but stereotypes," although "at the very end, things are a little too pat". Jacques Barzun, in a later supplement to his A Catalogue of Crime, however, thought it "barely passable". Authors commenting on the introduction of the new type of female detective at the dawn of the feminist era noted the novel as a key pioneering work in which the focus is "at least as much on character and theme as…on crime". Another critic described it as "a political contribution to the recasting of the female detective mould", noting in particular how its heroine avenges a young man's murder by his father and connives in the murder in return of the father by the boy's mother in an act of feminine solidarity. Film, TV or theatrical adaptations The book has been twice adapted. The first adaptation, directed by Chris Petit, was released in UK cinemas in 1982, featuring Pippa Guard as Cordelia. It was financed and produced by Goldcrest Films/ The National Film Finance Corporation and Don Boyd. A television series starring Helen Baxendale as Cordelia and Annette Crosbie as Edith Sparshott was made in 1997 and 2001, based in part upon the book. References 1972 British novels Novels by P. D. James British novels adapted into films Faber and Faber books British novels adapted into television shows British detective novels Feminist novels