34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best P.D. James mystery in years, January 22, 2000
This review is from: A Certain Justice (Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)
Venetia Aldridge, a bitchy, brilliant criminal attorney with a talent for getting guilty clients off the hook, is brutally murdered in her Chambers. Once again, Commander Adam Dalgliesh steps in to unravel a mystery that, as is the case in almost all James' finest novels, lies buried in the past.
Though A CERTAIN JUSTICE is not P.D. James' most intricately plotted or fast-paced novel (that distinction belongs to the brilliant SHROUD FOR A NIGHTINGALE), it's a great throwback to her early days, during which some of her most compelling books were written. The central character, Venetia, nearly upstages Dalgliesh here, and with good reason: she is probably the most enthralling, fascinating character James has ever created. She is eminently respectable and thoroughly unpleasant, and because of this she has naturally surrounded herself with a gallery of suspects, all of whom have reason to do her in. The way in which James reveals the true murderer, however, is nothing short of brilliant. In fact, the entire plot is a marvel of construction, with every clue scrupulously laid out for the reader. As always, however, the relatively simple details of the crime belie the emotional and psychological turmoil boiling beneath the surface.
What distinguishes A CERTAIN JUSTICE from her more recent books is the quality of the writing. James' technique is as stylish and literate as ever, but so much more readable; she wastes few words on unnecessary details about architecture (as one reviewer aptly pointed out below). The novel is much shorter than A TASTE FOR DEATH, DEVICES AND DESIRES, or ORIGINAL SIN, fine mysteries that were undermined by excessive rambling. At under four hundred pages, A CERTAIN JUSTICE is leaner and cleaner, and also has a thrust and energy lacking in its predecessors. This is truly P.D. James at the peak of her form--an exquisite, beautifully crafted novel that also shows a tremendous amount of grace and restraint.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Excellently written... other than the end, December 8, 2005
No reason for me to duplicate what other reviews have adequately described.
The book is well written, engaging, and filled with interesting characters.
But the ending is no better than the work of an amateur.
I disagree with other reviewers on a couple items. A few reviewers say
that the writing is excessively descriptive. Several reviewers say that
she dwells too long with character descriptions which are irrelevant to
the plot. WRT the character descriptions, I entirely disagree. If any
character were described less, these same reviewers would be complaining
that the characters are stereotypes or shallow. These characters are
described as succinctly as possible if they are to be interesting and
believable. Most contemporary writers use the same number of pages to
describe uninteresting and unbelievable characters. The only other
descriptions which I think anybody could complain about would be her
descriptions of "rooms" (furniture, etc.). If you count up the pages, I
don't think they would add up to much. I treat these descriptions just
like observing a room in real life. I'm a typical man who doesn't pay
much attention to "interior decoration"-- so I read through these
paragraphs quickly and don't pay them much attention. I respect why
James writes the paragraphs though. Many readers are very interested in
interior decoration, and James herself obviously is. I wouldn't want a
book to be dummied down on my account. If you don't think getting
involved in interesting characters is a pleasurable experience in itself,
then James is not the writer for you-- television is probably much more
suitable to your tastes.
A couple writers wrote about the hurdle of learning intricacies of
the British legal system. I can agree with this only if the audience
is middle school level or below. I knew nothing about British law
before reading this book. An ounce of common sense, and looking up
about five words in a hand dictionary was all it took to completely
grasp everything alluded to. Once again, if you want entirely
mindless diversion, then James is not for you. If you are like me,
you will enjoy the freshness of experiencing things in an environment
which is new to you.
Some reviewers complained about the (moral) unattractiveness of
the principal characters. I stand with the great majority of readers
who agree that most of the characters are unattractive, but they are
also realistic and (most importantly) engaging. Some naive reviewers
criticize aspects of characters, for example, picking apart Miskin's
indignation. I have news for you... that is how real human beings
are. James is not trying to describe role models, but realistic
people. If you prefer your characters black-and-white, there are
plenty of other authors who can serve that up for you.
I did not like the denouement. Yes, it "made sense", but, as
capably noted by somebody else, it was not "solvable" by causal
reasoning. Trying not to give anything away here... What
disappointed me more than "who did it", was the unoriginal and
unrealistic way that everything was spelled out in the end.
I've seen very similar scenes in more than one Columbo ending. It
is really stupid to think that intelligent criminals would take the
trouble to disassociate themselves from their crime until a certain
date X, then all of a sudden they give every detail to the police
because they are certain they will never be convicted. Ridiculous.
Even if anybody could somehow know that no piece of evidence will
be found in the future, the police have ways to trouble people other
than getting one convicted... in this instance, it would take very
little trouble for the high ranking detective to turn the
murderers's associates against him (by just repeating what the
murderer himself has said). And to think that a lawyer would not
give any mind to these concerns... idiotic.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliantly Written, But Poor Pay Off, February 2, 2004
This review is from: A Certain Justice (Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)
P.D. James has come a very long way from her 1962 debut novel COVER HER FACE, and her narrative skill has become increasingly powerful as the years have gone by. A CERTAIN JUSTICE is indeed a showcase for that skill, for her uncanny knack for creating believable characters seemingly out of midair, and for the grace and power of her prose. And it is extremely easy to become absorbed in the novel: although the paperback edition runs well over four hundred pages, I wolfed it down in less than twenty-four hours.
A CERTAIN JUSTICE concerns Venetia Aldridge, a criminal lawyer renowned for her skill at defense. But for all her professional renown, Venetia is something of a failure in her private life: high tempered, demanding, and determined to hold others to the same high standard for which she strives, she has a well deserved reputation for coldness and unkindness. Most specifically, she has a need to be in absolute control--and as a result she makes enough enemies both professionally and publicly to fill a telephone directory. And when she is found dead in her offices there are suspects galore.
Throughout the novel James revels in the details of the English court system, painting brilliant portraits of the individuals who move across the surface of the law--and sometimes under it. And as the novel progresses she draws us deeper and deeper still into their lives, their motivations, their worlds. It is a brilliant piece of writing. But it has a problem: the ending stinks. After having skillfully maneuvered us through this unique world and held our interest through two murders and a host of subplots, James essentially cops out by giving us a solution that her detective, Commander Adam Dalgliesh, cannot have logically reached--it is pure guesswork, and frankly James would have done better to simply leave Venetia's murder unsolved than to saddle the novel with such an uninspired conclusion.
One of the novel's several points is that murder cannot always be proven in a court of law and therefore cannot always be punished, and I certainly have no quarrel with that concept. But the person who "did the deed"--let us say that for all the logic involved, James could have just as easily selected another character and pinned it there. The final chapter is a tremendous let down, particularly in light of the exceptional work that precedes it. Four stars for James' impressive narrative style, but you're likely to be disappointed on the final page.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
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