When it comes to professional writers born and raised in the UK, Phyllis Dorothy James, better known as P.D. James, is one of the names you can never oversight. Born back in 1920, Phyllis has written and published over 20 novels. Some of her works are single stories while others are book series. She is a mother of two daughters and lives in London and Oxford. Phyllis was raised by her parents in Oxford and attended Cambridge high school for girls. She is known for many of her creations, although the most popular one involves Adam Dalgliesh (character). This book series saw its final episode published in 2011. Apart from writing, she is also involved in many other activities and has worked in various offices during her time. She has had experiences as a mother, book author, medic, civil servant among other positions. Phyllis also has several recognition awards because of her writing.
P.D. James began her writing career in the mid 50s and her first book Cover Her Face was published in 1962. It featured one of her most popular characters Adam Dalgliesh who is both a police investigator and a poet. As a writer from the ‘old’ era, her books are based on a milieu of the United Kingdom’s bureaucracies. Most of the novels feature closed societal systems such as Criminal Justice and National Health Service. Her husband passed away two years after the first book was published. Phyllis writings revolve around detective and police investigation fiction stories. She also has non-fictional books and omnibus versions. After the first release, she went on to publish A Mind to Murder in 1962, Unnatural Causes (1967), Shroud for Nightmare (1971) and so on. The last novel Death Comes to Pemberley was released in 2011.
She gained popularity from her first creation that features Adam Dalgliesh, who is also the protagonist character in fourteen of her novels. The reader is first introduced to Dalgliesh as a chief inspector and detective in Cover Her Face. He continues to rank up the command along the novels and eventually assumes the rank of commander in a metropolitan police service. He is considered quite cerebral and has a passion of writing poems. Most of his friends remind him of this fact which leads him to publishing his work. He owns a Cooper Bristol at the beginning of the story and later a Jaguar. Dalgliesh earns a decent salary and stays in a flat. He is portrayed as tall, dark and handsome. The 14 P.D James novels about this character depict incredible development. Dalgliesh is transformed from a lower rank level inspector to an authoritative commander. Readers are also introduced to his personal lifestyle and relationships. He becomes a widow 13 years before the next book (A Mind to Murder) is released. His aunt, Jane Dalgliesh, who is the only family relation he held with great esteem also dies and leaves him in control of a decent inheritance.
The debut novel begins with a plot describing how Dalgliesh investigates the murder of a young maid. The build begins with a party event for the fete celebrations. Sally Jupp is a young maid who works for Mrs. Maxie. Her employer has a son Stephen Maxie and daughter Dorothy Maxie. On the second day of fete, Sally shows up in the same dress and accessories that Dorothy has on and later announces that Stephen proposed to marry her. There is an exchange of insulting words between her and Mrs Maxie before the party breaks. She is found in the morning dead inside her bedroom and the detective game begins. It is later discovered that she died of strangulation. There are many other plots, thrillers, dramas and controversies built into the story. All Phyllis novels depict optimum creativity and character development. A Mind to Murder basically involves the investigation of an intellectual predatory killer. Dalgliesh receives a night call that forces him to quickly abandon his writing to investigate killings in a psychiatric clinic. He finds the body of a dead clinic staff at the basement floor with a chisel driven right into her heart. This erupt a series of investigative procedures and detective activities. Along the lines in P.D James novels, it is easy to pick out exceptional creativity and imagination. She spent some time working in the criminal justice and health service offices which gives her a more personalized approach. It makes it easier for readers to follow what is going on. The last book about Adam Dalgliesh where he is a commander is The Private Patient (2008). An investigative journalist is savagely killed in a plastic surgery clinic where she went to remove her facial scar. The surgeon and entire clinic are subjected to the thorough investigative procedures typical of Dalgliesh.
Due to the level of creativity and use of descriptive elaborations, P.D James books are very clear, on purpose and easy to script. Many of her works (over a dozen) have been made into television and film adaptations. Death of an Expert Witness was made into a movie in 1983. Other novels that have been adapted to TV and/or film include Cover Her Face, Mind to Murder, A Certain Justice, Devices and Desires and Original Sin among many more. She has also received various honours and awards for her contributions in detective writing. Some of the select honours include: Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1983, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and President of the Society of Authors in 1997. The awards section comprises CWA (crime writers’ association) Macallan Silver Dagger for fiction (1971, 1975 and 1986) and Diamond Dagger in1987. Others are Grandmasters Awards (Mystery writers of America 1999) and Best translated crime award (Japan 1992). She has many more awards and honours received in various countries around the world.
Crime writing is one of the most entertaining pieces of literature, especially if it is written by someone with a first hand knowledge of what detective work involves. P.D James is one of the excellent crime writers and her novels are there to prove it. Although she is now in her retirement, many readers will still anticipate to see an inspired protégée who can match her level of professionalism and entertainment in crime writing.