This 1996 portrait of the late P.D. James was painted by Michael R. Taylor, its setting the sitter's study in her London home. Baroness James commented in the course of this interview that as depicted here, hers is "the face of someone who has looked on the darker side of life."
Click here for an audio interview from 2009 in which P.D. James discusses the qualities she admires in men and women and with which she endowed her detective Adam Dalgleish; the background to and influences on her writing career; the detective novel's ordering function; the implicit contract between reader and writer, and the fascination of plotting detective fiction.
Having read many James novels over the years, I'm revisiting her work by beginning with her first book, Cover Her Face, which I am much enjoying.
Of the PD James novels, I've only read Death Comes to Pemberley and sadly it did not inspire me to seek out others. However, perhaps I should try her earlier ones such as Cover Her Face.
Posted by: Spade & Dagger | 28 September 2015 at 03:55 PM
You've made me think about re-reqding some P. D. James now!
Posted by: Jayne | 28 September 2015 at 06:20 PM
No, that's not typical James! Don't be put off, though, Spade & Dagger, try her Dalgleish books some time.
Posted by: Cornflower | 28 September 2015 at 08:04 PM
I'm not sure what prompted me to do it, Jayne, but I'm glad I've picked up Cover Her Face, and I'd like to re-read the rest (over time) in the order in which they were written.
Posted by: Cornflower | 28 September 2015 at 08:07 PM
Coïncidence: not reading but watching yesterday evening, and the evening before, and... 'An Unsuitable Job For a Woman'featuring detective Cordelia Gray. Now I might do some detective work myself and try to find out in which P.D. James books she appears and then proceed reading those.
Posted by: cath | 29 September 2015 at 03:57 PM
Cath, I'd forgotten all about Cordelia Gray! As far as I can see she appears in only "The Skull Beneath The Skin" apart from "An Unsuitable Job ..."
Posted by: Cornflower | 29 September 2015 at 04:27 PM
I have never read P D James before but decided to try the Dalgleish novels recently. I read the first three and was surprised that they were so similar in formula to Golden Age crime writing, I had expected them to have more challenging plots. I enjoyed the development of Adam Dalgleish as a character and the sections where P D James has a rant about something that she dislikes but discovered that I did not really care whodunnit or why which made reading the books a struggle.
Posted by: Alice C | 05 October 2015 at 06:07 PM