Rating: 
Summary: Must read for the true fan of mystery novels.
Review: For fans of P.D. James' equisite mystery novels, Cover Her Face is a must read. I read this immediately after I finished James' Devices and Desires -- the first James' novel I picked up on a whim and which forever changed my impression of mystery novels. For James is not only a mystery writer but a novelist. Her characters and scenes have all the vividness and complexity of a fine novel. So while Cover Her Face may seem rigid and unoriginal to the non-James fan, for fans they will instantly recognize a great mystery novelist in the making. Plus, this mystery -- which unravels in an English manor home -- has witty characters wrapped into a mesmerizing plot. A must read! Enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: flat characters and dated plot
Review: I think i've been spoiled by Elizabeth George. She's often compared to PD James, & so I picked up CHF to give her a try. I suppose it's not her fault that the book is poorly edited (I'm picky that way) - but the characters are never developed to any significant extent. Even at the end of the book I hadn't developed any attachment to any of the characters. I don't think it's my lack of experience with post-war England - but James doesn't go to much effort to describe the emotional underpinnings that help the reader unfamiliar with the social circumstances to feel an emotional bond. I feel more connected to Jane Austen's characters, centuries distant, than I do to James' decades distant characters. I may give her one more shot, but I will probably look elsewhere for a new mystery writer to enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty dry reading
Review: P.D. James has a very good reputation as a mystery writer so I was anxious to read some of her books. This is the first one I tried and I found it very dry reading indeed! The story takes place in the home of a wealthy couple in England who have hired a young unmarried mother named Sally Jupp to come and work in their household. She and the son in the household come to announce to everyone that they are engaged to be married. When the announcement is made, there are unhappy family members and a jealous woman who had hoped to marry the man herself.
Inspector Dalgliesh arrives and finds even more people who have a motive to murder Sally. He interviews each person and it seems that each one is hiding something. Of course, at the end, the truth is revealed and there are several people who have a small piece to the puzzle of who the murderer is. The mystery is well-constructed, but the writing style makes it difficult to stay interested and to follow the story line. None of the characters are developed enough to either like or dislike them.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty dry reading
Review: P.D. James has a very good reputation as a mystery writer so I was anxious to read some of her books. This is the first one I tried and I found it very dry reading indeed! The story takes place in the home of a wealthy couple in England who have hired a young unmarried mother named Sally Jupp to come and work in their household. She and the son in the household come to announce to everyone that they are engaged to be married. When the announcement is made, there are unhappy family members and a jealous woman who had hoped to marry the man herself.
Inspector Dalgliesh arrives and finds even more people who have a motive to murder Sally. He interviews each person and it seems that each one is hiding something. Of course, at the end, the truth is revealed and there are several people who have a small piece to the puzzle of who the murderer is. The mystery is well-constructed, but the writing style makes it difficult to stay interested and to follow the story line. None of the characters are developed enough to either like or dislike them.
Rating: 
Summary: A good mystery
Review: P.D. James' first mystery. Of all her books, this is the one that adheres most closely to the conventions of the Golden Age mysteries of the 1920s, complete with an English country house, a locked-room murder, and a final confrontation between all the suspects and the detective (Adam Dalgliesh) at the very end. Such theatrical, Christie-esque devices are certainly entertaining, though this isn't exactly serious literature, which James usually writes. Dalgliesh isn't quite fully developed yet; nor are many of the other characters. Nevertheless, this is a satisfying mystery and a remarkable debut for one of the world's finest authors.
Rating:
Summary: An Impressive Debut That Will Interest Established Fans
Review: Sally Jupp is unexpectedly attractive--and an unwed mother in an era when such still carries considerable stigma. After a sterling record at a home for "fallen women," she finds work as a maid for the aristocratic but somewhat impoverished Maxie family, and once installed shows another aspect of her personality: a perverse pleasure in creating unpleasantness for virtually every one who crosses her path. The Maxie family is largely impervious to her machinations... but when Sally goes so far as to tantalize a proposal of marriage from the Maxie son, her game of troubling the water turns lethal, and Scotland Yard's Inspector Dalgliesh is on the job.This 1962 effort was P.D. James' first novel, and at the time it drew enough praise to immediately place among the foremost mystery writers of the day. And indeed there is much to be said for it: the story is well-constructed, the characters well drawn, and the crime is appropriately mysterious; on the whole it is a fast and fun read. But not all P.D. James fans will be impressed. Although there is more than a hint of the distinctive style and convolutions James will bring to her later work, it borrows a great deal in construction from Agatha Christie and not a little from Dorothy Sayers in terms of literary style, and Inspector Dalgliesh is not as well developed here as he will eventually become. On the whole, I recommend the novel--but I recommend it to established fans of P.D. James, who will be interested to see her working in the "classic English murder mystery" style and enjoy comparing this debut work to the author's later and more impressive work. First timers would do better to select one of the many novels that find James at the peak of her form--with DEATH OF AN EXPERT WITNESS or A TASTE FOR DEATH particularly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: An Impressive Debut That Will Interest Established Fans
Review: Sally Jupp is unexpectedly attractive--and an unwed mother in an era when such still carries considerable stigma. After a sterling record at a home for "fallen women," she finds work as a maid for the aristocratic but somewhat impoverished Maxie family, and once installed shows another aspect of her personality: a perverse pleasure in creating unpleasantness for virtually every one who crosses her path. The Maxie family is largely impervious to her machinations... but when Sally goes so far as to tantalize a proposal of marriage from the Maxie son, her game of troubling the water turns lethal, and Scotland Yard's Inspector Dalgliesh is on the job. This 1962 effort was P.D. James' first novel, and at the time it drew enough praise to immediately place among the foremost mystery writers of the day. And indeed there is much to be said for it: the story is well-constructed, the characters well drawn, and the crime is appropriately mysterious; on the whole it is a fast and fun read. But not all P.D. James fans will be impressed. Although there is more than a hint of the distinctive style and convolutions James will bring to her later work, it borrows a great deal in construction from Agatha Christie and not a little from Dorothy Sayers in terms of literary style, and Inspector Dalgliesh is not as well developed here as he will eventually become. On the whole, I recommend the novel--but I recommend it to established fans of P.D. James, who will be interested to see her working in the "classic English murder mystery" style and enjoy comparing this debut work to the author's later and more impressive work. First timers would do better to select one of the many novels that find James at the peak of her form--with DEATH OF AN EXPERT WITNESS or A TASTE FOR DEATH particularly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: My first P.D.James and I loved it!
Review: Somehow, I missed reading any of James' books, but I hope to rectify that soon! This book was well written - an intriguing mystery with a satisfying ending that didn't disappoint the reader. A young, lovely maid with an unsavory past is found dead in her bed - after making a startling announcement to her employers and their friends. Enter Adam Dalgliesh, detective extrordinaire, to sift through the evidence and come up with the solution. A good read - I recommend it to mystery lovers!
Rating:
Summary: Where It All Began
Review: There could be no better introduction to Adam Dalgliesh, P.D. James' enormously loved and admired detective. "Cover Her Face" is the novel that first introduced this hero to the literary world and showcases some of James' best handiwork at writing and creating mysteries. A quick and enticing read for any James' fan.
"Cover Her Face" begins in Jame's trademark style. The reader is introduced to a wide cast of characters, all with a motive (and perhaps a means) to commit the crime that will unfold shortly. In this case, it is the murder of Sally Jupp, a young unwed mother who stirs up the quiet and conservative Maxie household. When she is found murdered the morning after the annual church fete, Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard is called in to investigate. He is certain that this was an inside job and that the murderer remains in the Maxie hosuehold.
James' allows the mystery to unfold slowly. Just as the reader met every character with a motive, the reader is in the same room with them as they testify to their innocence to Dalgliesh. Several characters even perform their own sleuthing, which causes the reader not to entirely know just how much of that information Dalgliesh himself as heard, or (as is more likely) if he knows more than what's been told to these amateur sleuths. "Cover Her Face" is a landmark and must-read work in the Dalgliesh series.
Rating:
Summary: Good God This Book Was Dull!
Review: This book is genre writing gone bad. Adhering to a classical mystery novel plot style, James gives us the skeleton of a book with no special characteristics whatsoever, and in the process robs the reader of any reason to go on reading. Absolutely nothing about this book captured my interest: the plot was weak, the characters were vague and stereotyped, even the prose lacked charm. I didn't care whodunnit! It's too late for me...Spare yourself!
|
