Rating: 
Summary: Perhaps her finest work
Review: INNOCENT BLOOD is one of the most gripping books I have ever read. PD James takes a common childhood fantasy ('what if I were adopted?') and crafts a tale of a complex young woman on a thrilling, frightening, and ultimately empowering journey of self-discovery. Philippa Palfrey <was> adopted, but under circumstances far more grim than the Victorian melodramatics of her imagination. She locates her birth mother in prison and convinces her to live with her upon her release. Waiting for that very day is the father of a child Philippa's mother was convicted of killing. That man, named Scase, is truly creepy; James doesn't try to hide that yet still manages to evoke sympathy for him. The author builds the suspense to a shattering moment when mother, daughter, and Scase are brought together in a bizarre triptych; one is mad enough to kill, one is trying to kill, and one wants to die. Philippa is one of the most psychologically-complex characters ever to spring from James's vast imagination. Some readers will be shocked by the turn taken in Philippa's relationship with her adoptive father in the final chapters, but not a moment in this book rings false. I cannot praise INNOCENT BLOOD highly enough. Here, PD James is at the height of her awesome ability to set a scene -- you will see the drops of water on the laminated table in the adoption records office and smell the oranges in the grocery below Philippa's apartment. Thank you, PD James, for this thrilling read.
Rating: 
Summary: Is blood really thicker than water?
Review: Innocent blood told the story of an eighteen year old girl who, adopted at the age of eight, was now in search of her biological roots. Although Phillipa was in search of her roots, she found much more than she had expected. James' intertwined all the characters together, which led to an unexpected...and tragic...ending.
Rating:
Summary: Intricate Character Development
Review: James is a fabulous writer. Her tortured, ironic, overly-cerebral characters are fascinating, and her eye for detail is stunning. I think the book was exactly the right length, just long enough to delve into the characters and wrap up all the loose ends. Philippa, Maurice, and Scase were utterly absorbing and frighteningly real. In the end, "Innocent Blood" is a literary triumph.
Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: James is a great writer of detective/crime fiction. Her Adam Dalgleish series of novels are excellent, very readable and enjoyable. She surpasses herself with "Innocent Blood", this 'stand alone' (i.e. not part of a detective/crime series) novel of crime and revenge. James tells the story of a young adoptee who, upon her 18th birthday, applies for the right to see her birth certificate and learn the identity of her birth parents. She discovers that her mother is in jail, convicted of murder, but is soon eligible for release. Someone else is aware of the impending release -- the father of the murder victim -- is waiting to exact revenge. The character of the adoptee, her fantasies about her birth parents and her difficulties with her adoptive parents, is very well written. One aches at her adolescent self-assuredness which we suspect will lead her to painful revelations. The father of the murder victim seeking revenge is developed slowly and carefully so that one begins to wonder who is the criminal mind at work in the novel. His pursuit of his daughter's killer becomes the life-changing and animating event of his life. The birth mother/murderer/revenge target is less well drawn -- and justly so. The action of the novel is driven by the fantasies, resentments and expectations that her daughter and father of her victim have about this enigmatic woman. It's apparent that who she really is is ultimately and tragically immaterial to those who so desperately seek her. A great read and very well crafted and written novel. A must for crime fiction readers -- but a recommended read for anyone looking for a well-wrought compelling piece of contemporary British fiction.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best (crime) novels ever written...
Review: James is a great writer of detective/crime fiction. Her Adam Dalgleish series of novels are excellent, very readable and enjoyable. She surpasses herself with "Innocent Blood", this 'stand alone' (i.e. not part of a detective/crime series) novel of crime and revenge. James tells the story of a young adoptee who, upon her 18th birthday, applies for the right to see her birth certificate and learn the identity of her birth parents. She discovers that her mother is in jail, convicted of murder, but is soon eligible for release. Someone else is aware of the impending release -- the father of the murder victim -- is waiting to exact revenge. The character of the adoptee, her fantasies about her birth parents and her difficulties with her adoptive parents, is very well written. One aches at her adolescent self-assuredness which we suspect will lead her to painful revelations. The father of the murder victim seeking revenge is developed slowly and carefully so that one begins to wonder who is the criminal mind at work in the novel. His pursuit of his daughter's killer becomes the life-changing and animating event of his life. The birth mother/murderer/revenge target is less well drawn -- and justly so. The action of the novel is driven by the fantasies, resentments and expectations that her daughter and father of her victim have about this enigmatic woman. It's apparent that who she really is is ultimately and tragically immaterial to those who so desperately seek her. A great read and very well crafted and written novel. A must for crime fiction readers -- but a recommended read for anyone looking for a well-wrought compelling piece of contemporary British fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Portrait of a Lady
Review: P.D. James is a contemporary novelist with a Victorian sensibility, a style that puts some readers off, especially those of us who want writers to get right to the point. "They lived in a house that cost big bucks" says it much quicker than four pages that describe the dwelling's lush gardens and opulent furnishings. Yet this is a beautifully crafted work with profound psychological insight. The author isn't just skilled, she's wise. Philippa is a complicated, cerebral, self-absorbed young woman. Giving and receiving affection are hard for her. When she re-connects with her birth mother, though, she falls quickly, simply and deeply in love. Then the truth about her mother's early rejection of her surfaces. Philippa, feeling betrayed, responds by rejecting her mother. By the time Philippa figures that out that what she's lost isn't love but love's illusion and that her love for her mother is real and true despite the earlier betrayal, the inevitable words have been spoken and the unavoidable tragedy has struck. James could have opted for a cheerful ending. Philippa and her mother could have reconciled. The homicidal stalker could have been foiled. Philippa could have made peace with her adoptive parents or left them in a nice way. But circumstances conspire to teach Philippa that falling in love and the happiness that comes from it are only the surface of love. If it's a truer love that Philippa is after, her will must be broken. She'll need to experience pain, loss, grief and sacrifice to begin to attain the humility and poverty of spirit that James seems to feel are the prerequisites of a deeper or higher love. The compassion that Philippa feels for her mother's murderer and the actions that flow from it show that Philippa has begun to love in earnest. This is her mother's gift to her. Neither Scase nor Maurice are villains. For all his denials, Maurice loves Philippa, though he lacks the courage to allow himself to love her selflessly and so to love himself and Hilda. Scase is pitiful but his suffering is as real as the others. So is Hilda's. A less masterful writer might have left us with the feeling that suffering is the prelude to love or else its devastating aftermath. James, whose vision is religious though not doctrinal, seems to see it differently. Love, she seems to be saying, is both suffering and the power that redeems suffering. Philippa, the unloved and unloving child, has the potential to become a loved and loving woman.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great.
Review: P.D. James spends the first 300 pages of "Innocent Blood" convincing the reader that something is going to occur, that some crime will be committed. Then, in the last 50 pages, she turns everything around, and none of what had seemed inevitable comes to pass. What does occur, however, seems equally as logical. She pulls this trick off successfully, not in the usual surprise ending of a whodunnit, but rather via a series of small, singularly unimportant discoveries that combine to invert the motives and the lives of all of the principal characters. James is slightly prone to rambling, but her well-constructed, psychologically thought-out characters interact believably with each other and with their environment. A well-crafted book with an ending much better than it could have been.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great.
Review: P.D. James spends the first 300 pages of "Innocent Blood" convincing the reader that something is going to occur, that some crime will be committed. Then, in the last 50 pages, she turns everything around, and none of what had seemed inevitable comes to pass. What does occur, however, seems equally as logical. She pulls this trick off successfully, not in the usual surprise ending of a whodunnit, but rather via a series of small, singularly unimportant discoveries that combine to invert the motives and the lives of all of the principal characters. James is slightly prone to rambling, but her well-constructed, psychologically thought-out characters interact believably with each other and with their environment. A well-crafted book with an ending much better than it could have been.
Rating:
Summary: This is my favorite P.D. James novel.
Review: The mother-daughter relationship in this novel is fascinating and feels authentic. I love James' descriptions of London, the flat that Philippa and her mother rent, and the shop where they work. I couldn't put this one down.
Rating:
Summary: A young woman, adopted at age 8, meets her birth mother.
Review: This is a P.D. James novel sans Inspector Dalgleish. Itwas first published in 1980 and stands the test of timewell. The protagonist, Phillipa Palfrey, can hardly wait for her 18th birthday, for on that day she is legally free to consult public records about her birth. She learns much more than she bargained for and spends the next couple of months intimately involved with 2 strangers, one of whom she meets in a most unconventional way. This novel becomes more amd more grim as it proceeds to its unexpected and tragic climax.
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