About
Reviews
Search
Submit
Home

Mystery Books for Sale

[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]


  

MURDER ROOM, THE
by P. D. James
Knopf, November 2003
415 pages
$25.95
ISBN: 1400041414


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

In THE MURDER ROOM we again come into contact with P. D. Jamesıs character, Adam Dalgliesh, the London detective/poet who has kept so may people glued to their television sets and bookshelves for many years.

In this latest outing, a small private museum in London, owned by the Dupayne family, is at a turning point. The children of its deceased founder, a man interested in all aspects of the intervening years between the two World Wars (1919 ­ 1939), must all agree to sign the new lease or else the doors of The Dupayne will close. One sibling is completely against keeping the museum open, and that has the other members of the family -- and the staff of the museum, all of whom we meet and learn about -- in turmoil.

When the dissenting trustee is murdered in a horrible way on museum grounds, Commander Dalgliesh and his elite Special Investigation Squad is called in to look into the crime. They soon find out that the murder seems to have a parallel with one of the homicides that is chronicled in The Murder Room of the museum.

Dalgliesh and his team question the staff and volunteers of The Dupayne: curator James Calder-Hale, an ex MI-5 man, stern receptionist Muriel Godby, troubled teen Ryan Archer who does the heavy lifting around the gardens, and housekeeper Tally Clutton, in whose company the readers spend a goodly amount of time.

Then another body is found in The Murder Room, also posed to mirror yet another homicide in that gallery. Dalglieshıs Detective Inspector Kate Miskin takes a front and center position in this story as the Squad investigates the murders and I found that sheıs a riveting and fascinating lead for any novel.

A subplot involving Dalgliesh and a new love, Emma Lavenham, also has a small corner in this novel. It continues the painfully sensitive emotional history of Dalgliesh and leads the way to the next of the series.

This is the first time I have met Dalgliesh in print. Iıve followed the television series for years and I have to say that I was thrilled with this book. The language, the pace and the complete involvement in making even the smallest individual involved in the story into a fully fleshed out three dimensional and interesting person all combine to bring the readers into the world within this novelıs pages. I found that every character could carry a book themselves, all are terribly interesting and all are made into living, breathing people with histories and emotional baggage.

Not only are the characters drawn well, but the murder mystery is wonderfully crafted. Plenty of clues and wrong turns abound for those of us who love to try and solve the murder before the police do.

This book is a remarkable bit of literature. I recommend it to everyone who likes intelligent, civilized murders.

Reviewed by Sharon Katz, November 2003

This book has more than one review. Click here to show all.

[ Top ]


QUICK SEARCH:

 

Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]