James, P. D.

Devices and desires by P. D James( Book )
124 editions published between 1989 and 2011 in 16 languages and held by 3,810 libraries worldwide
Scotland Yard's Adam Dalgliesh leaves London to vacation in Norfolk and becomes enmeshed in the hunt for the perpetrator of a series of murders of young women, which continues even after the murderer's capture.

A taste for death by P. D James( Book )
111 editions published between 1985 and 2011 in 14 languages and held by 3,524 libraries worldwide
Commander Adam Dalgleish investigates the throat-slash murders, in a London Church, of Sir Paul Berowne, former Minister of State, and a tramp named Harry Mack, murders that lead Dalgleish onto surprising English pathways.

A certain justice by P. D James( Book )
133 editions published between 1977 and 2010 in 11 languages and held by 3,431 libraries worldwide
A British woman lawyer is murdered soon after successfully defending her client who was on trial for murder. As he opens an investigation, Commander Dalgliesh of New Scotland Yard learns the man recently became engaged to the lawyer's daughter. Is there a connection? By the author of Original Sin.

Death in holy orders by P. D James( Book )
116 editions published between 2000 and 2011 in 12 languages and held by 3,415 libraries worldwide
The untimely death of a young priest in training draws Commander Adam Dalgliesh back to East Anglia to investigate at the request of the young man's father, as Dalgliesh finds himself drawn into a complex and violent mystery.

The children of men by P. D James( Book )
109 editions published between 1992 and 2011 in 11 languages and held by 3,400 libraries worldwide
"The year is 2021, and the human race is - quite literally - coming to an end. Since 1995 no babies have been born, because in that year all males unexpectedly became infertile. Great Britain is ruled by a dictator, and the population is inexorably growing older. Theodore Faron, Oxford historian and, incidentally, cousin of the all-powerful Warden of England, watches in growing despair as society gradually crumbles around him, giving way to strange faiths and cruelties: prison camps, mass organized euthanasia, roving bands of thugs. Then, suddenly, Faron is drawn into the plans of an unlikely group of revolutionaries. His passivity is shattered, and the action begins." "The Children of Men will surprise - and enthrall - P. D. James fans. Written with the same rich blend of keen characterization, narrative drive and suspense as her great detective stories, it engages powerfully with new themes: conflicts of loyalty and duty, the corruption of power, redemption through love. Ingenious, original, irresistibly readable, it confirms once again P. D. James's standing as a major novelist."--BOOK JACKET.

The murder room by P. D James( Book )
114 editions published between 2003 and 2011 in 12 languages and held by 3,345 libraries worldwide
The Dupayne, a small private museum on the edge of London's Hampstead Heath devoted to the interwar years 1919-39, is in turmoil. The trustees--the three children of the museum founder, old Max Dupayne--are bitterly at odds over whether it should be closed. Then one of them is brutally murdered, and what seemed to be no more than a family dispute erupts into horror. For even as Commander Adam Dalgiesh and his team investigate the first killing, a second corpse is discovered. Clearly, someone at the Dupayne is prepared to kill, and kill again. The case is fraught with danger and complexity from the outset, not least because of the range of possible suspects--and victims. And still more sinister, the murders appear to echo the notorious crimes of th epast featured in one of the museum's most popular galleries, the Murder Room. For Dalgiesh, P.D. James's formidable detective, the search for the murderer poses an unexpected complication. After years of bachelorhood, he has embarked on a promising new relationship with Emma Lavenham--first introduced in Death in Holy Orders--which is at a critical stage. Yet his struggle to solve the Dupayne murders faces him with a frustrating dilemma: each new development distances him further from commitment to the woman he loves. The Murder Room is a story dark with the passions that lie at the heart of crime, a masterful work of psychological intricacy.

The lighthouse by P. D James( Book )
102 editions published between 2005 and 2010 in 12 languages and held by 3,307 libraries worldwide
A subtle and powerful work of contemporary fiction. Combe Island off the Cornish coast has a bloodstained history of piracy and cruelty but now, privately owned, it offers respite to over-stressed men and women in positions of high authority who require privacy and guaranteed security. But the peace of Combe is violated when one of the distinguished visitors is bizarrely murdered. Commander Adam Dalgliesh and his team are called on to solve a sensitive high profile case on Combe Island off the Cornish coast of England at a time when Dalgliesh is dealing with his uncertain future with Emma Lavenham, the woman he loves; Detective Inspector Kate Miskin has her own emotional problems; and the ambitious Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith is worried about working under Kate. Hardly has the team begun to unravel the complicated motives of the suspects when there is a second brutal killing, and the whole investigation is jeopardized when Dalgliesh is faced with a danger more insidious and as potentially fatal as murder. This eagerly awaited successor to the international bestseller The Murder Room displays all the qualities that lovers of P. D. James's novels the world over have come to expect: sensitive characterization, an exciting and superbly structured plot and vivid evocation of place.

Original sin by P. D James( Book )
109 editions published between 1994 and 2011 in 15 languages and held by 3,230 libraries worldwide
In London, the managing director of a stately publishing house is found dead, a stuffed snake in his mouth. The suspects are many: a rejected author, a discarded mistress, a resentful employee, to mention just a few. Commander Adam Dalgliesh sifts through their lives and the company's finances in order to find the killer.

The skull beneath the skin by P. D James( Book )
114 editions published between 1982 and 2011 in 13 languages and held by 2,974 libraries worldwide
Hired as a bodyguard to faded actress Clarissa Lisle, the recent recipient of numerous death threats, Cordelia Gray accompanies the actress to an island castle, whose owner collects funeral paraphernalia.

Innocent blood by P. D James( Book )
109 editions published between 1980 and 2011 in 12 languages and held by 2,942 libraries worldwide
At 18, Philippa Palfrey, the confident adopted daughter of a celebrated academic, exercises her right to learn the names of her real parents. What she discovers is a terrible secret that will change her life forever.