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- An Unsuitable Job for a Woman
P.D. James, OBE, has won many awards for crime writing in Britain, America, Italy and Scandinavia, including the Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Award and the National Arts Club Medal of Honor for Literature (USA). She received the Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers’ Association, and was created a Life Peer. In 1997 she was elected President of the Society of Authors.
Tamara Ustinov’s stage work includes 'The Confidential Clerk', 'David Copperfield', 'The Dream', 'Great Expectations' and 'The Importance of Being Earnest'. Her television credits include 'Hex', 'Casualty', 'Doctors', 'Kavanagh QC', 'The Ruth Rendell Mysteries' and 'Drummonds'. Among her film appearances are 'Into the Light' and 'Feedback'.
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman introduces us to Cordelia Gray for the first time. And as introductions go, there can be few that are more memorable: Cordelia is in her twenties and working at the none-too-successful Pryde Detective Agency, run by Bernie Pryde. When Pryde commits suicide, Cordelia inherits the business and is left to pick up the pieces and, in the process, receives a commission for a job. In an unexpected twist, she is hired by Sir Ronald Callender to find out why his 21 year-old son killed himself, only weeks before.
Cordelia Gray is a very different animal from her more-famous fellow sleuth, Adam Dalgliesh. Where experience has taught Dalgliesh to approach slowly and steadily, Cordelia has yet to find out what her personal strengths are. What both characters have in common, however, is the sense that she doesn’t really ‘fit’ into the mould of the traditional detective. In the course of her investigations, Cordelia is faced with making difficult legal and ethical decisions but, as she does so, she learns more about herself than she could have guessed. This character is written deftly and with searing honesty, leading one ask whether there is more of James in Cordelia than any of her other characters.
Tammy Ustinov, daughter of the famous raconteur and actor, Sir Peter Ustinov, reads this audiobook for CD with the dry wit that is so associated with her lineage. An absorbing listening experience, this audiobook for MP3 is the ideal companion for a quiet night in or a long journey.
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