Sleep No More: Six Murderous Tales by P. D.…

Sleep No More: Six Murderous Tales (original 2017; edition 2017)

by P. D. James (Author), Peter Kemp (Foreword)

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Fiction. Mystery. Short Stories. HTML:No one gets inside the head of the murderer�or makes it a more thrilling read�than the late, great P. D. James. Fast on the heels of her latest best seller: a new, fiendishly entertaining gathering of previously uncollected stories, from the author of Death Comes to Pemberley and The Private Patient. It's not always a question of "whodunit?" Sometimes there's more mystery in the why or how. And although we usually know the unhealthy fates of both victim and perpetrator, what of those clever few who plan and carry out the perfect crime? The ones who aren't brought down even though they're found out? And what about those who do the finding out who witness a murder or who identify the murderer but keep the information to themselves? These are some of the mysteries that we follow through those six stories as we are drawn into the thinking, the memories, the emotional machinations, the rationalizations, the dreams and desires behind murderous cause and effect. This selection � 2017 by the Estate of P.D. James. �The Yo-Yo� written 1996; revised as �Hearing Ghote� in The Verdict of Us All, ed. Peter Lovesey copyright P. D. James 2006. �The Victim� first published in Winter�s Crimes 5, ed. Virginia Whitaker copyright P. D. James 1973. �The Murder of Santa Claus� first published in Great Detectives, ed. D. W. McCullough copyright P. D. James 1984. �The Girl Who Loved Graveyards� first published in Winter�s Crimes 15, ed. George Hardinge copyright P. D. James 1983. �A Very Desirable Residence� first published in Winter�s Crimes 8, ed. Hilary Watson copyright P. D. James 1976. �Mr Millcroft�s Birthday� first published as �The Man Who Was 80� in The Man Who copyright P. D. James 1992; revised as �Mr Maybrick�s Birthday� copyright 2005. Foreword copyright 2017 by Peter Kemp. .… (more)

▾Book information

Member:	dcoward
Title:	Sleep No More: Six Murderous Tales
Authors:	P. D. James (Author)
Other authors:	Peter Kemp (Foreword)
Info:	Knopf (2017), 208 pages
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
Tags:	Adult Fiction, Short stories

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Sleep No More: Six Murderous Tales by P. D. James (2017)

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Good style and fun story ideas, but not believable and so little dramatic impact. (

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yates9 | Feb 28, 2024 |

Very enjoyable collection of PD James short stories, all with a twist. I found these much more enjoyable than her novels (which doesn't mean the novels aren't good). The characters are just as unlikeable but seem to work better for me in the shorter form, and the frequent use of first person (and often unreliable) narration sparkles. The themes are murder (obviously) but also power, power's outlet of blackmail, desire and revenge amongst the upper middle classes. Justice is rarely done and if so only extra-judicially. Highly recommended. This is the second volume of James short stories - I'm still waiting on the delivery of the first volume "The mistletoe murder". Thanks to Kemper Donovan of the "All about Agatha" patreon podcast as I'd not been aware of the James short stories until he covered "The mistletoe murder" in one episode. (

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Figgles | Mar 30, 2023 |

This book is a compilation of six murder-related short stories. I had not read anything by P.D. James so I thought this might be a good place to start. As in many short story compilations, some are more to my taste than others. There is only one traditional murder mystery. The others are psychological character studies of people who have gotten away with murder (which is clear from the outset). My favorite is the first story, Yo-Yo, and my least favorite is The Murder of Santa Claus, a typical “whodunnit” where it is too obvious what the outcome will be. I can see why this author was nominated by one of our group members as an author to read. Her writing is elegant and atmospheric. Recommended to fans of dark stories with unexpected twists. (

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Castlelass | Oct 30, 2022 |

Excellent stories. (

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grandpahobo | Sep 29, 2022 |

Sleep No More: Six Murderous Tales includes six murder mystery stories. This is the second collection of mysteries by P.D. James I have read and I definitely liked this one better than The Mistletoe Murder And Other Stories. While all of the stories involved a murder, they were not all the typical whodunnit. I liked that they were all different and distinct rather than blurring together. While I had my favorites in the collection, there weren't any stories that I didn't like. Overall, it was an entertaining read. I look forward to reading one of James' full length novels. (

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Cora-R | Apr 21, 2022 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
P. D. James	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Harding, Angela	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Weyman, Daniel	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

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▾Book descriptions

Fiction. Mystery. Short Stories. HTML:No one gets inside the head of the murderer�or makes it a more thrilling read�than the late, great P. D. James. Fast on the heels of her latest best seller: a new, fiendishly entertaining gathering of previously uncollected stories, from the author of Death Comes to Pemberley and The Private Patient.

It's not always a question of "whodunit?" Sometimes there's more mystery in the why or how. And although we usually know the unhealthy fates of both victim and perpetrator, what of those clever few who plan and carry out the perfect crime? The ones who aren't brought down even though they're found out? And what about those who do the finding out who witness a murder or who identify the murderer but keep the information to themselves? These are some of the mysteries that we follow through those six stories as we are drawn into the thinking, the memories, the emotional machinations, the rationalizations, the dreams and desires behind murderous cause and effect.

This selection � 2017 by the Estate of P.D. James.
�The Yo-Yo� written 1996; revised as �Hearing Ghote� in The Verdict of Us All, ed. Peter Lovesey copyright P. D. James 2006.
�The Victim� first published in Winter�s Crimes 5, ed. Virginia Whitaker copyright P. D. James 1973.
�The Murder of Santa Claus� first published in Great Detectives, ed. D. W. McCullough copyright P. D. James 1984.
�The Girl Who Loved Graveyards� first published in Winter�s Crimes 15, ed. George Hardinge copyright P. D. James 1983.
�A Very Desirable Residence� first published in Winter�s Crimes 8, ed. Hilary Watson copyright P. D. James 1976.
�Mr Millcroft�s Birthday� first published as �The Man Who Was 80� in The Man Who copyright P. D. James 1992; revised as �Mr Maybrick�s Birthday� copyright 2005.
Foreword copyright 2017 by Peter Kemp. .

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Contains:

The Yo-Yo

The Victim

The Murder of Santa Claus

The Girl Who Loved Graveyards

A Very Desirable Residence

Mr Millcroft's Birthday

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