The Murder Room (Inspector Adam Dalgliesh Mystery)

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The eminence grise of British detective fiction, James delivers another ruminative puzzler, generous in character, graceful in prose.” — The Village Voice The privately owned Dupayne Museum, dedicated to the history of England between the world wars, is going to close unless all three trustees agree to keep it in business. When the sole dissenting trustee, psychiatrist Neville Dupayne, is found burned alive in his Jaguar in the museum’s garage, the question of the museum’s future is rather gruesomely put to rest, and a new case opens for Commander Adam Dalgliesh. The murder is uncannily similar to one described in the museum’s popular Murder Room, which preserves objects related to some of the era’s most lurid crimes. Dalgliesh and his team are burdened with a wealth of possible suspects: nearly everyone involved in the museum had reasons to want to keep the museum open—and therefore to wish Neville Dupayne out of the way. Even his daughter, who wants to take a long vacation from her failing career, is a suspect. Two more murders follow, each carefully copying elements of cases from the Murder Room. Meanwhile, Dalgliesh is unusually keen on solving this case, as it is keeping him from spending time with Emma Lavenham, his first real love interest in years. Riveting. . . . The Murder Room possesses everything we desire from James. . . . [Her] lovely, clear prose travels at a stately pace, never cluttered by random violence or unnecessary characters, taking us where we need to be with assurance, intelligence and grace. No word or action is wasted; everyone and everything matters.” — The Chicago Tribune The BBC adapted the book for a two-part, three-hour TV production released in 2004, starring Martin Shaw as Dalgliesh and Janie Dee as Lavenham. The production was released on DVD in the U.S. in October 2005.

The “murder room” of the title is a gallery of a private museum specializing in interwar Britain. This exhibition area of the Dupayne Museum includes artifacts related to famous homicides of the era. Soon after police commander Adam Dalgliesh and a friend visit the museum, one of the museum’s trustees is found dead. Neville Dupayne has been burned up in his car in the museum’s garage. He and his siblings, Caroline and Marcus, were appointed trustees by the founder, their late father. Part of the mystery revolves around the upcoming decision to close the museum, which is in financial straits. Neville alone favored closing it. Was he killed for this reason? James Esler (Litvinenko) as Neville Dupayne - a doctor who has a fraught relationship with his siblings Cover Her Face (1985): Dalgliesh and Massingham (Vine) follow a young girl and a trail of death to a beautiful country home. Features Mel Martin as Deborah Riscoe. Many moments in The Murder Room recall the prominence of war in characters’ memories. Emma remembers walking with her nurse to a war memorial [p. 46], David Wilkins wants to own a painting of Passchendaele as a memorial to his grandfather [p. 250], Tally remembers the bombing raid that orphaned her [p. 49], and Dalgliesh remembers his family’s gardener’s stories about his service in World War I [p. 209]. What larger point is James making about the two world wars and their impact on English life?Difficult–and delightful–as it is to believe, P. D. James keeps getting better. . . . The Murder Room might be the best mystery novel of 2003. . . . This is a book to savor . . . with writing so felicitous the reader doesn’t want it to end.” — Indianapolis Star Adam Dalgliesh is in love: “He felt as vulnerable as a boy in love for the first time. . . . Somehow he had to find the courage to risk that rejection, to accept the momentous presumption that Emma might love him” [pp. 28–29]. In The Murder Room, the hero’s personal life impinges, to some degree, on his professional life. How is the love plot—Dalgliesh’s interest in Emma Lavenham and hers in him—incorporated into the mystery plot? Series 2, Episodes 5 & 6: The Murder Room: A young doctor is set on fire in the grounds of his family museum. Everyone who works there comes under suspicion - including his own siblings. [38] [39] In this volume, Dalgliesh is called to investigate the death of a brilliant forensic scientist who was found murdered in his own laboratory. Though talented and well-respected, the man was said to be intensely unpleasant – with no shortage of people who might have liked to see him dead.

Newly recovered from a serious illness, Dalgliesh is called to the bedside of an elderly priest. Sadly, Father Baddeley is dead when he arrives. His gut tells him something's off, but his recent brush with death makes him wonder if he can trust his own judgment. James, P. D. (20 November 2008). "Original Sin". Faber & Faber . Retrieved 25 June 2023– via Google Books. Series 2, Episodes 3 & 4: A Certain Justice: Dalgliesh investigates the murder of defence barrister Venetia Aldridge. Could a client for whom she recently secured an acquittal be involved in her death? [36] [37]Series 1, Episodes 5 & 6: A Taste for Death: Two dead bodies are discovered in a church - one is a former Member of Parliament, while the other is a local vagrant. The investigation leads Dalgliesh, DS Masterson and DS Miskin into the world of the British nobility, where everyone seems to have secrets. [35]