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Product Description
Review
“A fine novel . . . from its very first pages you feel you are in marvellously sure hands.”
—The Times
“Irresistible.”
—Winnipeg Free Press
“Original, suspenseful, ingenious. . . . A whacking great whodunit by the reigning Queen of Mystery.”
—Calgary Sun
“Her concern with the psychological reality of her characters is complemented by a scrupulous attention to physical detail, an easy ear for dialogue and a concise voice for description. Taken together, these are an unfailing combination.”
—The Hamilton Spectator
"The reason it takes me so long to write is because it takes a long time for the characters to reveal themselves to me. My ambition as a writer is to make even the minor characters come alive."
—P. D. James
"James pulls out all the stops ... an overlay of lust; midnight apparitions; hairbreadth escapes."
—New York Magazine
"A masterly version of the clue-and-alibi game ... five star."
—The Guardian
—The Times
“Irresistible.”
—Winnipeg Free Press
“Original, suspenseful, ingenious. . . . A whacking great whodunit by the reigning Queen of Mystery.”
—Calgary Sun
“Her concern with the psychological reality of her characters is complemented by a scrupulous attention to physical detail, an easy ear for dialogue and a concise voice for description. Taken together, these are an unfailing combination.”
—The Hamilton Spectator
"The reason it takes me so long to write is because it takes a long time for the characters to reveal themselves to me. My ambition as a writer is to make even the minor characters come alive."
—P. D. James
"James pulls out all the stops ... an overlay of lust; midnight apparitions; hairbreadth escapes."
—New York Magazine
"A masterly version of the clue-and-alibi game ... five star."
—The Guardian
Book Description
Fading star Clarissa Lisle plans a spectacular comeback, to be staged in a gothic castle. But poison-pen letters bearing death threats couched in Shakespearian quotations prompt Clarissa's husband to call in the young private detective Cordelia Gray to investigate.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable But Slightly Flawed,
By
This review is from: The Skull Beneath The Skin (Paperback)
Private investigator Cordelia Gray has been hired by Sir George Ralston to accompany his wife, Clarissa, to Courcy Island, where Clarissa is to star in a play. Cordelia's mission is to keep the persistent poison pen letters away from Clarissa. They've already caused one meltdown on stage and Sir George doesn't want another. Protecting Clarissa from the letters is one thing, but protecting her from death is something else. When Clarissa is discovered murdered prior to the performance, Cordelia's guilt prompts her to help find the killer.The Skull Beneath the Skin is classic P.J. James, employing the same style as her Dalgleish mysteries, with suspects cloistered in a remote area and plenty of bad blood to go around. However, the primary difference between Gray and Dalgleish novels is the protagonists. Cordelia shares similar traits with Dalgleish in that she's focused, serious, and resourceful, but there's much more. Her youth, emotion, compassion, and doubts are all beautifully displayed through inner monologue that gives readers an intimacy lacking in a Dalgleish novel Since this isn't a police procedural and James incorporates multiple viewpoints, there is a jarring section from the police POV, which has little to do with Cordelia, and went on too long. Also, as Cordelia searches for a piece of the missing puzzle on the mainland toward the end of the book, she makes a baffling error in judgment by not sharing a key piece if evidence with the police. Still, I enjoyed the book, as Cordelia was a breath of fresh air from the stodgy Dalgleish.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Again, Cordelia Gray,
By
This review is from: The Skull Beneath the Skin (Cordelia Gray Mysteries No. 2) (Paperback)
To the best of my knowledge, P.D. James only wrote two books about her young female detective Cordelia Gray. That's unfortunate, because I enjoyed both of them very much, especially this one. It has all of the "classic" elements of the British murder mystery: the castle, an island, an oddly assorted company, a butler, an interesting wealthy man, assorted relatives, and a grisly murder. Cordelia must sort out everything in the end, and even though the ultiumate outcome is somewhat in doubt, there's rarely a dull moment throughout this book. You follow Ms. Gray's progress avidly, and try to keep up with what's going on around her to gather your own clues about the murder. I'll admit that I was shocked at the resolution of the mystery, and that's one of the reasons I enjoyed the book so much. If you haven't read Ms. James, start with "An Unsuitable Job For A Woman", the first Cordelia Gray mystery, and then progress to this work. You won't be disappointed!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.7 out of 5 stars (27 customer reviews) 35 of 37 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Again, Cordelia Gray,
By Frank J. Konopka - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Skull Beneath the Skin (Cordelia Gray Mysteries No. 2) (Paperback)
To the best of my knowledge, P.D. James only wrote two books about her young female detective Cordelia Gray. That's unfortunate, because I enjoyed both of them very much, especially this one. It has all of the "classic" elements of the British murder mystery: the castle, an island, an oddly assorted company, a butler, an interesting wealthy man, assorted relatives, and a grisly murder. Cordelia must sort out everything in the end, and even though the ultiumate outcome is somewhat in doubt, there's rarely a dull moment throughout this book. You follow Ms. Gray's progress avidly, and try to keep up with what's going on around her to gather your own clues about the murder. I'll admit that I was shocked at the resolution of the mystery, and that's one of the reasons I enjoyed the book so much. If you haven't read Ms. James, start with "An Unsuitable Job For A Woman", the first Cordelia Gray mystery, and then progress to this work. You won't be disappointed!
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
P.D. James makes an unwelcome departure,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Skull Beneath the Skin (Paperback)
Cordelia Gray, the brave and endearing young private investigator who made her debut in P.D. James' AN UNSUITABLE JOB FOR A WOMAN, returns in the author's eighth whodunit, THE SKULL BENEATH THE SKIN. The title's from Webster, and it's a fitting one; the story literally reeks of the theater. Clarissa Lisle is a bitchy, fading actress determined to salvage her career as the star of an amateur production of Webster's "The Duchess of Malfi," staged in a restored Victorian theater on Courcy Island, just off the coast of Dorset. Lisle has been receiving mysterious poison-pen letters, death notes in the form of quotations from Shakespeare and Webster, and has hired Cordelia to discover their source. The castle on Courcy Island becomes the stage for a tense gathering of Clarissa's friends, relatives, and guests--each of whom, we learn, has excellent motive for killing the actress. When the death does inevitably occur, Cordelia finds herself left with a case of murder that she fully intends to--and does--unravel.THE SKULL BENEATH THE SKIN may be the most stylish, lavishly mounted novel that James has written. It's an overflowing mixture of the elements of the detective/horror tale at its most clichéd--the closed circle of suspects in a Victorian castle on a small island serviced by a spooky, tight-lipped butler and his wife, a crypt filled with skulls, a collection of memorabilia from past murders, frightening knick-knacks in the shapes of human appendages...it's all gloriously entertaining, never for a minute even coming close to realism. And therein lies the fatal flaw of the novel. P.D. James' novels are seldom been anything but realistic, but she seems to have broken the rule in THE SKULL BENEATH THE SKIN. The Gothic horror, portrayed in a darkly comic manner, clashes painfully with her finely drawn, introspective characters (except Clarissa Lisle, one of the few two-dimensional stereotypes who pop up in James' fiction) and flawlessly crafted prose. It's as if she's written two completely different novels, one a brilliant character study, the other a conventional ghost story, and meshed them together with little regard for the coherence of the result. Until now, James has done a marvelous job proving that the English mystery can make an extraordinarily fine mainstream novel; unfortunately, she's also shown that the magic combination can work only when her settings are serious and controlled. THE SKULL BENEATH THE SKIN is not serious. It's not too far from out-and-out comedy, and James' admirable but vain attempts to weave her fantastic set pieces and excessively necrophilic atmosphere into a profound work of fiction makes it even more funny. Not that most readers will care. This is still an absorbing entertainment--substantial, cunningly plotted, and beautifully written. More discriminating readers will conclude that either THE SKULL BENEATH THE SKIN is a parody written by a skilled impersonator, or P.D. James has seen one Dracula movie too many. 16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
"I'm afraid of death--the skull beneath the skin.",
By Mary Whipple - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Skull Beneath the Skin (Cordelia Gray Mysteries No. 2) (Paperback)
Now almost twenty-five years old, this mystery by P. D. James is a delightful entertainment, filled with plot twists and turns, over-the-top action, and characters who are so exaggerated that they might be considered caricatures. Cordelia Gray, a detective whose job is usually the finding of lost pets, is hired to guard egomaniacal actress Clarissa Lisle during the days leading up to her performance in The Duchess of Malfi. Always preoccupied with death, Clarissa has recently received threatening notes, leaving her hysterical on the eve of her performance.Both Cordelia Gray and Clarissa Lisle are staying at Sir Ambrose Gorringe's Victorian castle, perched high on a remote island where Gorringe has restored the theater at which Clarissa will perform. A collector of morbid relics, including, most recently, the arm from a memorial statue of a dead child, Gorringe also delights in telling the island's history as a place where German POWs were interned. When, despite precautions, Clarissa Lisle is, in fact, murdered--with the marble arm from the dead child's statue--the reader is presented with a typical "closed room" murder, the killer obviously one of a dozen or so people staying at the castle, each with a possible motive for killing Clarissa--the need of money for a business, blackmail, long-standing hatred, blame for the death of a child, humiliation, rejection. As the police (and Cordelia) investigate, the story of the island and the death of a German prisoner plays a role in the action. As always, James's eerie setting furthers the mystery and enhances the suspense. The quirky and memorable characters are well drawn, but they often border on absurdity, and James's large cast and her use of stereotypes prevent significant character development. The unfolding mystery and constant plot twists keep the reader guessing--just when the murderer has been "uncovered," doubts arise about other characters and their possible involvement. Additional deaths keep the tension high, and the ending, in keeping with the tone of the novel, shows the decadence of these "elite" characters. Numerous quotations from plays by Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeare, and John Webster add additional (and ironic) dramatic punch to this mystery-melodrama. Highly entertaining and often wickedly amusing. Mary Whipple |
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