Innocent Blood [Mass Market Paperback]

P. D. James (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Seal Books (2004)
• ASIN: B000GS9NRC
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)

More About the Author

P. D. James is the author of twenty previous books, most of which have been filmed and broadcast on television in the United States and other countries. She spent thirty years in various departments of the British Civil Service, including the Police and Criminal Law Departments of Great Britain's Home Office. She has served as a magistrate and as a governor of the BBC. In 2000 she celebrated her eightieth birthday and published her autobiography, Time to Be in Earnest. The recipient of many prizes and honors, she was created Baroness James of Holland Park in 1991 and was inducted into the International Crime Writing Hall of Fame in 2008. She lives in London and Oxford.

Photo credit Ulla Montan

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best (crime) novels ever written..., August 28, 2002

By 

Mark "markrobcol" (FLOMATON, AL, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Innocent Blood (Paperback)

James is a great writer of detective/crime fiction. Her Adam Dalgleish series of novels are excellent, very readable and enjoyable.

She surpasses herself with "Innocent Blood", this 'stand alone' (i.e. not part of a detective/crime series) novel of crime and revenge. James tells the story of a young adoptee who, upon her 18th birthday, applies for the right to see her birth certificate and learn the identity of her birth parents. She discovers that her mother is in jail, convicted of murder, but is soon eligible for release. Someone else is aware of the impending release -- the father of the murder victim -- is waiting to exact revenge.

The character of the adoptee, her fantasies about her birth parents and her difficulties with her adoptive parents, is very well written. One aches at her adolescent self-assuredness which we suspect will lead her to painful revelations. The father of the murder victim seeking revenge is developed slowly and carefully so that one begins to wonder who is the criminal mind at work in the novel. His pursuit of his daughter's killer becomes the life-changing and animating event of his life.

The birth mother/murderer/revenge target is less well drawn -- and justly so. The action of the novel is driven by the fantasies, resentments and expectations that her daughter and father of her victim have about this enigmatic woman. It's apparent that who she really is is ultimately and tragically immaterial to those who so desperately seek her.

A great read and very well crafted and written novel. A must for crime fiction readers -- but a recommended read for anyone looking for a well-wrought compelling piece of contemporary British fiction.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps her finest work, August 22, 2001

By 

"cobblehill" (Westchester County, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Innocent Blood (Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series #7) (Paperback)

INNOCENT BLOOD is one of the most gripping books I have ever read. PD James takes a common childhood fantasy ('what if I were adopted?') and crafts a tale of a complex young woman on a thrilling, frightening, and ultimately empowering journey of self-discovery. Philippa Palfrey <was> adopted, but under circumstances far more grim than the Victorian melodramatics of her imagination. She locates her birth mother in prison and convinces her to live with her upon her release. Waiting for that very day is the father of a child Philippa's mother was convicted of killing. That man, named Scase, is truly creepy; James doesn't try to hide that yet still manages to evoke sympathy for him. The author builds the suspense to a shattering moment when mother, daughter, and Scase are brought together in a bizarre triptych; one is mad enough to kill, one is trying to kill, and one wants to die. Philippa is one of the most psychologically-complex characters ever to spring from James's vast imagination. Some readers will be shocked by the turn taken in Philippa's relationship with her adoptive father in the final chapters, but not a moment in this book rings false. I cannot praise INNOCENT BLOOD highly enough. Here, PD James is at the height of her awesome ability to set a scene -- you will see the drops of water on the laminated table in the adoption records office and smell the oranges in the grocery below Philippa's apartment. Thank you, PD James, for this thrilling read.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite P. D. James, but I'd give it 4.5 stars, December 16, 2004

By 

Neal J. Pollock (VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Innocent Blood (Paperback)

I'm amazed at the range of reactions to this book, but I liked it best of the 16 books of hers I've read. And there's no Dalgleish! This is a pretty heavy duty mystery with fantastic characterization and the equivalent of an airshow's twists and turns. Some may very well be put off by the ending, but if they all end the same, where's the mystery? But, like some of Block's Scudder novels, this mystery edges into the regime of real literature through the author's characterizations -- looking into the depths of humans. Enjoy.