Cover Her Face (Inspector Adam Dalgliesh Mystery)

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In a 1966 book review, Anthony Boucher of The New York Times wrote "This is a literate and not unpromising first novel, but modeled firmly upon the detective story of 30 years ago at its dullest. Her character is fascinating because she is so hard to pin down and Kim Thomson deserves huge credit for her performance. In what seems an astonishing stroke of luck she meets Dr Stephen Maxie (Rupert Frazer) on a train, who hears what happened to her and hires her to work at his family's country home. But Sally is such a dominating presence that when she is killed her absence is keenly felt and the intensity of the mystery drops because of this.

Cover Her Face by P. D. James | Waterstones Cover Her Face by P. D. James | Waterstones

This is a four-part, star-packed dramatisation of her first novel, published in 1962, in which she created her famous detective Adam Dalgliesh. That is the thing I always will most remember about her: what a kind woman she was, how she did her very best to make you feel good.

And there was a unintentionally funny moment when in one scene a drug addict teenager is caught raiding the Book Club by police, who when asked what his name is I thought he said "David Mellor" If only! Dalgliesh is perhaps too quietly competent in his disclosure of Sally's killer – and, despite the title, the girl isn't a Duchess of Malfi. She had pretended to be unmarried because revealing her marriage would have jeopardised her husband's job and she liked to 'play with people'. Both also have suitors mooning other them who later come over to stay as they prepare for the village fete - Catherine Bowers (Claire Higgins) and Felix Hurst (Julian Glover).

Cover Her Face - P. D. James Cover Her Face - P. D. James

Read all Chief Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh investigates the death of Alice Liddell who ran a home for unwed mothers. The Maxie household at the country house seem ordinary enough however, with Eleanor Maxie (Phyllis Calvert) looking after her ailing husband upstairs, while children Stephen and Deborah (Mel Martin) argue over whether to sell the house or not. Naturally she is a person of interest to Dalgliesh, both as a witness and a friend of Stavros, and it is soon revealed that he was chief suspect in a drug case Dalgliesh is working on. Before they know it, she's made an enemy of Martha (not hard, I grant) and creates turmoil throughout the group when she announces her engagement to Stephen.One of the residents there is Sally Jupp, who was a witness in a drug-smuggling and murder investigation in London.