P.D. James: Queen of Crime Fiction

P.D. James

Phyllis Dorothy (P.D.) James, who wrote eighteen crime novels over a career spanning fifty years, made her indelible mark on the genre by following an old adage most writers are taught: write what you know.

James enriched the realism of her novels by tapping into her work as an administrator in the forensic science and criminal law divisions of the Home Office. With her in-depth knowledge, she was able to immerse readers directly in the investigations in her novels, such as in both Death of an Expert Witness and A Taste for Death, two of her best works. And she used her earlier first- hand experience at the National Health Service to create the detailed, realistic setting of a nurse’s training school for Shroud for a Nightingale (1971).

James wrote her first novel, Cover Her Face (1962), in the morning before going to her hospital job. It took her three years but the novel, once published, was an instant success. And a large measure of the success is owed to her creation of her protagonist, detective/poet Adam Dalgliesh. A new kind of hero for the genre, Dalgliesh is a Scotland Yard detective who is a thorough professional, intelligent but also sensitive.

James remained within her genre throughout her career, but she was never formulaic or predictable. She was always stretching her talents and searching out new approaches to her work.

In interviews, James has said that the genesis of most of her books came from her reaction to a specific place. The Black Tower, another of her standout novels and one of her darkest, is set in a nursing home on the Dorset coast. It is the ideal bleak and isolated atmosphere for a story with many elements of psychological suspense. The brutal, gory murders in A Taste for Death take place in the usually quiet and serene vestry of a church.

In An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, James introduced a young, independent female PI, Cordelia Gray, who proved a precursor for 1980’s blockbuster series about tough, single, independent women PIs such as Sara Paretsky’s VI Warshawski; and Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone. These women are smart and street-wise. They know how to handle guns and criminals and are tenacious in their quest to solve their cases.

James’ novel Children of Men (1992) is a dystopian novel set in the future when the human race has become infertile. While not a crime novel per se, James created suspense, richly realized characters and a compelling plot that keeps readers turning the pages.

And perhaps her best work, Innocent Blood (1980) is a crime novel that is elevated to literary status. It is a complex, psychological thriller in which a young woman searches for her natural parents only to discover more horrors than she was prepared to learn.

The New York Times has rightly called James a “champion of the detective mystery.” She saw detective fiction as one of the pleasures and comforts readers seek “from the inevitable tensions and anxieties of contemporary life.”

And over her illustrious career, James produced a body of work that continues to bring readers pleasure and comfort as well as mystery and excitement.

Sarah Cain: Author of the Danny Ryan suspense series

Suspense author Sarah Cain talks books, her experience as a debut novelist, and the latest novel in her Danny Ryan series

Sarah Cain

CQ: First of all, congratulations on the publication of your second Danny Ryan novel, One by One.

You mentioned in your blog that writing a sequel to your debut novel The Eighth Circle gave you the opportunity to give your protagonist new ways to grow. What will readers learn about Ryan in this novel that they didn’t know from reading the first book in the series?

SC: In The Eighth Circle, Danny is very much a loner who is consumed by grief. He’s estranged from his brother and unable to get over the death of his son (and to some extent) his wife. He stumbles into the whole intrigue more or less by accident, but he misses a lot because he’s always looking inward. In the second book, he’s reconciled to a great degree with his brother and started to get on with his life, and he shows some of the skills that made him a good reporter.

CQ: What or who was your inspiration for creating the character of Danny Ryan? In some reviews, he’s described as brooding and incorruptible.

SC: There are so many reporters and columnists I admire, but I have to single out John Baer who writes about politics for the Philadelphia Daily News. He’s not particularly brooding, but he does have a wicked sense of humor and a font of fantastic stories, and he also was kind enough to read an early draft of The Eighth Circle and cheer me on. So I was thinking of the hard-working people like John when I came up with Danny.

CQ: You published your first novel in 2016. What was your experience like being a debut author?

SC: It’s a lot of fun when it first happens. Very exciting. You go to conferences and meet people. I got to be on panels at Left Coast Crime and Bouchercon, which was a lot of fun and hanging with mystery writers and fans is the best. Then you have to write the next book in a year, which is a lot less fun.

CQ: Your very favorable Kirkus starred review of The Eighth Circle states that you have nailed down the noir genre. Would you classify your work as noir?

SC: I’d say the characters are very shaded, and I don’t wrap up the ending in a tidy bow. The Eighth Circle was very dark because of the subject matter, I think One By One is a bit less dark. I like to think of these novels as a journey. Danny starts at the lowest point in his life and has to move on, but he works in a profession where he’s surrounded by a lot of bad things. Someone asked me if I believed that there were really conspiracies going on as in The Eighth Circle. I don’t think there are conspiracies so much as connections made among the rich and powerful that exclude the little people.

CQ: What are you currently working on?  Will there be another novel in the Danny Ryan series?

SC: I am currently working on the next Danny Ryan novel. The working title is The Judas Goat. It's also a much lighter novel about an archaeologist turned detective when she finds human bones in a river. It’s sort of a based on my youngest daughter’s adventures (the archaeologist part, not the detective part).

CQ: I know you’re an avid reader as well as an accomplished writer. What books are you reading now?

SC Right now I’m reading Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, which is a wonderfully witty look at the end of the world or almost the end of the world. I just finished Asking for It by Louise O’Neill, which is a young adult novel about date rape and it was a tough but excellent read.

CQ: Any books stand out over the years as being inspirational for your own writing?

SC: I love Dennis Lehane’s Mystic River, Daphne DuMaurier’s Rebecca and My Cousin Rachel, Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. I also love the great Shirley Jackson because she takes ordinary situations and turns them around. Her short stories are little gems, and The Haunting of Hill House is a particular favorite. Also one of my all time favorites, Jane Eyre.

CQ: When you’re not writing, what do you enjoy doing?

SC: When I can, I travel. My kids are scattered from Washington, DC, to Boston, to Ireland, so I do try to get to see them as often as possible. I have a great time hanging around young people; everything is very urgent and full of color. I always come away with a bunch of ideas. I’m also studying French in a vain effort to recapture some knowledge of the language. Progress is slow. I hate cooking, so I go out a lot with friends and family. I also have two demanding cats that require much pampering. Sometimes I like to sit like a slug in front of the TV and watch things like Black Mirror or movies. This is usually done with my husband. We can be quite lazy, especially in the winter.

https://sarahcainauthor.com/