A Certain Justice

Rating:
Summary: An outstanding, traditional mystery
Review: Although the trappings of the tale are very much 1990's -- sexism and "queen bee" behavior in a law firm, financially stretched two-income families, a career woman who has no satisfactory personal relationships, etc. -- this book felt very "old-fashioned" to me. The plot is well constructed and well thought out, but some devices (e.g., a letter mailed by someone just before she is killed) are awfully Agatha Christie. I didn't think that "coincidence" was overused; what seems at first to be coincidence often turned out to be deliberate behavior by someone with an agenda. And the violence in the subplot wasn't gratuitous -- it made perfect sense given the characters involved. I felt that the "whodunit" aspect was the least interesting part: the murderer HAD to be one of a limited set of people, so the element of surprise was missing (I figured it out long before the conclusion!).
To me, the chief pleasure of James' novels is how she creates an entire "world" peopled with believable, memorable individuals, then uses a crime as the force that disrupts the orderly motion of everyone's lives and brings out hidden aspects of their characters. She's excellent at conveying the atmosphere of a firm or an institution -- every one she's written about in her novels is unique. And her ability to convey the "feel" of someone's life with a few well-chosen details is unsurpassed. From this standpoint, I found the book just about perfect, and I enjoyed it immensely.

Rating:
Summary: Suspects, Suspects, Suspects.
Review: I must admit, this was a different type of Mystery for me. Just an average person, I can normally figure out the "who and why" well before the end of the book. Ms. James did an excellent job of not giving away to many clues so it was impossible until near the end of the book to start piecing things together. I really liked the character of Inspector Delglish. My original thought as I listened to this book was that it would be 2 stars max. The ending of this book caught me by surprise and so I decided to give it 3. If it weren't for Ms. James great detail, I would have probably given it 4 stars.

For some reason, Ms. James felt the need to describe every character and place to the most minute detail. This description lent to the length of the book which was extremely long. More then once I thought of not finishing this book. If this hadn't been the audio version I probably wouldn't have finished. I felt the book would have been just as good if not better if some of this description had been left out. About the first 20 chapters (6 tapes) was nothing but a description of the suspects who worked in Chambers. Really, not necessary.

I havn't read any other books by Ms. James and am currently undecided about trying another.

The only other author I can think of to compare Ms. James with would be Agatha Christie. Both have that passion for describing things in their books to the most minute detail.

Rating:
Summary: Deliciously complicated
Review: This book is delightfully complicated and devious, with twists and turns to keep a person riveted and guessing throughout. Venetia Aldrige is a successful and demanding barrister, called to defend a man accused of murdering his aunt. She successfully gets him acquitted, then soon afterward is dismayed and fearful when he turns up in her daughter's life. She tries to get some one to help her get rid of him, but she has a personality that hasn't made many friends and no one will help. Then, one morning she is found dead in her chambers. Chief Inspector Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard is summoned to the case and he and his team set out to unravel the mystery of who killed Venetia and why. As suspects are interviewed and backgrounds checked, several plausible motives are uncovered. In which direction does the truth lie?

P. D. James is one of today's top-notch mystery writers. Her stories are complex and riveting. So complex, at times, that you wish you had taken notes in the first part of the book to keep all characters straight. Several of her books have been made into movies for the "Mystery" series on PBS. Although the story was so complicated at times that my head hurt, I am still giving this book a high recommendation. Ms. James writes books that are held together with a strong story line, not the flimsy sex-violence-vulgar language "fillers" of many modern writers.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

Rating:
Summary: A Dagliesh novel back to top form
Review: This is one of the best Adam Dagliesh novels P. D. James has written in years, and is a fine return to the halcyon days on novels like A MIND TO MURDER. James seems much more interested in this novel in character development and interaction than she has in recent years, and she thankfully eschews her obsession with architecture which all but overwhelmed A TASTE FOR DEATH and ORIGINAL SIN. Starting the novel by describing the last few weeks in Venetia Aldridge's life allows the reader to be caught up in Aldridge's world, to respect her if not to like her, and to feel a certain stake in solving the mystery of her murder. It isn't hard to figure out who did it, but that's almost always the case with James's novels: the pleasure is in seeing the complicated web of petty hatreds and resentments drawn out among an interesting group of people. And James in this novel is much more sympathetic to her characters than she has been in recent years: you feel that while Octavia, Mrs. Buckley, and Venetia Aldridge herself are pretty objectionable, you don't feel they are as irredeemable as the loathsome aristocrats in A TASTE FOR DEATH.

Rating:
Summary: characters you love to hate
Review: Though I am not usually a fan of PD James's detective fiction featuring Adam Dalgleish other than via the PBS dramatizations of her novels, I must admit the pull to read "A Certain Justice" after dipping into only the first chapter was irresistible. Fans of John Mortimer's Rumpole series might imagine themselves well at home among the denizens and vagaries of the English law courts. Like Rumpole, Venetia Aldridge is a criminal barrister but there the similiarity ends. In Venetia Aldridge, James has created what someone once described as the perfect fictional character. I did not tire of her doings, she riveted me when she took center stage, yet Venetia is the kind of person I would not like to know in real life. A complex character much like Jane Austen's Emma Woodhouse, Venetia Aldridge is handsome, clever and rich. Yet it is these very blessings that, in combination with her having been born female, make her such a monster. As social commentary, James highlights the bigotry successful women must endure. A woman cannot it seems compete in a "man's world" and retain her femininity, her likability. Only in the briefest flashes is the reader allowed to glimpse Venetia as the lonely pathetic and frustrated individual she is. In contrast is her male counterpart, Drysdale Laud, who is just as selfish, if not from a more privileged background, than Venetia. Yet he's not described to be as inhuman as Venetia. It is a pity, though crucial to the plot that Venetia die.Fans of Adam Dalgliesh might balk because the Dalgleish character doesn't take center stage in this novel. Indeed, Dalgliesh doesn't appear until a good 100 pages into the narrative and thereafter only sporadically. To appreciate "Justice" a reader must bear in mind that James is delving into "character." In "A Certain Justice" almost all the characters save Dalgliesh had something in their pasts with which they continue to struggle, to try to outlive. Human frailty is the key. James understands that the more fascinating aspect of a mystery is really the "whydunit" rather than exclusively "whodunit."I am a convert and will eagerly await the next PD James novel.

Rating:
Summary: Intriguing Story and Characters but a Tad Slow
Review: Venetia Aldridge is a top notch criminal lawyer. She hardly ever looses a case and is able to find the holes in any argument. Her personal life isn't so rosy, however. She is basically estranged from her daughter and considered a problem by her co-workers. Her life really begins to unravel when her daughter announces her engagement - to a man Venetia has recently gotten off for murder. But when Venetia is found dead in her office two days later, it's up to Adam Dalgliesh and his team to figure out who killed her. And with all these motives and suspects, it won't be easy.

I'd heard much about P.D. James, but this was the first time I'd actually read one of her books. I found the writing style engaging and would have a hard time putting it down once I started. On the other hand, I'd have a hard time picking it up again. The beginning especially seems to give us too much background on our characters, stuff we don't need to learn until later if at all. This really slowed the story down for me.

The more I got into it, the better I enjoyed it, however. There were some nice twists along the way with an intriguing sub-plot. The last couple of chapters did seem a little anti-climatic considering what had gone before, but I was surprised by who the killer turned out to be. Using multiple view points greatly added to the story most of the time, although it did confuse me some as far as timeline goes.

I can understand why P.D. James has such a fine reputation. She can paint a picture with words like few other writers currently writing. While she may be a tad too slow for my normal taste, I'm certainly glad to see what all the talk is about. Her reputation is well earned.