Cover Her Face (Inspector Adam Dalgliesh Mystery)

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Whereas Death of an Expert Witness centred around a forensic laboratory and Shroud for a Nightingale a hospital, Cover Her Face is different as it is set in a village and centres around a country house lived in by the Maxie family. Investigating the violent death at the manor house, Detective Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh becomes embroiled in the complicated passions beneath the calm surface of English country life. Cover Her Face was adapted for television in 1985, starring Roy Marsden, Phyllis Calvert and Mel Martin. But the arrival of Sally Jupp to help housekeeper Martha in the kitchen (a formiddable Jean Heywood) shakes up the whole place in ways they never imagined.

Cover Her Face - P. D. James Cover Her Face - P. D. James

D. James mystery feels somewhat different to the other two adaptations in that it doesn't focus around an institution. Indeed, it has to be said that after Sally is indeed later found murdered that this mystery begins to lag somewhat. That is the thing I always will most remember about her: what a kind woman she was, how she did her very best to make you feel good. Both also have suitors mooning other them who later come over to stay as they prepare for the village fete - Catherine Bowers (Claire Higgins) and Felix Hurst (Julian Glover). The first three episodes are compelling, featuring a suspicious death an episode with Stavros' murder, Miss Liddell's highly suspicious suicide (or is it?Read all Chief Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh investigates the death of Alice Liddell who ran a home for unwed mothers. It starred Roy Marsden as Adam Dalgliesh, John Vine as Inspector John Massingham (instead of Detective Sergeant Martin), Phyllis Calvert as Eleanor Maxie, Rupert Frazer as Stephen Maxie, Mel Martin as Deborah Riscoe, Julian Glover as Felix Hearne, and Kim Thomson as Sally Jupp. She is a mystery to everyone because she is such an outsider to them, and the fact she won't even reveal who the father of her baby is lead many to speculate just who could of impregnated her. Detective Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh and Detective Sergeant Martin arrive and begin their investigation. It's not that she's outstanding acting wise, but she is so compelling in the role with a mixture of cheerful disposition and calculating manipulation she portrays that can switch at a moment's notice.

Cover Her Face (TV Mini Series 1985) - IMDb Cover Her Face (TV Mini Series 1985) - IMDb

The murder of housemaid Sally Jupp reveals a web hidden passions beneath the calm surface of a village in East Anglia. Outside she bumps into old friend Stavros Veludis, a Greek cypriot who greets her warmly enough but seems to be running away from someone. But Sally is such a dominating presence that when she is killed her absence is keenly felt and the intensity of the mystery drops because of this. She revealed Stephen Maxie's proposal of marriage for the same reason, although it is notable that she had not accepted it, and deliberately uses Deborah's mug for her cocoa on her final night.She had pretended to be unmarried because revealing her marriage would have jeopardised her husband's job and she liked to 'play with people'. Dalgliesh is perhaps too quietly competent in his disclosure of Sally's killer – and, despite the title, the girl isn't a Duchess of Malfi.

Cover Her Face (Inspector Adam Dalgliesh Mystery) Cover Her Face (Inspector Adam Dalgliesh Mystery)

It may slow down halfway through, but it uses it's country settings well and there are some beautifully shot scenes, including one on a bridge with Stephen and Sally during the village fete that is breathtaking.

When Sally is brought in by Stephen during the fateful dinner, it is Eleanor who pointedly informs her that staff members' place are in the kitchen, in a hint to her that she is not part of THEIR circle. Sally had blackmailed her uncle (who unbeknownst to her had spent her modest trust fund) into giving her 30 pounds. Her character is fascinating because she is so hard to pin down and Kim Thomson deserves huge credit for her performance. Serving at table is Sally Jupp, chosen from a local refuge for unmarried mothers to help in the house by Mrs Maxie and now living in with her infant son, Jimmy.