P. D. James, byname of Phyllis Dorothy James White, Baroness James of Holland Park, (born August 3, 1920, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England—died November 27, 2014, Oxford), British mystery novelist best known for her fictional detective Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard. But really, shame on me. Malcolm Gladwell already called bullshit on FBI criminal profilers three years ago: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/20... The eminence grise of British detective fiction, James delivers another ruminative puzzler, generous in character, graceful in prose.” — The Village Voice Loyal readers of the series will be astonished to read this quote. It does not mention the name of the building! That must surely be a first. But don’t worry. It gets mentioned several times in the rest of the book.

A perfectly cozy read for a cold, foggy night when you feel like curling up with a cup of tea.” — Entertainment Weekly Am observat din experienta ca oamenii sunt fie cinstiti, fie necinstiti si, oricum ar fi, nu ai cum sa-i schimbi." The Murder Room is a 2003 detective novel and the 12th in the Adam Dalgliesh series by P. D. James. It takes place in London, particularly the Dupayne Museum on the edge of Hampstead Heath in the London Borough of Camden. Other deaths follow, not always the ones the reader might be expecting. There's rather a clever twist involving the title of the third section of the book.

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Carefully crafted . . . [with] richly portrayed characters. . . . P. D. James can still spin an intricate web of psychological suspense that demands the reader’s attention and involvement. . . . James tells this tale in lucid language, with a wry eye on people and their faults.” — San Antonio Express-News The Murder Roomlaunched at Scottish crime festival Bloody Scotlandin September 2012, completewith115newly acquired e-books and25 titles from Orion’s existing Crime Masterworks list, with the intention of growing to1,400 titles by 2014. The twelfth Adam Dalgliesh novel revolves around a small, private museum, in Hampstead – the Dupayne Museum. The museum houses a collection of items from between the wars, as well as the ‘Murder Room,’ which has a collection from historical crimes. The Dupayne is owned by three siblings – Caroline, Neville and Marcus. All three have to sign the new lease, but, when one of the siblings refuse to sign and wants the museum closed, the scene is set for murder…

Sally Jupp was a gorgeous young woman who used her body and cunning to climb the social ladder. Someone has decided to make her pay for her sins, and Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh is determined to find the culprit. So this is a history of the Vidocq Society, which is a social club for elite detectives. They get together once a month for a gourmet lunch and a cold case, and in general help victims' families try to get justice. It's also a partial biography of the three men, Frank Bender, William Fleisher, and Richard Walter, who founded the Society. I found Capuzzo's attempts to bring his three principals to life annoying and would have preferred a far tighter focus on the cases and a less fancy, more chronological approach. He does a fine job of recounting the cold cases and the process by which the Society do or do not succeed in convicting the various murderers.

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In other respects, the writer's vintage makes a less useful contribution. It's a general rule of fiction that authors are happiest creating characters closest to their own age. This is because all fiction is broadly autobiographical. Male novelists in their early 20s create wincingly convincing teenagers but - by their 60s - are sketching adolescents who are merely embarrassing sexual fantasies. As an octogenarian novelist, James is showing similar difficulties of characterisation. Superb and tantalizing...heartbreaking cold cases that have been investigated by the forensic dream team that is the legendary Vidocq Society. The once forgotten crimes are horrendous, each bigger-than-life detective more outrageous than the next, and the circuitous paths they take to find long-delayed justice are impossible to forget. I really enjoyed this book. It's about a team of forensic investigators, called the Vidocq Society, whose monthly meetings seek to bring justice to cold-case murders. Leading this group are 3 dynamic men - forensic sculptor, Frank Bender; FBI and U.S. Customs agent, William Fleisher; and forensic psychologist/profiler, Richard Walter. The 82 members of the Vidocq Society are chosen from the best minds worldwide. In a true crime story, I expect the author to provide evidence. Capuzzo gives the reader dialogue I doubt happened (how many people these day use the word 'whilst?'), ascribes emotions to people, and frames it in language more suited to Victorian romance than non-fiction (baleful glares and flashing eyes). My b*llsh*t detector was pegging the needle. With writing like this, I find Capuzzo's evidence unconvincing. I also did not get the meaning of the book title and how this was relevant to the story as a whole as opposed to different parts.