Cover Her Face (1962)

'Cover Her Face', P.D. James' first novel, lacks the originality and challenges to the traditions of the genre of the later Dalgliesh books. Instead this is very much a traditional British mystery, with a host of suspects ensconced in a country house when a murder takes place. The mystery is quotedian, but the book's strength is James' consistently excellent characterisation; even the most minor personages are fully rounded and believable. One of these is Dalgliesh himself, who remains in the background of the plot. Although the police case provides the frame around which the story develops, Dalgliesh is a foil to the actions and character development of the Maxies and their circle, rather than the captivating protagonist he becomes as the series develops. James' gentle probing of social prejudices and neuroses also provides an indication of themes which will be expanded in future works. ( )

Not so great. I expected this -- the first book in a series usually is weak (but good enough) to allow the author to continue to develop as a writer. Maybe I shouldn't read these in order? I'll think about it. ( )

Meh. P.D. James is a competent writer and puts together a reasonable mystery, but there's nothing exciting about it -- I felt like I'd read it before, honestly. The Kindle version has very bad formatting, too ("that" turns into "mat", for example); no one bothered to proofread it. None of the characters are particularly interesting to me -- again, I seemed to have read all about them before, in other crime novels.

I think I had the same reaction to another P.D. James book, so maybe I just don't care for James' work. ( )

Let me think, was I surprised during revelation? Um, it was much of an anticlimax, no thrill in end. Even though victim Sally's character was very promising and suspects around her pretty plausible. Only end did not live up to it. ( )

This is the first P. D. James novel I have read. It was engrossing and rewarding. The setting is a British country house and the characters are the family and a few friends, significant others, and townspeople. With a touch of typical British class prejudice the author draws a cast of people who are vivid and interesting, and who even develop in ways that encourage you to change your attitude towards them as you read. I didn't feel like there was wasted space in her writing; the momentum always kept going. I was surprised by the ending, but I always am. One thing I enjoyed was that that there were plenty of leads to grasp on to, so that you could easily form your own suspicions as you read. I don't like a mystery where you are just completely bewildered the whole time. ( )