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Title: The Murder Room by P.D. JAMES ISBN: 1-4000-4141-4 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 18 November, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.06 (52 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A tad shopworn, but superior entry in genre
Comment: DEATH IN HOLY ORDERS, the penultimate entry in the Adam Dalgliesh mystery series, raised the bar high for the latest, THE MURDER ROOM. HOLY ORDERS had revived the series, with fresh character combinations, plot tricks and the possibility of romance for the long-suffering policeman-poet Dalgliesh. The question begs, does THE MURDER ROOM measure up?
One of James' strengths has always been critical description, both physical and emotional. Her invention of the museum that serves as the setting is cunning: an institution devoted to the inter-war years of the 20th century, collecting products and exhibits of art, literature, industry, and murders. The latter is not that far off an idea for such a museum: England has a fascination with intricate crimes going back centuries, and as one character states provocatively, murders have a style that befit their age. This setting alone is worth the price of the book.
Plot-wise, James throws out the red herrings like a rotating sprinkler system set on high. If you've read her before, you know what she's doing. You tend to forgive her that. It's the characters in THE MURDER ROOM that I am not so pleased with. She has gone back to old stock: snotty upper class adult siblings, the women without whom, a younger adult generation that is hapless and without initiative, and the working class characters who get drawn into the mess created by the privileged characters.
Dalgleish, though still sexy in an intellectual tortured soul kind of way all these years into the series, has lost some of this reader's patience and willing suspension of disbelief. In an age of cell phones and e-mail, he carries on a courtship a la the 18th century. That would be quaint but instead it is exasperating. It does, however, provide some tension up to the end, to see if it repels rather than attracts Emma, the literature professor he met in HOLY ORDERS.
Rating: 5
Summary: Not James' best but nonetheless a rivetting read !
Comment: There is no better murder mystery writer than P D James. She is without doubt the absolute best and the reigning queen in her given genre. There isn't a single James book I haven't read and not enjoyed. "The Murder Room (MR)" is no exception....so if I seem unduly critical of her latest, it's only because I've grown accustomed to her usual high standards and can't help but judge its merits against her very best works.
Adam Dagliesh as romantic hero in MR may be poignant only to James' fans. Newcomers are likely to find Dagliesh's new guise oddly irrelevant. Colleague Inspector Kate Miskin shows her slightly bitter and cryptic side and though it's not always a pretty sight, it's a contemporary reminder that the effects of the English class system haven't completely worn off. The characters that populate MR are typically Jamesian, hard, cynical, and ruthless and there's none more unpleasant than Caroline Dupayne, one of the three trustees of the Dupayne Museum, whose fate depends on whether the trustees agree to carry on. That woman chills your blood and wilts your soul. There are also the usual damaged people who make excellent suspects (eg, Tally, Muriel), so once you've met them, you know you're in familiar territory.
MR doesn't offer anything new but at 83, James shouldn't be expected to deliver anything groundbreaking. Though I enjoyed the book immensely - her writing is never less than sharp and exquisite - the plotting, I felt, was a little weak and ultimately unconvincing from the second murder onwards. There are too many red herrings in there, suggesting a lack of cogency in plot development. The identity of the murderer, when it is revealed, doesn't surprise though the motive isn't remotely commensurate with the violence and viciousness of the crime.
Enough with the negative comments. There's always integrity and quality in James' work as she is never less than erudite in her research. Despite the above criticisms, MR still makes a rivetting read and you can do a lot worse than picking up a copy and finding out for yourself.
Rating: 5
Summary: True Novel
Comment: It isn't even fair to list this book by PD James as a "mystery,"
because that implies it lacks the depth to be considered a true
novel. But the author puts so much detail and emotion into this
story, and she developes it so completely, it can't be anything else.
PD James is such a careful, detailed craftsman, she spends more
than the first 100 pages just introducing the characters. And
it is worth it.
The action takes place in and near a private, rather specialized
museum on the outskirts of London, at the edge of one of the great parks, and as the police investigate, the mystery grows.
The Commander is called into a meeting which includes some officials higher up than he expects, including representatives
from Special Branch, MI5, MI6, the Ministry, and he is told his
special squad will be handling the matter. And before the original murder is solved, another takes place, and the police
have to expand their investigation.
As happens, there are some side issues, with collateral actions
taking place involving some in the higher social classes, as well as at least one Diplomat, so the police are urged to solve the crimes without ruffling too many feathers while doing so.
This author can bring together more divergent elements, while making it so smooth as to appear effortless, that it's easy to
forget just what talent she brings to this type writing.
This is a fairly long book, for a mystery, but it is gripping at
all times, and it will continually engage most readers. It will
definitely be difficult to put down. Don't start this book until you know you can devote some significant time to it.
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Title: A Place of Hiding by ELIZABETH GEORGE ISBN: 0553801309 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 29 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: The Babes in the Wood: A Chief Inspector Wexford Mystery by RUTH RENDELL ISBN: 140004930X Publisher: Crown Pub. Date: 21 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Now May You Weep: A Novel by Deborah Crombie ISBN: 0060525231 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 07 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: Foul Matter by Martha Grimes ISBN: 067003259X Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 18 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Blow Fly: A Scarpetta Novel by Patricia Cornwell ISBN: 0399150897 Publisher: Putnam Pub Group Pub. Date: 13 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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