RIP P.D. James

P.D. JamesCover of Time to be in Earnest, Baroness James of Holland Park, (OBE, FRSA, FRSL) has died aged 94.

Phyllis Dorothy James was the author of over 20 crime novels, most of them featuring Detective Adam Dalgliesh. She published her (Fragment of an) autobiography Time to be in Earnest in 1999 and many of her works were adapted for television.

Her most recent book was Death Comes to Pemberley (2011) a continuation of the events in Pride and Prejudice framed as a murder-mystery. It was one of those ideas that intrigued almost everyone and was made into a successful mini-series in 2013.

My favourite PD James title is The Maul and the Pear Tree (1971). Co-written with T.A. Critchley, it is a non-fiction examination of The Ratcliffe Highway Murders of 1811.

Cover of The Maul and the Pear Tree Cover of An Adam Dalgliesh Omnibus Cover of Original Sin Book cover of Death comes to Pemberley Cover of Talking about detective fiction Cover of The skull beneath the skin