The Murder Room |
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P D James
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Pages: 560 (Paperback)
ISBN: 0141015535
Pub: Penguin
Pub date: 2004-09-09
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 39961
Reader Reviews:
A deeply satisfying murder mystery (0/0 people found this helpful)
The Murder Room is a sturdy Christmas pudding of a who-dunnit, studded with interesting characters. P.D. James always gives us more than just a mystery, it is a novel thick with well researched details to enrich knowledge when the thrill of the chase is over
The Dupayne Museum, close to Hamstead Heath is the setting - a private and idiosyncratic establishment dedicated to the interwar years 1918-1939. So believable was this place that I looked it up on the web to check whether it was real ! (Sadly it isn't).
Our hero Dalgleish chomps his way solidly through the wide cast of suspects while we, as readers, also wonder whether his fragile love life will be sacrificed to his sense of duty.
As a detective story is does what is says on the tin, and then some, and provides us with a langorous, very English treat with a nice increase of pace at the end to send our hearts racing.
Joy West - Surrey
Excellent once it gets going! (1/1 people found this helpful)
This is the first PD James book that I have read and I did enjoy it. I did feel that it took a while to get going though and there are a lot of characters to keep track of. Once you get into it though it is very much a page turner!
Just Doesn't Cut The Mustard (1/2 people found this helpful)
This book has been feted as the pinnacle of James' writing. If that is true, I would not read another novel by her. For me, it just lakcs something as a crime novel, there is nothing to mark it out as a particularly rivetting read.
It lacks Rankins gritty realism, and exposes on the seedy life of Edinburgh, it lacks Christies awesome ability to tease the reader with clues. Dalgiesh is nothing special as a protagonist, but I felt the suspects were in fact well fleshed out, and there was a good sinister atmosphere pervading proceedings.
You will, as usual, alter your opinion as to the culprit, but the revelation at the end felt somewhat sloppy and rushed, and I almost did not care who the villain was. There was a little too much backstory, included for the development of the main characters, which detracted from the murder plot, which itself was dragged out a bit too much.
A gripping and atmospheric murder mystery (6/7 people found this helpful)
As a confirmed P D James fan I enjoyed this book for its strongly-drawn characters, taut plot and the tension that James maintains in the early part of the book. The people and places come to life very vividly and the blending of historical fact with fiction is skilfully done. Having said that, I didn't think this was one of James' strongest novels. The denouement felt perfunctory and the themes and plot are similar to the ones in her earlier novel 'Original Sin' which I found a more exciting book overall. I also felt that the killer's motives when revealed at the end were somewhat weak and unconvincing.
Still, it's an enjoyable read and Adam Dagliesh and his colleagues remain engaging characters.
Dame James continues to thrill! (1/2 people found this helpful)
Any P.D. James is preferable to no P.D. James and while some readers may have found "The Murder Room" faint in some areas, Dame James' latest Adam Dalgleish is, well, Adam Dalgleish. How can a reader go wrong?
Granted, James has given us a new twist (Adam is in love and her traditional police procedural takes a different turn. But before one cries "soap opera," "The Murder Room" is not about Adam Dalgliesh's personal life. It is about a series of murder, a plot outline with which James is quite comfortable and her legions of fans come to expect.
Circumstances surround the undertakings (forgive the pun) of the Dupayne Museum,, a small, rather esoteric, museum devoted to the "interwar years," the period in England from 1919 to 1939. However, the rub is that the lease on the museum is about to expire and the three trustees (siblings) must agree totally on its extension or else the museum cannot continue. One brother, Dr. Neville Dupayne, is dead set (forgive the pun again) against signing; thus the demise of the museum is at hand, it appears. Quickly into the book, the good doctor is found burned alive in very suspicious circumstances and just about everyone has a motive for seeing him dead. Commander Dalgleish and his team from New Scotland Yard are called in and before this death can be solved, two others follow, all with connections to the museum.
James clearly is in charge of this narrative and, as always, controls the pace and the revelations of the investigation. Dalgleish is, as always, superb. The resolution comes not through histrionics or melodrama, but the James/Dalgleish penchant for brilliance.
Is this James' best? Hmmmm. "The best" is probably the individual reader's personal choice, as I've yet to read a "bad" James, or even a "poor" one. "The Murder Room" joins the other dozen or so Dalglieshes comfortably. It is an excellent read.
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Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> Crime, Thrillers & Mystery -> Mystery -> General AAS
Books -> Subjects -> Crime, Thrillers & Mystery -> Thrillers
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Paperback
Books -> Refinements -> Font Size (format_browse-bin) -> Regular Size