A Certain Justice, P. D. James
A Certain Justice, P. D. James
4 Rating(s)
List: $24.00 | Sale: $16.80
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A Certain Justice
An Adam Dalgliesh Novel

Author: P. D. James

Narrator: Penelope Dellaporta

Unabridged: 18 hr 17 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/15/2013


Synopsis

It begins, dramatically enough, with a trial for murder. The distinguished criminal lawyer Venetia Aldridge is defending Garry Ashe on charges of having brutally killed his aunt. For Aldridge the trial is mainly a test of her courtroom skills, one more opportunity to succeed--and she does. But now murder is in the air. The next victim will be Aldridge herself, stabbed to death at her desk in her Chambers in the Middle Temple, a bloodstained wig on her head. Enter Commander Adam Dalgliesh and his team, whose struggle to investigate and understand the shocking events cannot halt the spiral into more horrors, more murders...

A Certain Justice is P.D. James at her strongest.  In her first foray into the strange closed world of the Law Courts and the London legal community, she has created a fascinating tale of interwoven passion and terror. As each character leaps into unforgettable life, as each scene draws us forward into new complexities of plot, she proves yet again that no other writer can match her skill in combining the excitement of the classic detective story with the richness of a fine novel. In its subtle portrayal of morality and human behavior, A Certain Justice will stand alongside Devices and Desires and A Taste for Death as one of P.D. James's most important, accomplished and entertaining works.

About The Author

P. D. James was the author of twenty books, many of which feature her detective hero Adam Dalgliesh and have been televised or filmed. She was the recipient of many honors, including the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award and the National Arts Club Medal of Honor for Literature, and in 1991 was created Baroness James of Holland Park. She died in 2014.


Reviews

Goodreads review by John on June 18, 2023

One of the best PD James I have read. The twist at the end is brilliant. Venetia a QC is murdered in her chambers office and there is an awfully long list of suspects. Most if her colleagues, the murderer Ashe she recently got acquitted and who has mysteriously started a relationship with her estran......more

Goodreads review by Bionic Jean on November 26, 2024

Solidly written and absorbing crime mystery. The characters and backstory are particularly well drawn and "whodunnit" aspect nicely baffling. It is P.D. James' 10th Adam Dalgliesh novel, and they have got noticeably lengthier and more complex as the series has progressed.......more


Quotes

“Shocking. . . . Fascinating. . . . Sucks the reader in right from the dramatic first line.”Los Angeles Times

“Deeply satisfying. . . . A psychologically abundant tale.” The Boston Globe

“Vintage James. . . . Around her central drama, James creates these smaller worlds with forensic precision.” The New York Times Book Review
 
“Gripping.”The Wall Street Journal

“[A] darkly thrilling tale.” San Francisco Chronicle

“A complex, gripping story. . . . It has the trademark virtues of James’s fictions: a dense weave of characters, a careful, winding plot, and above all a richly evoked sense of place.”Newsday

“Jaw-dropping.” Entertainment Weekly

Certain to entertain you . . . a tale well worth reading.” Chicago Tribune

“Enthralling. . . . [P. D. James’s] stories always captivate.” —Associated Press

“Gripping. . . . The suspense never flags.” Mademoiselle

“This is a P. D. James case to shiver through and revel in—dark page by dark page.” Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“As always, James proves to be a masterful storyteller . . . she remains as intrigued by the mysteries of the human condition as she is by the intricacies of detection.” The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“Taut, suspenseful, and deeply penetrating.” The Baltimore Sun

“Another winner. . . . In what may be the best of her Dalgliesh series, James creates a gallery of memorable characters and furnishes them with a complex yet convincing story, gracefully told.” The San Diego Union-Tribune

“A compelling tale of pride, deceit, and revenge.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“A P. D. James mystery moves with stately dignity, gathering force, offering circumstance and biography, intricately linked means and motivations, quick horrors, the boredom of routine, the inevitability of tragedy, the implacable power of the past.” Detroit News Free Press

“The incomparable James is at the top of her form. . . . [She] interweaves crimes old and new in this brilliantly plotted novel that depicts the many faces of the human psyche and contemplates the question, ‘What is justice?’” Library Journal

“Riveting. . . . Immensely satisfying in both its intricate plot and complexity of characters. . . . James leads readers on a page-turning journey. . . . Themes of obsession, neglect, revenge, and ambition fuel this emotionally powerful puzzler.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)

 “The most electric opening of any of James’s novels.” Kirkus Reviews (starred review)