A Certain Justice

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Summary: Thinking person's Agatha Christie
Review: It starts off in classical whodunnit style with a nasty person bumped off in posh British surroundings. The PD James gimmick is to probe her characters in depth. You get told about their childhoods (always miserable) and their parents, and in many cases grandparents, and in some cases their greatgrandparents. A lot of London atmosphere and rather too much about architecture. I always have a problem with her dialog. Characters speak in long complete sentences, which is about believable when they are college graduates, but gets to sound odd for demotic speech. An uneducated young criminal speaks about throwing a knife "under a privet hedge" and goes to a "derelict cottage" separated from thr "North Sea" by a "shingle bank." Dalgliesh is a plaster saint. He has no orifices. A thing I've done with some PD James, which will horrify purists, but adds to the enjoyment for me, is to peek at the ending when I/m halfway through. Even if this does spoil it for you there are plenty more PD JAmes's. This is the 14th in the Dalgliesh series alone.

Rating:
Summary: PD James at her best!
Review: What a rewarding experience! I didn't think James could better her earlier works but boy, was I wrong! A gripping story-line, an ingenious understanding of human psyche, a realistic appraisal of the criminal justice system - James' insights and prose are second to none. A must for any crime-detective novel buffs and highly recommended to all rookies.

Rating:
Summary: It's a matter of personal taste
Review: I didn't love the book: this is only my second P.D.James book, but I should say I found that entering her fiction worlds is so freezing cold. I mean, she has great ability in analysing things and persons, but the way she does it is scary-cold. What this book really lacks is emotion: yes, she speaks very well about them, but the book hasn't got any soul. The detective is impersonal, everything is so distant, not-involving. For example, Connelly's books are much more human: that's what I missed in this book, humanity, feelings. Everyone and everything is so cold, distant, alien, inhuman.

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Summary: Praise for P.D.
Review: This rolling murder mystery takes you from the chambers of Venitia Aldridge to the squat where Ashe, a former client, runs away to with the Venitia's daughter Octavia. The pace is set in the novel from the first page when Aldridge is defending Ashe, and gets him off despite his obvious guilt.

The plot turns constantly, focusing the readers attention to almost everyone involved with her life. The intricate details of the novel bring you into their sitting rooms while they talk to the police, and James' famous "A.D." The story leaves you wondering why Venitia wasn't killed much much earlier in her carreer as the most ruthless defense attorney alive. In one scene she tears apart a kind old lady, who naively plays into her hands.

As the novel progresses, the relationship between Venitia and her daughter also comes to light. This turn in the novel leads the reader down an entirely new path in the story line, lending more depth and feeling to the work as a whole.

Having read "The Black Tower" and "Death of an Expert Witness" I would have to call this her best work yet, and would be remiss in not recommending that others read this exciting, page turner of a novel.

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Summary: James courts justice in this thriller!
Review: P.D. James purists may argue that "Devices and Desires" is her best work to date, but "A Certain Justice" is certainly a close second! Granted, while James seems to devote less time to her leading man, Adam Dalgliesh, she nevertheless succeeds in making a more complete story--concentrating more on other characters and events (almost as if she's saying "you already know enough about Adam"!). Still, Commander Dalgliesh is in command and it is through his brilliance that the case is solved (or in this case, "cases"!).

Basically, Venetia Aldridge, a brilliant, up-and-coming criminal lawyer is found murdered (there can be no other explanation). As Scotland Yard becomes more involved (after all, it is a murder investigation and the victim is quite prominent in London legal circles), facts begin to emerge that picture a not-so-ordinary past. Venetia is no angel (not yet, anyway!)--there are suspects a-plenty and the motives run rampant, from her cleaning lady to colleagues in and out of court and to her own family members. She has a past that certainly has cut some crucial corners. She is also a woman with an attitude--an attitude that seemed not to care about making enemies. she is also the mother of a teenaged daughter, and their relationship, too, has been a bit tumultuous--dicey at best.

Venetia is found stabbed to death at her desk, and a barrister's wig placed, askew, on her head. Her body is soaked in blood. A convenient suspect is hurriedly identified (a sociopath whom she'd successfully defended in a murder trial a few years back!) but, alas, he comes up with an alibi and Dalgliesh must look to others, especially some of her jealous colleagues, for his culprit. James' plot is, indeed, convoluted and for the casual reader may be hard to follow. After all, she hasn't been labeled "queen of crime" for nothing. Trying to follow the plot is more like trying to find the path in a maze, but that is also probably one of the main attractions for a James novel: it's not simple. At the same time, she painstakingly develops her characters, who, simply, are more than one dimensional. While Venetia, on the surface, reflects an organized, planned concept of justice and law and order, James shows us another side--one of justice running amok, of cruelty in the name of the law, and of fair play being something that seems not to exist. And this road to certain justice is one in a state of disrepair, confusion, and blind leads. It is not without its rewards, however, and by the chilling final-chapters' climax, it is, once again, a jury victory for James!. ([e-mail])

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Summary: WHEN DID THE BODY ACQUIRE THE BLOODY WIG?
Review: I have recently read two of P. D. James' Adam Dalgleish mysteries. They seemed to be variations on the same theme. I don't know if this is true of all of her books or if I just happened to pick a couple of books with similar themes.

In both books, the primary murder victim is a professional female. In both, she is extremely competent and has reached a position where her actions can affect the lives of a number of her associates. In both books, the consequences that her actions might have on others are of no concern to her, and, in fact, she is contemplating actions that might well cause financial damage and social upheaval to more than one person. She is aware of this but just doesn't care.

In both books, these potential victims of our murderee have both motive and opportunity to be her murderer.

In both books, at least one other woman, through actions that are less than admirable, also ends up as a murder victim.

This said, A CERTAIN JUSTICE is another rather old fashioned murder mystery involving our thoughtful, brooding, Scotland Yard Detective, Adam Dalgleish. Our victim is a distinguished criminal defense attorney named Venetia Aldridge who is found murdered in her locked office in Middle Temple near London's Old Bailey. There is a bloodstained wig on her head. There is a question as to whether the wig was placed on her head at the time of the murder or placed there later by someone other than the murderer.

The list of people with motives to kill Aldridge is very long. With the impending retirement of the current Head of Chambers, Aldridges seniority seems to place her first in line to replace him if she wants the position. She has made it known that she does want the position and that she plans to make some changes in the management of Chambers. The man who thought that he had earned the right to the position has a motive to murder her. The Chamber Clerk who needs his job for another year or two knows that Aldridge would replace him. He has a motive.

Aldridge has just learned of a long ago bribe taken by another attorney in Chambers and has threatened to expose him. He certainly has a motive. The family of a murder victim who was killed by a man who was found not guilty of an earlier murder charge due to Aldridge's defense certainly has a motive to seek revenge against her. Finally, her rebellious daughter who hates her seems to have a motive to kill her. Aldridge, it seems, has a lot of enemies, and very few people seem upset by her murder.

As the novel progresses, there are two more murders that do relate to the main plot line, and two or three subplots, including one that introduces Aldridge's ex-husband that add little to the progress of the novel.

One glaring weakness, at least for me, is that Aldridge seems to be entirely without any redeeming characteristics. There must have been something about her to like that James could have mentioned.

P. D. James is a talented writer, but seems to have a habit of introducing a little too much superfluous material, at least for my taste. With that caveat, I do like her books.

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Summary: The jury is still out on this one.
Review: This is my first P.D. James book. Although I love mysteries and usually check back pages to see who did it so that I can look for the clues the writer gives, I did not with this book. I was drawn in by all of characters and liked the way she gave motives for most of them. Any one of a number of people could have done it.

I had not guessed who the murderer was and was disappointed by the confession in a long, long letter. The ending was a let down also. Felt it left things hanging.

I do enjoy her writing and insights on why people act as they do, but something was missing here. I intend to read more of her books before I form a definite opinion.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: This is the first P.D. James book I picked up. I was disppointed by the way the resolution was presented, by letter, not through sleuthing by the detective, Adam Dagliesh. It has an interesting plot and some interesting characters. I expected James could do better in presenting the plot and the characters. The bloody scene created by Ashe towards the end of the book reminded me of some cheap pulp fictions. James did better in her other books. In my first encounter with Adam Dagliesh in this book, I hardly knew him. A shift from Christie, I was terrified that in James' world, there was little love. It was a world of hatred and coldness in James' books.

Rating:
Summary: A bit disappointing
Review: To be honest I was a little disappointed with this book. It will appeal to those who like the more slow-paced, character driven English detective novel. Noone moves at much more than a measured pace, and the book moves in just that way. There are long passages of description, well written, and evoking excellent word images. It's not enough to enter a church, there is inevitably a few paragraphs of architectural and ambient description. This type of mystery book does have great appeal. The source of my disatisfaction is actually within the plot itself, not the characterisation. The really crucial information, upon which the resolution rests is not really as an outcome of sleuthing, but a convenient device (letter). The characters are quite dour; noone ever seems to have much fun (or even laugh or smile) in a P D James book! James voice is also heard quite strongly, so you have to be prepared for her fairly High Tory conservative social views (hates social workers, believes in innate evil). She does, however, have the knack of lifting the lid on the seething resentments and everything-is-not-quite-as-it-seems behaviours just under the genteel surface of English middle class society! Will appeal to those who enjoy a languid, none too hurried traditional detective story.

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Summary: The best P.D. James mystery in years
Review: Venetia Aldridge, a bitchy, brilliant criminal attorney with a talent for getting guilty clients off the hook, is brutally murdered in her Chambers. Once again, Commander Adam Dalgliesh steps in to unravel a mystery that, as is the case in almost all James' finest novels, lies buried in the past.

Though A CERTAIN JUSTICE is not P.D. James' most intricately plotted or fast-paced novel (that distinction belongs to the brilliant SHROUD FOR A NIGHTINGALE), it's a great throwback to her early days, during which some of her most compelling books were written. The central character, Venetia, nearly upstages Dalgliesh here, and with good reason: she is probably the most enthralling, fascinating character James has ever created. She is eminently respectable and thoroughly unpleasant, and because of this she has naturally surrounded herself with a gallery of suspects, all of whom have reason to do her in. The way in which James reveals the true murderer, however, is nothing short of brilliant. In fact, the entire plot is a marvel of construction, with every clue scrupulously laid out for the reader. As always, however, the relatively simple details of the crime belie the emotional and psychological turmoil boiling beneath the surface.

What distinguishes A CERTAIN JUSTICE from her more recent books is the quality of the writing. James' technique is as stylish and literate as ever, but so much more readable; she wastes few words on unnecessary details about architecture (as one reviewer aptly pointed out below). The novel is much shorter than A TASTE FOR DEATH, DEVICES AND DESIRES, or ORIGINAL SIN, fine mysteries that were undermined by excessive rambling. At under four hundred pages, A CERTAIN JUSTICE is leaner and cleaner, and also has a thrust and energy lacking in its predecessors. This is truly P.D. James at the peak of her form--an exquisite, beautifully crafted novel that also shows a tremendous amount of grace and restraint.