SayWhatClub Online Voices December 2009
Book Review
Dorothy Black
Copyright 2009
COVER HER FACE
An Adam Dalgliesh Mystery
by P.D. James
Fate determines what most of these book reports will be about. Usually I enter the library with nothing handily in mind, look first at the special displays and then if nothing jumps out at me, pace the stacks. That takes awhile as there too, often, nothing grabs me! And so it was this time until I came across Cover Her Face. And thought - how about a murder mystery for a change, and by a famous author too. So here you are.
This tale revolves about the murder of Sally Jupp, a socially climbing young woman whose death by strangulation sets off a turmoil of suspicion, guesswork, and probing among those who knew her. Or thought they knew her, as it turns out.
We first meet Sally at a dinner party at Martingale, a young surgeon's family home, where she is a new maid. She has come from St. Mary's Refuge for Girls, bringing her baby with her, to assist the household. Sally is bright and capable but throughout the tale remains somewhat mysterious and self-assured and there are those who wonder about her earlier life. Then she is found in bed, dead, with the door locked inside and bruise marks on her neck. Who has murdered her, how, and why?
One person cannot be suspected - the master of the house, Simon Maxie, who is ill and dying. His wife, Eleanor, cares for him as does his family doctor, Dr. Epps, Stephen, his surgeon son, his daughter Deborah and nurse Catherine Bowers. Surely they too are beyond suspicion. The Vicar, Bernard Hicks? Surely not. The senior maid likes Sally at first but grows to doubt her. Gradually a few other characters are introduced, including Sally's uncle and aunt, the Proctors, who had brought her up but whom she did not care for. Then a man turns up expecting to see Sally, only to find out that she has died - he being a husband nobody knew about. As one reads through the pages, one gets suspicious of one character and then another, in true murder mystery style! But we have Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh keeping his eye on each and in various indirect ways indicating possible guilt of one person or another, careful to keep us guessing ourselves.
The back of Cover Her Face has a picture of a benign, relaxed, warm looking lady - P.D. James. Can it really be she who thinks up such mayhem and murder? Indeed, it seems so, for her work wins prizes and is made into films. Born in Oxford, England in 1920, she had a busy life in many fields and eventually started to write full time. She, a Baroness, has received many honorary degrees and won many prizes for her work. P. D. James, and her series featuring Scotland Yard policeman Commander Adam Dalgliesh have many fans all over the world.
COVER HER FACE
P.D. James
Copyright l962 Seal Books, Random House of Canada Limited
ISBN 0-7704-2916-5