Cover Her Face is the debut 1962 crime novel of P. D. James. [1] It details the investigations into the death of a young, ambitious maid, surrounded by a family which has reasons to want her gone – or dead. The title is taken from a passage from John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi: " Cover her face. Mine eyes dazzle; she died young," which is quoted by one of the characters in the novel. Investigating the violent death at the manor house, Detective Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh becomes embroiled in the complicated passions beneath the calm surface of English country life.

Cover Her Face - Media Centre - BBC Cover Her Face - Media Centre - BBC

Her first detective story, immediately pleasing and impressive. The pace is deliberate, the characterization of the members of an English county family very well done, and the central character of Sally Jupp – a servant girl with imagination and a love of power – most unusual but compelling. Insp. Dalgliesh is perhaps too quietly competent in his disclosure of Sally's killer – and, despite the title, the girl isn't a Duchess of Malfi." [3] – A Catalogue of Crime Boucher, Anthony (24 July 1966). "Criminals at Large". The New York Times. New York . Retrieved 13 April 2017. BBC Radio 4 Extra continues its celebration this week of the centenary of the birth of renowned crime fiction novelist, PD James.From P. D. James, one of the masters of British crime fiction, comes the debut novel that introduced Scotland Yard detective Adam Dalgliesh. Set in the peaceful English countryside, Cover Her Face is a classic murder mystery. That is the thing I always will most remember about her: what a kind woman she was, how she did her very best to make you feel good.’ The novel ends with a later meeting between Adam Dalgliesh and Deborah Riscoe, where it is hinted that a future relationship will develop between them.

Cover Her Face by P. D. James | Waterstones Cover Her Face by P. D. James | Waterstones

Barzun, Jacques and Taylor, Wendell Hertig. A Catalogue of Crime. New York: Harper & Row. 1971, revised and enlarged edition 1989. ISBN 0-06-015796-8 Mr. and Mrs. Proctor – Sally's aunt and uncle who raised her after her parents were killed during the Blitz Deborah later visits Stephen at the hospital where he works and sees her brother talking with Sally. Stephen says that Sally had brought him some of their terminally ill father's sleeping tablets, Sommeil, which she found under old Mr. Maxie's bed. Stephen suspects that Mr. Maxie has managed to deceive his devoted servant Martha, pretending to take the tablets when he is simply concealing them for a suicide attempt. On the day of St. Cedd's church fete, Sally announces that Stephen has asked her to marry him. The following day, Martha complains that Sally has overslept again. On entering the room, Sally's strangled body is found. Detective Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh and Detective Sergeant Martin arrive and begin their investigation.The story opens with a dinner party hosted by Mrs. Eleanor Maxie at Martingale, a manor house in the (fictional) Essex village of Chadfleet. Mrs. Maxie's son and daughter, Stephen Maxie and Deborah Riscoe, are both at the party. Serving at table is Sally Jupp, chosen from a local refuge for unmarried mothers to help in the house by Mrs Maxie and now living in with her infant son, Jimmy. Also present at the meal are Steven's former romantic interest, Catherine Bowers; Alice Liddell, warden of St Mary's Refuge; and Dr Epps, the family doctor. In a 1966 book review, Anthony Boucher of The New York Times wrote "This is a literate and not unpromising first novel, but modeled firmly upon the detective story of 30 years ago at its dullest... When I keep urging a return to the formal detective story, this is not what I mean." [4] Adaptations edit Extra’s celebration continues on Thursday at 6.30pm with Great Lives, as Matthew Parris talks to crime writer Val McDermid about the life of PD James. From 2015. The murder of housemaid Sally Jupp reveals a web hidden passions beneath the calm surface of a village in East Anglia.