An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (Cordelia Gray Mysteries, No. 1)

I was very disappointed with this book. Years ago I read all of her Dagleish (sp?) books and really enjoyed them. But going back to her writing now, I realize it is rather silly. She is not good at characterizations; she tries too hard to make them deep or interesting, but they come out sounding more like mere descriptions instead. ...and boring.

I had read nearly all of the P.D. James 'Dalgliesh' books years ago but had been unaware of the Cordelia Gray books until recently. Having just finished reading <An Unsuitable Job For A Woman> in which Dalgliesh makes an appearance, I found it to be a first-rate story. Ms. Gray, a lightly-experienced former partner of an experienced male private detective, goes out on her own. She is hired by a wealthy Oxford scientist-businessman to look into the reasons why his son apparently committed suicide. This is the framework for an exciting and dangerous case for the young and bright Ms. Gray. The late P.D. James, whom I consider to be the doyenne of modern detective mysteries, was a skilled and otherwise masterful writer who always caused such books to be a pleasure to read.

When Cordelia Gray arrives at work, she has no premonition of trouble, but that sense of security is quickly shattered. When the receptionist tells her that her boss, Bernie Pride, is late and has left his door locked, Cordelia to sees her key to unlock the door. There she finds her mentor dead, having slit his wrists. Days later, with the cremation behind her, she returns to the office to find a well dressed woman impatiently waiting to see Mr. Pride; informed that he is dead, she calls her boss, who tells her to bring Cordelia to Cambridge for an interview. Afterwards, he hires her to investigate his son's suicide so he can understand why he killed himself. This novel is a solid mystery, with an interesting, if somewhat odd, cast of characters. But it is Cordelia herself who is the core of the book: she has depth, and this provides a rich underpinning for her search for truth. James is a fine writer, as one might expect of a member of the XXX writing group that contained Tolkien, Lewis, and Charles Williams. I can't wait to read the next book in this series.

Cordelia is assigned a case to find out why a privileged young man has hung himself. It becomes clear to her early on in the investigation though that this isn't a suicide case, but in fact a murder investigation. Anyone who likes classic mystery books should read this. I loved the fact that it wasn't just your average whodunit. True you were constantly wondering what would come next, but not only because you were interested in unraveling the mystery but also because the characters really come alive through the text. The characters actually feel like real people, instead of just stick-figures just there as props providing clues as is often the case in many mystery books I have read in the past.

P.D. James, “An Unsuitable Job for a Woman.” Bernie Pryde (former London cop – fired) and Cordelia Gray (young and uncredentialled) are partners and the only employees of a marginal private investigative agency. Pryde dies a suicide leaving everything such as it is to Gray. Her first case is to investigate the apparent suicide of the college student son of a rich and famous scientist. No shock: she learns the truth. On the whole I liked it because I rather liked her. There is too much quaintsy-English-literary jive writing about this garden, that copse, a lawn and such. The plot was nothing much – I solved it half way through – and Cordelia (only one King Lear reference) kept … (You know how, in a horror movie, the kids can either go to the police station or they can go to a chain saw factory and how the kids always pick the chain saw factory. Cordelia is one of those kids. In my head I was yelling “Call Sergeant MacLeash” or whatever his name was, but no – first she’s gotta check out the chain saws) .… getting into dangerous places she oughtn’t. Cordelia is honest, moral, decent, hard-working, serious, and bright. Not super bright but young and cautiously optimistic. Often enough a mystery novel succeeds for me because I want to spend time with the protagonist, think Holmes, Marlowe, Dupin, Sgt Cuff, Charles Paris, Professor Hilary Tamar. And so it is with Cordelia Gray.