P. D. James, 1920 - 2014

Phyllis Dorothy James White, rightfully known as "the Queen of Crime" for her cerebral multi-layered crime novels featuring Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh, is alas no more. She was 94. In a literary career spanning over half-a-century, James's natural flair for mystery bore to fruition as a series of stories - beginning with her brilliant Cover Her Face in 1962 -  that were at once both compelling and introspective, often taking a moralistic and psychological look at crime and violence. As a big time fan of James and her works, I can only offer my whole-hearted thanks for all those wonderful hours I spent cracking your mysteries. RIP!

"At the end of a book, I want to feel, well that’s as good as I can do – not as good, perhaps, as other people can do – but it’s as good as I can do. There are thousands of people who do like, for their recreational reading, a classical detective story, and I think they are entitled to have one which is also a good novel and well written. Those are the people I write for. They don’t want me to adapt to what I think is the popular market. They want a good novel, honestly written and I think they are jolly well entitled to it." - P. D. James at the book launch of Death in the Holy Orders in 2001.