We’re very proud of ourselves, Rose Mary
and I. We’ve just devised a fiendishly clever way to read all the P. D. James
books featuring Scotland Yard Inspector Adam Dalgliesh without smashing our
piggy banks. We got hooked via The Murder
Room, a deluxe hardcover gift from her uncle. But it was No.12 in the
series. So we dropped back 40 yards and hit Amazon’s used book venders.
Here’s the plan: I ordered Book One (hereinafter
referred to as “AD #1”) from the penny rack and she sent for AD #2. After our
swap on Sunday, I ordered AD #3; she did the same with AD #4. Okay, so we both
end up with half a set, but we get to read them all. Of course, we may not find
them all for 1 cent (plus 3.99 postage) but it will always be less than new or
ebook. And we have this dandy have-to excuse to get together at least every
three weeks. Otherwise we may let things slide for months. So it’s win-win with
enough coffee and chatter to keep me wired for hours.
AD #1, Cover
Her Face, takes place in a Downton Abbey-ish English country house. Sally
Jupp, a maid charitably hired from a home for unwed mothers, is a sly and
sensuous young woman with a secret. But since she’s discovered early on dead in
her bed with dark bruises marring her lily-white throat, we’re the rest of the
book ferreting out said secret.
There are marvelous twists and turns and no
shortage of suspects. Great drollery and deduction by AD, of course. Brit-lit at
its best. But one thing puzzled me. AD #1 seems set in the aftermath of WWII,
while AD #12 is well into the WiFi age. And AD hasn’t aged a bit. No matter. A good
mystery is always worth the read. 
Bio from her B&N page: Phyllis Dorothy
James, best known as P.D. James, was born on August 3, 1920, in Oxford,
England. She began working as a civil servant at age 16 through marriage and
motherhood, and began writing mystery novels in her late 30s. By the time she
retired to write full-time, she had become famous as the creator of fictional
detective Adam Dalgliesh as well as other works.
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