Sleep No More by P.D. James - 3 stars

[Joy D]

Sleep No More: Six Murderous Tales by P.D. James - 3 stars - My Review

This book is a compilation of six murder-related short stories. I had not read anything by P.D. James so I thought this might be a good place to start. As in many short story compilations, some are more to my taste than others. There is only one traditional murder mystery. The others are psychological character studies of people who have gotten away with murder (which is clear from the outset). My favorite is the first story, Yo-Yo, and my least favorite is The Murder of Santa Claus, a typical “whodunnit” where it is too obvious what the outcome will be. I can see why this author was nominated by one of our group members as an author to read. Her writing is elegant and atmospheric. Recommended to fans of dark stories with unexpected twists.

[Theresa]

I have this around to read - trying to find my copy in the piles of books. I read another collection that included an essay by James in which she talked about how many of her short stories were written as homages to specific Golden Age of Detective Fiction styles and authors.

You should try her longer works. My first was not an Adam Dagliesh, but Cordelia Gray and An Unsuitable Job for a Woman. Became an instant fan - and that was long ago. Though Grafton and others were already writing crime fiction with women detectives at the center, James still created a unique character, an untried female detective taking over a seedy agency on the death of the owner (at least that's what I recall - that her boss died and she took over the case - I need to reread it).

Dagliesh is her primary detective figure and her books follow his career. I still have the last one of those she ever wrote to read. Haven't quite brought myself to do so as I now there are no more new ones ever.

[Joy D]

I will definitely read another of her works at some point. I liked this one. I happened to find it a few weeks ago when I went to one of my local used bookstores. My ebook library has Death Comes to Pemberley and Cover Her Face. I'll see if I can find the one you mention next time I visit the library building.

[Theresa]

Death Comes to Pemberley is a one off written very late in her life as an homage to one of her favorite authors, Jane Austen. She'd often thought about how Jane Austen would handle a murder. I liked it though did not love it. Most of my friends sniffed and wrote it off as mediocre fan fic. I think they expected it to be more Jane Austeny that it is. But it's not really P.D. James detective fiction either.

Cover Her Face is classic P.D. James and features Adam Dagliesh. I still have my original mass market paperback.