Book Log 2009 #54: Cover Her Face by P. D. James

This is the first in the series of Adam Dalgliesh mysteries, and I have to say that while reading it I was reminded more than once of The Moonstone. Not so much for plot similarities - though both involve crimes committed in an English country house - but for those conventions that The Moonstone set for future mystery novels, many of which are present.

What is missing to some extent is the bumbling local cop, as Dalgliesh is on the scene pretty early. There's little hint in this book of the cop he'll become - there is a reference to the loss of his wife and child, but not of his poetry - and for most of the book he's more or less a minor character, only taking his rightful place when it's time to reveal the killer.

By then, though, I'd lost interest and never finished the book. Probably not the best sign that I bailed out right at the point where I should care the most. Also, as it was written in 1962 there are occasional moments that date things (references to the recent war and such), but that's really just a distraction rather than a reason to not read the book. The overall dullness of the case? That's a reason not to read the book, unless you want to read the whole series, in which case you're pretty much stuck.