None of the characters are particularly interesting to me -- again, I seemed to have read all about them before, in other crime novels. With a first impression of just 300, each copy is finished with printed endpapers, head and tail bands and a ribbon marker. I think that James wanted to make sure she set the scene, but it takes it a long while to get going and I was confused about who was who at first.

To support her family (which included two children), she took work in hospital administration and, after her husband’s death in 1964, became a civil servant in the criminal section of the Department of Home Affairs. D. James also made a great contribution to public life as a civil servant, a BBC Governor and as a peer of the realm. But the Maxie family barely has time to contend with her wily ways - on the following morning the whole village is shocked by the discovery of Sally Jupp's body. D. James does a great job with all of the characters that are introduced, but the book starts off very slowly. Inspector Dalglish is a non-entity so far and the many and various characters introduced up to know are somewhat confusing.Deborah later visits Stephen at the hospital where he works and sees her brother talking with Sally. D. James (author of Death Comes to Pemberley, The Murder Room and Children of Men ) plots a complex story of family secrets and suspicion.

I was working in London the summer of the year this book was first published but only now have I got round to reading it for the Kindle English Mystery Group. Martha has been using them to d

Coolly brilliant policeman Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard must find her killer among a houseful of suspects, most of whom had very good reason to wish her ill. In Cover her Face, none of the characters are overly likeable, but they are all very strongly presented, their actions, opinions and dialogue very human… if a little dated, in places. Cover Her Face was adapted for television in 1985, starring Roy Marsden, Phyllis Calvert and Mel Martin.