James, P. D. (1920-2014), was a popular English writer of detective stories. Her books are noted for their psychological realism, well-constructed plots, strong characterization, and descriptive prose. James created the character of Scotland Yard Commander Adam Dalgliesh. A poet as well as a policeman, Dalgliesh brings intelligence and sensitivity to the cases he investigates. He appears in several novels, beginning with James’s first novel, Cover Her Face (1962). James’s other Dalgliesh novels include Death of an Expert Witness (1977), A Taste for Death (1986), Devices and Desires (1989), Original Sin (1994), A Certain Justice (1997), Death in Holy Orders (2001), The Murder Room (2003), The Lighthouse (2005), and The Private Patient (2008).
James introduced Cordelia Gray, a young London private detective, in An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972). Gray also appears in The Skull Beneath the Skin (1982). James set her historical detective novel Death Comes to Pemberley (2011) in England during the early 1800’s. The story features characters from English author Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice (1813). Two collections of James’s short stories were published after her death as The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories (2016) and Sleep No More: Six Murderous Tales (2017).
Phyllis Dorothy James was born in Oxford on Aug. 3, 1920. She joined the British civil service in 1949, working first in hospital administration, and then in the criminal policy department. In 1991, she was created Baroness James of Holland Park. James wrote an autobiography, Time to Be in Earnest (2000). She analyzed detective story writers and writing in Talking About Detective Fiction (2009). James died on Nov. 27, 2014.
