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Clarissa Lisle hopes to make a spectacular comeback in a production of 'The Duchess of Malfi', to be played in Ambrose Gorringe’s sinister castle at Courcy Island. Cordelia is there to ensure her safety following the appearance of a number of poison-pen letters. But it soon becomes clear that all are in danger.
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.
Actor and author, Jane Asher has many television credits to her name, which include 'Doctors', 'New Tricks', 'Marple' and the role of Lady Byrne in 'Holby City'; while among her films are 'The Volunteer', 'Paris By Night' and 'Alfie'. She has played many theatres, appearing in such productions as 'Festen', 'House and Garden' and 'Things We Do for Love'.
Cordelia Gray runs the none-too-successful Pryde Detective Agency. It’s a welcome break from finding missing pets when Sir George Ralston hires Cordelia to find out who is behind the poison pen letters that his wife, Clarissa, has been receiving. However, shortly before her one-night only performance in The Duchess of Malfi, Clarissa is brutally murdered, leaving Cordelia to try and uncover the killer’s identity.
PD James always writes well-defined characters, but you cannot help but feel Cordelia Gray is almost an extension of herself, such is the detail and fondness with which she writes her. Gray is a very ordered person, craving stability and structure to her life. She is indefatigably hungry for knowledge and, once she is hired to solve a case, dedicates herself to it. Read by Jane Asher, this book begins with an uneasy sense of calm, which soon breaks into a gallop of intrigue, deceit and murder. As an audiobook for CD, this story works particularly well, with Asher’s experience as an actress being brought to bear, as she breathes life into a broad range of characters.
Fans of Dalgliesh will not be disappointed, as James racks up the tension in her usual, formidable style and those who are new to James’ work will find this a superb entrance to her world. This audiobook for MP3 and CD is a refreshing divergence from James’ Dalgliesh novels, written with just as much care and attention to detail.
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