Reviews

Cover Her Face by P.D. James

lilkatesbooknook's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

laila4343's review against another edition

3.0

A well-written classic British mystery. I'd read more in the series.

qu33nofbookz's review against another edition

3.0

A mystery very reminiscent of the Poirot series by Agatha Christy it's a skilled detective who takes in all the clues, puts his brain to use, gathers the suspects and lays out the case which no one else would be able to. The only gripe about this is that the attitudes and language used are that of late 1800's to pre world war I but the timeline is very late 1940's or early 1950's, the date is not given but it is said that one of the characters was a resistance fighter in world war II.

debs4jc's review against another edition

this is a classic english mystery along the lines of an agatha christie story. there is the upper class family who lives in their family manor and is attended to by servants. one of these, sally jupp, was a meddlesome single mother and her death by strangulation is what brings inspector adam dalgliesh into the the case. in typical fashion he interviews all the suspects, looks beyond the obvious solutions, and in a confrontation gets the killer to admit to the crime. few other writers today capture the feeling of christies mysteries, and p.d. james does a great job of that. but i found the pace slow as she spends a long time building up the backgroud before we get to the crime. the puzzle was also not as complex as christie and it was easy to guess who the culprit was. inspector dalgliesh was an excellent sleuth, as the hints to his background were enought to be intriguing but not enough to answer all the readers questions. which would make you want to read on through the rest of the series to find out more about him. on this narration, the reader did a good job, but not an excellent one.

debs4jc's review against another edition

2.0

This is a classic English mystery along the lines of an Agatha Christie story. There is the upper class family who lives in their family manor and is attended to by servants. One of these, Sally Jupp, was a meddlesome single mother and her death by strangulation is what brings Inspector Adam Dalgliesh into the the case. In typical fashion he interviews all the suspects, looks beyond the obvious solutions, and in a confrontation gets the killer to admit to the crime. Few other writers today capture the feeling of Christies mysteries, and P.D. James does a great job of that. But I found the pace slow as she spends a long time building up the backgroud before we get to the crime. The puzzle was also not as complex as Christie and it was easy to guess who the culprit was. Inspector Dalgliesh was an excellent sleuth, as the hints to his background were enought to be intriguing but not enough to answer all the readers questions. Which would make you want to read on through the rest of the series to find out more about him. On this narration, the reader did a good job, but not an excellent one.

aelane23's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars.

vandermeer's review against another edition

1.0

Unglaublich schlecht. Liest sich, als wäre es vor hundert Jahren geschrieben, aber nicht in a good way. 4% DNF

rageofachilles's review against another edition

3.0

I recently decided to read genres that I normally shy away from, and P.D. James was the perfect author to dip my toes in with murder mysteries. She wrote Children of Men, and while the book wasn't great, the movie was fantastic. She also has a well-respected reputation as a writer whose genre fiction transcends that genre's tropes. I also happened to randomly pick up this book at a library book sale last year--so what did I have to lose? This novel isn't great. The reader can tell that this is her first novel, and she hasn't quite come in to the full power of her voice. The murder, itself, isn't really that interesting. What is interesting, though, is how the clues accumulate and grate against each other in a way that is reminiscent of Eco's Name of the Rose.

I will continue to read P.D. James.

lavosthegreat's review against another edition

3.5

Good murder mystery. First PD James I’ve read. The detective doesn’t have much personality. Will read another one of these for sure though. 

mg_in_md_'s review against another edition

4.0

I selected this book for the 2017 PopSugar Ultimate Reading Challenge advanced prompt "A book recommended by an author you love." One of my favorite authors, Louise Penny, recommended this one in a Goodreads mystery author-centric newsletter, so this was a perfect fit. Plus, I've somehow managed not to read any P.D. James before and have been wanting to correct this gap given my love of the mystery genre.

Originally published in 1962, this debut novel was the first in the series featuring Scotland Yard detective Adam Dalgliesh. Despite being more than 50 years old, I didn't find the writing or story dated, which I think speaks to this classic mystery's staying power. Dalgliesh is investigating the murder of Sally Jupp, a sly and sensuous woman who used her body and brains to make her way up the social ladder. She is found strangled in her bed and suspects are plentiful. The plotting was masterful and the relationships of the characters were paramount to the story. While I'm sorry that it is taken me so long to read this classic, I'm so glad that this challenge gave me a chance to read it and finally experience for myself the marvelous writing of P.D. James.