Original Sin
P.D. James Audio Book

When the managing director of Peverell Press is murdered, it looks like the grisly culmination of a series of malevolent pranks. However, when PD James’ most famous creation, Inspector Dalgliesh, is brought into investigate, it looks like the killer has far from finished with his plans.

James doesn’t spare her characters the rigours of time and in this audiobook for CD, Dalgliesh is starting to become aware just how much he has aged. What makes this story particularly interesting is the way James puts her lead character into the back seat, as he side-steps to make way for the younger and more enthusiastic generation of police officers. But fans of the detective needn’t worry; he’s still preoccupied with the greater forces at play in his life and is still as sardonically eccentric as ever.

Michael Jayston’s performance allows us to get a good look behind Dalgliesh’s veneer and see a man wrestling with the realisation that he’s no longer young. Sometimes comic, sometimes tragic, but always gripping, this audiobook for MP3 is a poignant stage in the evolution of one of literature’s best-loved detectives. If you’re a fan, you shouldn’t be with out it. If you’re new to Dalgliesh, this is a superb point to get to know the poet-Inspector.