A Certain Justice

It is a while since I’ve read any PD James, why did I leave it so long? Reading an Adam Dalgliesh story is like slipping into a favourite pair of old jeans. It’s that feeling you get with an assured author: you are in safe hands. It is mutual trust. The author trusts the reader to make connections and ‘get’ references without having to spell everything out, the reader trusts the author to deliver a satisfying story without distractions of blind alleys. This applies, especially I think, to crime fiction.
I have read ‘A Certain Justice’ before, many years ago, my paperback is old. I remembered the character of Venetia Aldridge, the murder victim, and of course know detective Adam Dalgliesh, but I had forgotten the identity of show more the killer. One of the pleasures of a PD James novel for me is the cultural background and the depth of knowledge she demonstrates. Dalgliesh is a poet, he is fond of architecture, of music, of the countryside. The murder of Venetia Aldridge, a barrister, takes place in her Chambers, and so as the reader I became involved in the world of law, of trial by jury, of guilty v not guilty, of revenge, of abandonment, hate and lingering resentment.
James takes her time to establish the characters involved, Venetia Aldridge herself, but also everyone around her, the other lawyers, her colleagues in Chambers, her daughter, and the people involved in her recent trials. A PD James crime novel is not short, but each character sketch is a potential murderer, accomplice, witness or, another murder victim. So it pays for the reader to pay attention. James is a master storyteller.
If you haven’t discovered PD James or her series featuring Adam Dalgliesh, a treat awaits you.
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It's been a long time since I read anything by P. D. James and I was delighted to immerse myself in her intelligent writing again.

This book was published in 1997 and is probably set around that time. That means that it was before the time of ubiquitous mobile phones and googling for information. Even DNA science was in its infancy. So Adam Dalgliesh and his team have to do a lot of old fashioned detective work like searching through old paper files and questioning witnesses carefully. Dalgliesh isn't quite Hercule Poirot but he is certainly not one of the CSI franchise detectives using all sorts of forensic technology to solve crimes. I grew up reading detective stories of this type and I still like them better.

The murder victim is show more Venetia Aldridge, Q.C. and she is well acquainted with murder having defended many persons accused of that crime. She was found dead in her chambers by the head clerk early one morning after he received a phone call from Miss Aldridge's housekeeper worried because she had not come home. If it wasn't for the barrister's wig soaked in blood on her head the clerk might have thought she had died a natural death because she was just slumped in her chair. However, the bizarre headwear made it obvious this was a suspicious death and the Head of Chambers decided to call in Scotland Yard, specifically Adam Dalgliesh with whom he was acquainted. Venetia was divorced but her daughter, Octavia, was living in the basement suite in her house. Octavia had recently become engaged to Garry Ashe much to her mother's disapproval as Ashe was a former client that, through her efforts, had been found not guilty of his aunt's murder. Venetia well knew that not guilty is not the same as innocent and she knew too much about Ashe to think him a suitable match for her daughter. And she had not minced words when she told Octavia so. But Garry Ashe has an alibi for the time of the murder and besides it seems that the perpetrator almost had to be someone within chambers. Venetia Aldridge was not liked by many of her colleagues and certainly some of them had the opportunity to murder her. It's up to Dalgliesh and his team to figure out which one actually committed the murder.

Lots of action takes place in and around the Inns of the Court, specifically the Middle Temple, which is described to great advantage by Ms. James. One could almost imagine the locale was a country village, not an historic enclave in the middle of London. I was drawn down a bit of a rabbit hole reading about the Middle Temple on line. We upstart colonials may say we derive our justice system from English common law but I suspect lawyers in Canada will never have the mystique of English barristers. show less

This book served as my introduction to P.D. James and it certainly lived up to all of the praise for her novels I have read over the years from multiple sources. One of the notable aspects of this novel was that the lead character, at least nominally in a novel that is part of the Adam Dalgliesh series, does not make an appearance until nearly a third of the way through the story.

James does an excellent job with the portraits of all her characters, police as well as suspects and innocent bystanders. She had me coming and going throughout, unable to pinpoint anyone as the prime suspect in this whodunnit. The randomness of human existence is underscored, and the role of coincidence in the plot and the lives of the characters is a major show more theme. The problems of love and its absence, the nature of evil and the struggle to achieve something worthwhile in life, to hold onto one's place until reaching the finish line will resonate with most people who spend the better part of their lives pursuing success, security, the respect of peers and the love of family.

And in the end the system achieves the certain justice which gives this novel its title and the caution that in human affairs this is sometimes all that can be expected or hoped for. show less

I spent the weekend with a master story-teller who ensnared me in her almost-perfect web. This book was an ideal cottage-country, rainy-weekend read, (which it was) and James pulled me in so completely, I barely noticed the rain come and go. I was told the rain was torrential at one point, but I didn't even notice, so involved was I in the mystery.

Not much else to add: James is a polarizing novelist: you either hate her for all the seemingly-boring, complex, labyrinthine and entangled plots -- or you love her for that very reason. I happen to be in the latter camp.

The one teensy fly in the ointment was that there wasn't enough Dalgleish. James created such a sympathetic and charismatic investigator in Adam Dalgleish that one misses him show more dreadfully when he's not centre stage. show less

It grieves me to say that in my impetuous youth, I resented the longevity of P.D. James' books. Fortunately, with age comes wisdom and I now admire the depth of her characters. Not only is Adam Dalgliesh turned into a rounded persona but, her victims have their share of unpleasantness and even, a psychotic killer has redeeming features.

I particularly like the way in which the police are delayed by a catholic priest. A situation where it would have been so easy to make the Church into a villain, but an area where the author is at pains to fairly show both sides of the argument.

These real characters are set into a story which, were I to use my limited story telling ability to present a precis, would appear to be ludicrous but, owing to show more the strength of the characters, seems rational as one reads. Four hundred and eighty pages fly by in scintillating entertainment. I apologise to P.D. James for the error of my youthful ways. show less

I've become a big PD James fan since I arrived in the UK; her novels seem a good excuse to become better acquainted with my new home and to read engaging fluff. Even better, I've discovered her books are always well-written, engaging, and even a little thought provoking, many starring her well-known character Commander Dalgliesh, a police chief / poet.

But A Certain Justice eclipsed the four others I've read. The first chapter predicted the book's ending, of course in a way I never expected, and everything in between fit tightly together, a philosophical discussion on the fairness of our justice system, along with an array of fun characters, a twisting plot, and numerous surprises. I cheered when I finished it.

I didn't guess whodunit. Many unpleasant people, and not many likable ones.

The story does raise some interesting questions, which are not answered:
* The victim, a defense lawyer, very good at her job, lets the guilty go free - does she bear any responsibility for their future crimes? She is part of an adversarial system that is not always ethical or just or kind.
* Two people from similar backgrounds become very different people - I'm reminded of John Steinbeck's discussion of the word Timshel in the Cain and Abel story which prompted him to write East of Eden: when "sin couches at the door ...." do you have to give in to it or can you turn away? Of course, James' two characters don't have identical childhoods.
The victim is killed to show more protect a relative from possible future revelations. Blood is dumped on a judge's wig put on her head by someone who wants her to suffer the way that she and her daughter did; this action however makes her realize that she should put an end to her scheme: I like to think she understands that making the victim's daughter suffer is harming an innocent child. Oh, and of course, when the detectives decide they might as well wait until tomorrow to contact someone, tomorrow is, unsurprisingly, too late. show less