# P.D. James the mystery author died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 27, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-d-james-the-mystery-author-died/705778 "2014-11-27T18:40:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-d-james-the-mystery-author-died/705778/1 "2014-11-27T18:40:10Z")
She brought me many, many hours of pleasure reading her books. ☹ She helped reinvent the genre. There were 14 books featuring Adam\_Dalgliesh. R.I.P. [PD James Wiki entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._D._James) [Her character Adam Dalgliesh wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Dalgliesh) > **[P.D. James, acclaimed mystery writer, dies at 94](https://www.nydailynews.com/2014/11/27/pd-james-acclaimed-mystery-writer-dies-at-94/)** > > P.D. James, the British mystery writer best known for creating Scotland Yard sleuth Adam Dalgliesh, has died. She was 94. James died Thursday at her home in Oxford, England, said her publisher, Fab… > [@](#): > > Publisher Faber and Faber says mystery writer P.D. James, who brought realistic modern characters to the classical British detective story, has died. She was 94. > > James’ books, many featuring sleuth Adam Dalgliesh, sold millions in many countries and most were just as popular when adapted for television. > > The publisher said James died Thursday at her home in Oxford, southern England. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-d-james-the-mystery-author-died/705778/2 "2014-11-27T18:43:17Z")
Whodunit? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-d-james-the-mystery-author-died/705778/3 "2014-11-27T19:01:40Z")
I’ve always enjoyed her books. This, from the NYTimes article you cited, is priceless: > [@](#): > > Roy Marsden played Dalgliesh on the “Mystery!” adaptations. Ms. James found him to be a “good actor, but he’s not my Dalgliesh.” Unlike Mr. Marsden, Dalgliesh had a full head of hair and no mustache. And Ms. James was troubled by “the class thing.” Her commander, she said, “wouldn’t wear some of the clothes Roy does, he wouldn’t wear his signet ring on the wrong finger, he wouldn’t have talked to Lady Ursula Berowne with his hand in his pocket, as he did.” ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-d-james-the-mystery-author-died/705778/4 "2014-11-27T19:14:56Z")
Love that, **ThelmaLou**. I’m so sorry to hear of her passing. She was one of my favorite mystery authors. She was amazing. And she wrote The Children of Men–more sf than mystery. We’ve lost a great one. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-d-james-the-mystery-author-died/705778/5 "2014-11-27T23:28:07Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Whodunit? [slowly backs away] I never _said_ it was poison. [/slowly backs away] ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-d-james-the-mystery-author-died/705778/6 "2014-11-27T23:46:31Z")
She was a wonderful writer. I enjoyed her books very much. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-d-james-the-mystery-author-died/705778/7 "2014-11-28T13:22:36Z")
Her Facebook page announced the news yesterday morning. She was my favorite author, and had been since the summer of 1984 when I was almost 13 and picked up _A Shroud For A Nightingale_ in a train station newsstand on the way to camp. ☹