Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Cover Her Face by P. D. James

8Dec. Kindle.

I probably have this on my shelves, but it is so much easier to read on the kindle. Ambivalence -- I love books - the objects themselves - but I am finding reading print and paper more difficult. I commented once (about one of the Dunning "bookman" books, I think) that I could not understand people who treasured books as objects in that way. And I have considered that I could condense my library to manageable proportions through electronics, but still ...

All of which is neither here nor there - I reread this one not all that long ago, but the death of the author has prompted me to move the reread of her books to the top of the queue, and this is the first. I think I enjoyed it more this time than the last; I have no idea why.

Many features seem pretty standard: the English country house, the locked room (well, that didn't remain very mysterious for long), the gathering a la Hercule Poirot, the completely deserving victim, the least likely character as murderer - but somehow it moved beyond all that. Melancholy Dalgleish is nothing like Poirot, and his sergeant is so unobtrusive that he almost isn't a character at all - does he develop more in the later books? I don't remember. Another reason for looking forward to the reread.

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