The Murder Room (Inspector Adam Dalgliesh Mystery)

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Gerald Etienne, the brilliant and ruthless managing director of Peverell Press, has been murdered in the publishing house's offices. His death is bizarre and puzzling, but Dalgliesh feels it's only the beginning of a deeper mystery.

The first murder is committed on the grounds of the Payne, a most horrific crime that appears to be copied from one of the most notorious chronicled in the Murder Room. The next murder is committed inside the walls of the museum. It, too, is a recreation of a heartbreaking murder also profiled in the Murder Room. An artifact that is supposed to have been part of that killing is one of the most popular attractions offered to patrons. How is the plot revealed? How does James manipulate pacing to maximum effect? Which are the most suspenseful moments?As a writer P. D. James tells her stories in words and actions that reflect what real life people would do, if s/he found her/himself in the same situation. For example: Commander Adam Dalgliesh, dedicated policeman and respected poet, is erudite, smart and handsome, but he is also in important ways an "everyman." He is as believable a hero in the drawing rooms of the very rich as he is talking to working classes. He is not an amateur sleuth but a real working cop. He will view a body differently from the way a civilian would see it. In creating this distinction James sets her players and their psyches apart from the mundane and banal found in much genre work. She transcends the usual clichés because she gets to the heart of her characters as they move toward the heart of the mystery. The BBC adapted the book for a two-part, three-hour TV production released in 2004, starring Martin Shaw as Dalgliesh and Janie Dee as Lavenham. The production was released on DVD in the U.S. in October 2005. Dalgliesh informs everyone that a second person has died. No one remembers seeing such a girl. Caroline shows Dalgliesh round a curious private flat which leads into the Murder Room.

P D. James is the author of seventeen previous books, most of which have been filmed and broadcast on television in the United States and other countries. She spent thirty years in various departments of the British Civil Service, including the Police and Criminal Law Departments of Great Britain’s Home Office. She has served as a magistrate and as a governor of the BBC. In 2000 she celebrated her eightieth birthday and published her autobiography, Time to Be in Earnest. The recipient of many prizes and honors, she was created Baroness James of Holland Park in 1991. She lives in London and Oxford. Suggested Reading Newly recovered from a serious illness, Dalgliesh is called to the bedside of an elderly priest. Sadly, Father Baddeley is dead when he arrives. His gut tells him something's off, but his recent brush with death makes him wonder if he can trust his own judgment. b camera focus puller / a camera focus puller / b camera first assistant camera (9 episodes, 2021-2023)A Certain Justice (1998): Dalgliesh and Kate Miskin ( Sarah Winman) become involved in the death of criminal barrister Venetia Aldridge.