Rating: 
Summary: Ready for More
Review: As usual, P.D. James is in top form with her latest Adam Dalgliesh mystery, "The Murder Room". James' mysteries are always well-laid out and intricately woven with a wide cast of characters. She likes to begin her novels introducing all the characters in the novel, giving motives and means to each one, making the puzzle of who's guilty and who's innocent ever harder to figure out.
The title room is set in the fictional DuPayne Museum - a museum dedicated to the interwar years and doomed to close if all three trustees, the DuPayne children, don't agree to keep it open. And when Neville DuPayne, the one trustee who wants to close the museum, is brutally murdered on the premises, Adam Dalgliesh and his special investigation team is called in to solve the case. As they interact with the lives of those who are a part of the museum, Dalgliesh and his team find themselves investigating what appears to be a series of (...)murders, mimicking the cases that are incorporated as exhibits in the Murder Room at the museum. All this while, Dalgliesh is distracted from the task at hand due to Emma Lavenham (whom readers met in "Death in Holy Orders"). Their developing relationship has constantly been interrupted due to Dalgliesh's job commitments, and he fears that she won't love him enough to stick around.
As always, James' narrative shifts focus between her numerous, vivid characters, and is peppered with literary and philosophical references. For those who are wary enough to pay attention, she even gives us the keys to figuring out the puzzle as to who the murderer is. If there's one downfall to "The Murder Room" I believe it's that enough time isn't given to Adam and Emma's relationship. She appears at the beginning and end, and intermittenly in Adams' thoughts: since she is an important development in Adam's life, readers want to get to know her better - especially by the end of the book. I can't wait for the further developments that this entails...
Rating:
Summary: A tad shopworn, but superior entry in genre
Review: DEATH IN HOLY ORDERS, the penultimate entry in the Adam Dalgliesh mystery series, raised the bar high for the latest, THE MURDER ROOM. HOLY ORDERS had revived the series, with fresh character combinations, plot tricks and the possibility of romance for the long-suffering policeman-poet Dalgliesh. The question begs, does THE MURDER ROOM measure up?One of James' strengths has always been critical description, both physical and emotional. Her invention of the museum that serves as the setting is cunning: an institution devoted to the inter-war years of the 20th century, collecting products and exhibits of art, literature, industry, and murders. The latter is not that far off an idea for such a museum: England has a fascination with intricate crimes going back centuries, and as one character states provocatively, murders have a style that befit their age. This setting alone is worth the price of the book. Plot-wise, James throws out the red herrings like a rotating sprinkler system set on high. If you've read her before, you know what she's doing. You tend to forgive her that. It's the characters in THE MURDER ROOM that I am not so pleased with. She has gone back to old stock: snotty upper class adult siblings, the women without whom, a younger adult generation that is hapless and without initiative, and the working class characters who get drawn into the mess created by the privileged characters. Dalgleish, though still sexy in an intellectual tortured soul kind of way all these years into the series, has lost some of this reader's patience and willing suspension of disbelief. In an age of cell phones and e-mail, he carries on a courtship a la the 18th century. That would be quaint but instead it is exasperating. It does, however, provide some tension up to the end, to see if it repels rather than attracts Emma, the literature professor he met in HOLY ORDERS.
Rating: 
Summary: Her best yet
Review: I had grown tired of PD James because she seemed to peter out about three quarters of the way through her novels. So many of her novels just ended with a pop! rather than a bang!
This novel is different however. Not that her endings aren't still a bit weak (once again she provided a reason behind the crime that is never explained) but this book is so well written, most of the characters so well described, that I felt a sense of contentment when I finally turned the last page. AND she had kept my attention through a 4-hour plane ride! Unusual for me.
I do get the sense however that she had to leave out a chapter because her editor said it was too long and then she forgot to go back and rewrite the bit that introduced that chapter.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written and read
Review: I listened to this book on cassette (unabridged) and thoroughly enjoyed it -- there's something about reading a British book read by someone with a lovely British accent and acting ability that is particularly delightful. James has a slow pacing anyway, so having the book read to you allows you to savor the descriptions and not rush past them in the desire to find out what happens next.
The plot involves a privately owned museum bequeathed to three siblings. In order to keep the museum open, all three must agree on this, but they're not of one mind on the subject. Needless to say, one of them ends up dead. The descriptions of place and characters are so well done that it's difficult to believe that they don't really exist.
The literary quality of James's mysteries is very high, but people who want lots of action and a fast paced may not like this book. It is, however, a quintessentially British mystery and I look forward to the next of James's books.
Rating:
Summary: Best one yet!
Review: I thought this was one of her best books yet. I couldn't put the book down.
Rating: 
Summary: Not one of the better books
Review: I was very disappointed in this book. I felt I had to finish it because SOMETHING had to happen to make it worth reading. It never did. After a while I didn't even care what happened to the characters. Hope the next one is better.
Rating:
Summary: A new PD James is always a treat.
Review: It was with great pleasure that I saw the Murder Room on the bookstore shelf. Other mystery authors release one good book and then quickly seem to lose the spark. This is not true of James, who has been writing intelligent and solid mystery novels nearly as long as I have been reading them. A new book from her is always an occasion for a small celebration of reading pleasure.
The Murder Room returns to two of her favorite themes-- history and obsession. The Dupayne Museum as a setting for crime provides a bit of both. Its focus on an the years between the two great wars makes it a little pocket of nearly forgotten history. By contrast, the collecting ways of its founder and the decision to found a murder room from the period lend this quiet dusty place more than a hint of obsession. These two elements play out as well in all the characters: the obsession of a man who is determined to get back family mementos; the obsessive friendships that can develop between women; a son trying to leave his history behind; an unknown mother who holds her private and public histories tight to her chest. Even Dalgliesh himself is not immune, as a new love makes him think back to his own history and attempt to define which things are really important to him.
James is never a small writer. Her books tend to have a wide range of characters with complex personal histories. This said, Murder Room had an unfortunate disjointed feel, resulting from too much of this same complexity. There were a few too many interesting elements. It felt as though had she focused more, there would have been a deepening of the book and its themes. As it was, there were so many plot elements associated with the characters that at times it felt like a great big basket of red herrings. A few red herrings are not bad, but a tangle is never good.
Still, the flaws should not detract too much from the reading experience-- particularly not for long-term fans of James. If you have not read any of her novels before then I might pick up Cover Her Face or The Skull Beneath the Skin before starting with this one.
Rating:
Summary: Ahhhhhh P.D.James
Review: James is one of the few mystery authors where the mystery aspect of the story becomes secondary. I love her character development and her descriptions of places and events are so superb that I am willing to forgive what the story lacks in suspense. This book is a comfortable read that allows the reader to become part of the cast of characters.
Rating:
Summary: Murder Room
Review: P.D. James has written 17 books, and I've read all of them. Some of them were better than others, and the reviews have been mixed on Murder Room, her latest book. In my opinion, this is one of her best, particularly in terms of setting the scene and character development. One feels one knows the characters, especially Tally Clutton, a housekeeper who lives in a cottage on the grounds of the Dupayne Museum. The Dupayne is a small, family run, specialty museum in London whose fate hangs on all three trustees signing a new lease. This sets the stage for murder. The museum has a "Murder Room" featuring famous English murders of the 1920s and 30s, and it is where one of the murders takes place. James writes the classic British mystery, and she has an extraordinary command of the English language. This book is a must read for her fans.
Rating:
Summary: Baroness P.D. James has done it again
Review: P.D. James wrote her latest book, The Murder Room, like pure literature using atmospheric settings and literary writing to come up with this clever mystery. The book is about a family who own a little museum called the "Dupayne Museum" located in a mansion away from local tourism. Murder Room contains photos and exhibits from some of the most notorious crimes committed from 1919 to 1938. The Dupayne family patriarch created this exclusive museum; however, shortly after his death, his children have an impending deadline where they must decide "collectively" whether to keep the museum open or close it. Shortly after they discuss this, murders start to happen.
I liked this book because of the intricate writing and the historical information about murders displayed in the Murder Room. Moreover, it lets you reach into the dark recess of the mind of the numerous characters. Though this is a dark, long and deep mystery book, it was an astonishing read. This mystery presents various themes (i.e., family, trust, survival, revenge) that are prevalent throughout the storyline.
Some of the reasons I didn't enjoy the book was the plethora of characters that all had ample reasons to commit the murders. Moreover, because of the length of the book (492 pages), it took considerable time to read, but I was committed to enjoy and finish the book no matter how long it took. Furthermore, and this may just have been in my copy, the unnecessary word hyphenations in the middle of sentences drove me crazy! Publishing editor, where were you?
Overall, Baroness James has done it again. Therefore, if you loved her prior books, you will love this one. I recommend that you set aside some exclusive reading time for this book so you can truly enjoy the plot. Take time to listen to the outstanding narrative and suspenseful plot and let the story do its job. I eagerly await the next Adam Dalgliesh mystery, which I hope will bring this series to a suspenseful but happy ending.
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