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The Murder Room

by P. D. James

P.D. James just seems to get better and better. Forget the aphorism concerning senior citizens or anyone over a certain age claiming you lose vigor, power, and talent along with gradual decay of the body. The older Ms. James gets, the more she succeeds in astonishing us with her ability to write, and write beautifully. Here indeed is proof that you can go either way as you accumulate life years. P.D. James is one of Britain's top mystery novelists, and the recipient of many justly deserved awards.

The Murder Room uses her usual protagonist, Commander Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard to ferret out the murderer in this book. Over the years of writing about him, Dalgliesh has risen in rank and aged along with his author – although perhaps not quite at the same rate! Dalgliesh is called in to investigate a really gruesome murder at the Dupayne Museum – a private organization catering to those interested in the interwar years of 1919 to 1939. His personal touch is required due to possible influence from important personages whose images might become contaminated unless the case is solved quickly – and quietly.

The murder involves the death of one of the three trustees of the museum, all members of the same family. The murdered one was he whose signature was necessary for the organization to continue, but he happened to be the only member who didn't want it to continue. This provides the primary motive, although it becomes more and more difficult to think that the other two trustees would deliberately do away with their brother, especially in such a horrific fashion. The murdered man was burned alive in his own car, in the garage adjoining the museum.

Then even as the Commander and his team are investigating this death, another occurs in what is termed The Murder Room of the museum itself. Here can be found artifacts and photos of the most famous murders and murderers of the interwar period. Since this second body is discovered in one of the accouterments there, it's immediately labeled a 'copycat' murder, even though it's later discovered that it took place around the identical time the first death occurred – a murder that had no relation to anyone or anything in The Murder Room.

Only the museum staff and volunteers are on the suspect list. Only they knew the most pertinent facts which allowed the first murder to happen, and only they would be affected if the museum were actually forced to close down. Most intriguing is the fact that the second murder is that of a young girl – a former student of one of the trustees who works primarily at Swathling's, a private school for girls. Plus the eventual uncovered fact that this female trustee, who keeps a flat over the museum as well as her flat at the school, has used the museum flat for purposes other than simply occupying it when the need arose.

The third murder actually occurs after an attempted one, and reveals the murderer at last, along with the motive. Before that, however, P.D. James' adroit penmanship requires us to vacillate between all members of the museum staff, keeping us wondering who the actual culprit might be right up to the very end. Even when you know that in most murder mystery novels the murderer usually turns out to be the person least suspected, the final revelation comes as a complete surprise – another tribute to the excellence of Ms. James' written construction.

Anyone who enjoys an English mystery is encouraged to add the work of P.D. James to their reading list. To meet Adam Dalgliesh at any point in his fictional career is to admire the man, and Ms. James makes sure she involves us intimately in every one of her characterizations, including his. Her fictional people become very real, with all the intricacies and variations of actual humanity – a gift demonstrated after careful observation of those with whom Ms. James has come in contact, I'm sure!

Alan Paul Curtis

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