with her detective agency. She has bills to pay and no new cases in sight. Then an elegant woman turns up and asks if Miss Gray will assist in her employer's quest to determine what caused his son to kill himself.

It took me quite a long time to determine what era this book was meant to be placed in. Until Cordelia mentioned having grown up watching television, I assumed from the situations, attitudes and styles of the characters that it was somewhere between the Wars. How "unsuitable" (a word from the title which is repeatedly drummed into our heads via the text) is detecting for a woman in the 1970s, anyhow? But yet, that's where this story, strangely, is set.

I met a variety of characters, but don't get to know any of them particularly well, and when the mystery is "solved," I was deeply annoyed. The person who did it would have absolutely NO reason to do what they did earlier in the story; it was only placed there to propel the plot and manipulate the reader into turning the pages. After the solving the mystery, there is yet another fifty pages or so of unnecessary and dull exposition. This was my first experience with the mysteries of P.D. James. If this is indicative of her style and characters, I think I can safely remove her from my list of authors to follow.

I've listened to several of PD James' mysteries featuring Adam Dalgleish and wasn't too crazy about them. I decided to give this one a try because it featured instead detective Cordelia Gray.

In some regards I did enjoy this one a bit more than the other PD James' I've listened to. Cordelia's backstory made her a sympathetic character, and there seemed to be slightly less obsession with sex that in the other James mysteries I've read. However, overall this was a somewhat bland and unexciting mystery. And although the author threw in several twists at the end, I really did not like the way it concluded.

SPOILER ALERT

To have Cordelia lie in order to conceal one of the murderers, and get completely by with it, was I felt a very unsatisfying ending.

Lastly, I found Ms. Dellaporta's narration somewhat annoying on this book. As usual, her reading style is suitable to James' writing style, but for whatever reason in this reading I really noticed her frequently heavy, noisy, nasal inhalations and they were annoying and distracting. Which just goes to prove, I think, that the book was fairly dull if I was so disengaged as to notice the narrator's breathing.

These Books On Tape audiobooks are pretty low-budget performances -- you can hear the narrator turning her pages and occasionally a bump or some other background noise. If you really love PD James' books then you would probably be satisfied enough; I don't much care for her mysteries and, having now tried several, probably won't listen to any more.

Featuring amateur female sleuth Cordelia Gray, this is Young Adult stuff and a far cry from the author's Dalgliesh mysteries. Having read this one title I shall not be looking at the other four in the Cordelia series.
The writing skill is undeniable: narrative pace, structure, characters, sense of place are all good, but the plot is unconvincing. I had to force myself to keep going until the end and an overlong wrap-up.

This book is now currently one of favorite. It introduces the best character I personally think the author created (though unfortunatly she has only written two books with her the rest except one with Commander Adam Dalgalsh I think this might be because of the T.V. show getting her pregent).

P. D. James is a wonderful writer. It was because I have read all of James' Adam Dalgliesh mysteries that I was eager to let a new character, Cordelia Gray, into my heart. It didn't happen. Cordelia's character was not believable and she was not particularly appealing. The story line was improbable. The best way for me to describe it is "Nancy Drew" for high-schoolers.

a friend of mine recommended this book a while ago and i decided to give it a try. what a waste of time! after a so-so start it dissolves into a silly, improbable, absolutely unbelievable mess, the conclusion being particularly stupid and unrealistic. if you want to do yourself a favour, stay with patricia highsmith instead.