by P.D. James
Reviewed by Stephen Terrell
This is one of the most enjoyable English murder mystery novels that I have read. Written in the early 1970s, Cordelia Gray seems a predecessor and maybe inspiration for Kinsey Milhone, the heroine of Sue Grafton's alphabet books and Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, heroine of the "1 for the Money" series. The book opens with a young and a bit naive Cordelia pushing into her bosses office to find him dead, a victim of his own hand. He has left her a detective agency deeply in debt, a failing car, and an absence of clients. So when a wealthy scientist at Cambridge summons her to look into the apparent suicide of his son, she jumps on the opportunity. But her investigation soon leads her to conclude that the death was not a suicide at all.
The book is well paced -- something often missing in British novels. The plot is well constructed and the characters are fascinating. If you're looking for a cozy mystery to curl up with next to a fire, or something to enjoy at the beach, you won't go wrong with An Unsuitable Job for a Woman.
No comments:
Post a Comment