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60 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dame James is back!, November 29, 2003
Any P.D. James is preferable to no P.D. James and while some readers may have found "The Murder Room" faint in some areas, Dame James' latest Adam Dalgleish is, well, Adam Dalgleish. How can a reader go wrong? Granted, James has given us a new twist (Adam is in love and her traditional police procedural takes a different turn. But before one cries "soap opera," "The Murder Room" is not about Adam Dalgliesh's personal life. It is about a series of murder, a plot outline with which James is quite comfortable and her legions of fans come to expect. Circumstances surround the undertakings (forgive the pun) of the Dupayne Museum,, a small, rather esoteric, museum devoted to the "interwar years," the period in England from 1919 to 1939. However, the rub is that the lease on the museum is about to expire and the three trustees (siblings) must agree totally on its extension or else the museum cannot continue. One brother, Dr. Neville Dupayne, is dead set (forgive the pun again) against signing; thus the demise of the museum is at hand, it appears. Quickly into the book, the good doctor is found burned alive in very suspicious circumstances and just about everyone has a motive for seeing him dead. Commander Dalgleish and his team from New Scotland Yard are called in and before this death can be solved, two others follow, all with connections to the museum. James clearly is in charge of this narrative and, as always, controls the pace and the revelations of the investigation. Dalgleish is, as always, superb. The resolution comes not through histrionics or melodrama, but the James/Dalgleish penchant for brilliance. Is this James' best? Hmmmm. "The best" is probably the individual reader's personal choice, as I've yet to read a "bad" James, or even a "poor" one. "The Murder Room" joins the other dozen or so Dalglieshes comfortably. It is an excellent read. (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good but not her best book....., January 24, 2004
I hate to give any book by P.D.James less than five stars, but as mysteries go THE MURDER ROOM is not one of her better books. She gets four stars from me because even on her worst days James is better than most of her fellow mystery writers. James strength lies in her character development, and as ususal, in THE MURDER ROOM she has done a wonderful job of getting into the heads of the principle players and sharing their "secrets" with the reader. James also has a great talent for setting the stage and if you like being transported to England via armchair you should know that no one does it better--probably why the dramatized versions of her books are so well done. However, plot development has never been James strong suit. She often has difficulty linking the murderer's personality with the motive to kill. Her characters seem like ordinary human beings, but sooner or later one of them does something horrendous which seems all out of character and "overkill" for someone who could probably figure out a better way to get on. Maybe that's the nature of murder--stupid. However, for James, it's almost as though having created a fully rounded character she has difficulty connecting her creation with the act of committing murder. Sometimes she pulls it off, other times not. When she fails, the end is often frenetic and stretches the imagination beyond the breaking point. I will always read James' tales because I appreciate her philosophical insights acquired over a long life lived in interesting times. I bought the hardcover version of this book, but I am recommending to friends that they buy a used book (if they don't borrow mine), check the book out of the library, or wait for the soft cover. The price is too steep for the contents within.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
P.D. James never disappoints..., December 27, 2003
The latest installment in the Adam Dalgliesh series, "The Murder Room" is classic P.D. James. As some previous reviews have correctly pointed out, there is nothing new in this book. As a reader, the appeal of P.D. James is not the search for something new, but rather the confidence of a high quality, well written mystery. "The Murder Room" is set in a privately held, small, family museum that focuses on the interware years of 1919-39. The title refers to one room in the museum that features infamous murders from this time period. As always, P.D. James fills the book with interesting and complex characters--two dysfunctional families, loyal caretakers, mis-guided youths, and of course, New Scotland Yard. Sex, intrigue, loyalty, and of course, money, create alliances between some characters while pitting others against one another. Although the reader knows the murderer is likely to be closely connected to the museum, P.D. James leaves the reader guessing until quite close to the end. The detailed character development, and the way the words lead the reader to envision the atmosphere of this country museum will keep you entranced until the end.
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