The Skull Beneath the Skin (Cordelia Gray Mystery)

The Skull Beneath the Skin (Cordelia Gray Mystery)

by Baroness P . D . James (Author)

Synopsis

From P.D. James, one of the masters of British crime fiction comes the second novel to feature the famous female detective Cordelia Gray of the Pryde Detective Agency. Set on the sinister Courcy Island, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman is a thrilling murder mystery. Clarissa Lisle hopes to make a spectacular comeback in a production of The Duchess of Malfi, to be played in Ambrose Gorringe's sinister castle at Courcy Island. Cordelia is there to ensure her safety following the appearance of a number of poison-pen letters. But it soon becomes clear that all are in danger. Trapped within the walls of the Gothic castle, the treacherous past of the island re-emerges, and everyone seems to have a motive for sending Clarissa 'down, down to hell'. Marking the return of the private detective Cordelia Gray, The Skull beneath the Skin is the sequel to An Unsuitable Job for a Woman. P.D. James is Britain's pre-eminent crime writer and the author of many bestselling titles including Death Comes To Pemberley, Children of Men and Death in Holy Orders.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 400
Edition: Export - Airside ed
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Published: 05 Jan 2006

ISBN 10: 0571228534
ISBN 13: 9780571228539
Book Overview: In The Skull Beneath the Skin, the second Cordelia Gray mystery from P.D. James, Cordelia is hired to protect a beautiful but neurotic actress and soon becomes embroiled in a case as dangerous to her life as it is mysterious.

Media Reviews
A fine novel . . . from its very first pages you feel you are in marvellously sure hands. --The Times Irresistible. -- Winnipeg Free Press Original, suspenseful, ingenious. . . . A whacking great whodunit by the reigning Queen of Mystery. -- Calgary Sun Her concern with the psychological reality of her characters is complemented by a scrupulous attention to physical detail, an easy ear for dialogue and a concise voice for description. Taken together, these are an unfailing combination. -- The Hamilton Spectator The reason it takes me so long to write is because it takes a long time for the characters to reveal themselves to me. My ambition as a writer is to make even the minor characters come alive. --P. D. James James pulls out all the stops ... an overlay of lust; midnight apparitions; hairbreadth escapes. --New York Magazine A masterly version of the clue-and-alibi game ... five star. -- Th
Author Bio
P. D. James was a bestselling and internationally acclaimed crime writer. She was the creator of Adam Dalgliesh and Cordelia Gray, and their long and successful series of mysteries. Her works include Cover Her Face (1962), An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972), Innocent Blood (1980), Children of Men (1992), and the Jane Austen-inspired Death Comes to Pemberley (2011). James was born in Oxford in 1920. She won awards for crime writing in Britain, America, Italy and Scandinavia, including the Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Award. She received honorary degrees from seven British universities, was awarded an OBE in 1983 and created a life peer in 1991. In 1997 she was elected President of the Society of Authors, and stood down from this role in 2013.