Katharine's Reviews > Cover Her Face

I'm beginning to think by some coincidence the very first PD James I read also happened to be the only interesting book she's ever written. Honestly, I would really like to like her, but I can't. Cover Her Face is her first novel and I wonder how she ever became successful this way. It suffers from all the flaws I've found pervasive in her other novels – boring descriptions, unlikeable characters, and zero suspense. The mystery plot has a lot of painstakingly crafted red herrings and clues, but I just didn't care enough to be interested in the solution.

And I don't get the appeal of Adam Dalgliesh. Your star detective is supposed to have personality, so people want to read about him, you know. The only indication James ever gives that Dalgliesh is not a robot is that every now and then she'll have him think about his dead wife. But other than that, he is as flat as paper. The cover blurbs set him up as a rival to Ngaio Marsh's Alleyn, but um... being boring and mechanical is not actually the same as being cool and stoic. Sorry.

Afraid I'm done with PD James. Done done done.