book data
1,430 ratings,
3.73
average rating, 108 reviews
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published
January 15th 2006
by Libra Diffusio
(first published 1976)
details
Broché, 522 pages
isbn
2844922015
(isbn13: 9782844922014)
description
Murders present meet murders past in P.D. James’s latest harrowing, thought-provoking thriller.
Commander Adam Dalgliesh is already acquain…more
Commander Adam Dalgliesh is already acquain…more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1,868)
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5 stars (257)
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4 stars (638)
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3 stars (444)
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2 stars (74)
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1 star (17)
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avg 3.73
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Read in January, 2009
I thought the book was bad and struggled to finish it. It wasn't just that it was not to my taste (and I read a lot of crime novels). But what annoyed me was that it got away with so much that would have had any unpublished author immediately flung onto the reject pile.
It seems that once you have a reputation, you can write any substandard story and get it labelled, 'Classic, guaranteed to delight all crime addicts.'
We're introduced to commander Dalgliesh in chap 1-2. There t...more
It seems that once you have a reputation, you can write any substandard story and get it labelled, 'Classic, guaranteed to delight all crime addicts.'
We're introduced to commander Dalgliesh in chap 1-2. There t...more
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Read in April, 2009
James, P.D. THE MURDER ROOM. (2003). *****. Again we meet up with Commander Adam Dalgliesh as he solves the mysterious deaths of two different victims at a museum. The museum is the Dupayne, a museum dedicated to the years between the wars, with rooms celebrating different aspects of their history. There is an art gallery, a library, and – most importantly – a room devoted to the most notorious murders of that time. This room, obviously, was called the Murder Room. The museum was fou...more
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Read in July, 2009
It is unusual for me to give any book 5 stars. It has to be more than a book I've enjoyed and even more than a book I might re-read. Mostly I give the books I enjoy 4 stars. To some extent I'm reacting to the bad reviews this book has received from people who did not understand what they were picking up when they chose to read the book, and therefor ended up with the wrong book at the wrong time.
PD James has been writing murder mysteries with Dalgliesh as her main character since the...more
PD James has been writing murder mysteries with Dalgliesh as her main character since the...more
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Read in April, 2009
recommends it for:
P.D. James fans, smart mystery fans
The Murder Room of the title is located in the Dupayne Museum in London, and commemorates some of the most fantastic and lurid murders in history. Through a chance meeting, Adam Dalgliesh visits with an acquaintance, but is called back soon after to investigate a series of murders. The first murder is one of the members of the Dupayne family, who were named as trustees in their late father’s will, with the caveat that any decisions regarding the museum have to be unanimous among the three su...more
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Read in July, 2009
A reasonable enough mystery, but not top-notch, and with a very contrived feel. What are the chances that an innocent motorist leaving the scene of a copy-cat crime would just happen to say the exact same words that the murderer in the original crime did? The whole book has a similar air of unreality.
I have written in previous reviews of PD James’ books that she has a tendency to go on about particular social issues in an annoying way, in book after book. To this list I will now ad...more
I have written in previous reviews of PD James’ books that she has a tendency to go on about particular social issues in an annoying way, in book after book. To this list I will now ad...more
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I still like P.D. James, although this wasn't my favorite of those I've read. It's more contemporary than the others I've read (since it's a recent novel), but it does still have that classic murder mystery "charm." Basically, Adam Dalgliesh and co. are called in to solve a series of murders at a museum dedicated to the interwar years in Britain. Now that I'm thinking about it again, I'm remembering that my key disappointment was that I was able to figure out who did it. I know lots of...more
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Read in July, 2009
Oh I shouldn't give this a four star but I do admire P.D. James so much. She is writing with the same extraordinary skill and high literary standard as ever and she is over eighty. Her books have the unmistakable British patina and her references are cultured as well as up to date. I donm't know how she does it. So her mysteries are a bit formulaic. What mysteries aren't? She has created a couple of the most memorable detectives in the history of mystery fiction. Kudoes to her. I recommen...more
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Read in May, 2009
PD James is simply the best mystery stylist around, I forgot what a difference great writing, characterization, and plotting means to a good mystery. I'm not a fan typically of the British 'locked-room' style that follows in the footsteps of Agathe Christie, it always seems a bit pat for my tastes, which run towards the hard-boiled detective or cop procedural. James straddles the fence just enough with Adam Dalgleish that I dont mind the quaint little encapsulated world she paints in this gem --...more
Read in February, 2006
P.D. James is hailed as the current queen of the murder mystery, and as an excellent writer as well as plotter; based on this book, the plaudits are justified. The characters are complex and intriguing; the mystery satisfyingly difficult; and the hero, Commander Adam Dalgliesh of New Scotland Yard, appealing, in his quiet way. I'd say its chief fault was leaving a bit of the motive unspoken at the end, implied but not delineated in a way that was artful but not satisfying. It is worth noting tha...more
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Read in January, 2008
This book took me some time to get into as James is heavy on description and detail and I just wanted her to get on with the story. She won me over though somewhere around two-thirds of the way through. I began to appreciate what at the beginning I found annoying. She definitely has her own style of writing and I can see why she has such a large fan base. My husband likes all of her books that feature Inspector Adam Dalgleisch, the Scotland Yard detective who solves the crimes.
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Read in January, 2010
as i am reading these out of order, i am picking up the pieces of the backstory of Dalgliesh, et al. in random sequence as well..... this proves to make it somewhat more interesting to mentally timeline all of those pieces.
wish the sum-up had a little more conclusive bit about Calder-Hale's connection to MI5, although it obviously had to do with the "club" and whichever official was involved that was being covered up.....
wish the sum-up had a little more conclusive bit about Calder-Hale's connection to MI5, although it obviously had to do with the "club" and whichever official was involved that was being covered up.....
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
People interested in books set in modern day England
PD James strength as an author seems to lie in her character portraits rather than her ability to write a tight, interesting mystery. The characters in this book were well crafted, interesting, and interesting.
The mystery, well, not so much. The ending was one of the obvious resolutions, and rather abrupt, like the book needed to be a certain amount of pages and had fulfilled that and so needed to end.
The Murder Room also contains, for some reason, the "titillation...more
The mystery, well, not so much. The ending was one of the obvious resolutions, and rather abrupt, like the book needed to be a certain amount of pages and had fulfilled that and so needed to end.
The Murder Room also contains, for some reason, the "titillation...more
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Read in November, 2009
Another P. D. James classic with Adam Dalgliesh. The inspector's name for the series came from the author's English teacher! There's an interesting article about P. D. James in the New York Times. A sample of her tart tongue in referring to Agatha Christie: "Perhaps her greatest strength was that she never overstepped the limits of her talent."
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Read in December, 2009
Done! I didn't know whodunit until it was revealed. What a loser. In my defense there were two obvious people and I thot it was the other one.
Dagleish asks Emma to marry him at the end of the book. That was a bit of a surprise. I thought they were going to break it off. Huh. Maybe it's been too long since I read this series. I may need to go back and review/reread.
Dagleish asks Emma to marry him at the end of the book. That was a bit of a surprise. I thought they were going to break it off. Huh. Maybe it's been too long since I read this series. I may need to go back and review/reread.
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Read in February, 2009
So, this is the fourth book by P.D. James that I've read in the past month or two, and I feel about it exactly as I felt about the first three; engaging and intelligent writing style, well-drawn characters, compulsively readable, and a crappy ending. Why are her endings so blah? They're so anti-climactic. I end up feeling like, "Oh. I see. So that was who did it. And that was why. Humph, well, okay."
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Read in June, 2009
P.D. James is a superb mystery writer. She sets the stage in both scene and characterization before the murder is even introduced. And then she weaves her plot with logic and detail. But what I love most about her is her powers of description. How many mystery writers can desribe entering cathedral with such poetry -- "imposed its moment of astonished quietude." This mystery takes a place in a museum, which made me love it even more.
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Read in March, 2009
I really want to be able to give 1/2 stars. I enjoyed this more than the large number of books I've read recently and given 3 stars, but not as much as the 4 star books.
For me, this book was a somewhat uneven listen. Parts of it were quite compelling, and other parts were not keeping my attention. I actually started listening 3 times, this time I stuck with it.
I enjoyed the characters, although there were too many that had brief portraits and were wallpaper the rest of...more
For me, this book was a somewhat uneven listen. Parts of it were quite compelling, and other parts were not keeping my attention. I actually started listening 3 times, this time I stuck with it.
I enjoyed the characters, although there were too many that had brief portraits and were wallpaper the rest of...more
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I've only recently begun reading "The Murder Room", and am having some trouble getting into it. I don't read a lot of mysteries or crime novels, but have read a few others by P. D. James. So far I've enjoyed them all! Not sure if this one isn't as good, or if I just need to get into it more. We'll soon see!
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Read in February, 2010
This was an Adam Dalgleish (detective) murder plot set in a museum. Overall I enjoyed it but there were some clumsy plot devices that didn't work and were clearly there to explain the murder's motive (like a sex club that some of the characters did secretly that really was no big deal in today's society).
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Read in May, 2009
This book was readable - not fabulous but ok. I didn't really work out who the killer was as it could have been any of them which was a little disappointing.
I either like the culprit to be obscure and for me to work out who it is or I like to be shocked by who it is.
I either like the culprit to be obscure and for me to work out who it is or I like to be shocked by who it is.
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fiction (on 41 people's shelves)
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