»Innocent Blood

The story in Innocent Blood is gripping and ultimately very sad. One of P D James's few non-formula mystery novels, it begins with a mystery that uncovers a murder already solved and suggests a murder yet to happen; although the actors are all laid out for the reader to see, the tension and thrill build throughout the story.

The sad ending is marred by one of James's typical mentions of sexual peccadillos, but this is overall one of her most impressive works. Although I always enjoy reading the Dalgliesh mysteries (less so the Cordelia Grey stories), they have stock characters and hackneyed concepts that always come down to class or ideological struggles; James's characters are all too often hidebound, predictable, and stiff in their expression. She describes rather than invokes them, which leads to a very prescriptive sort of book: she shoves much of the character detail down our throats, leaving little for interpretation (side note: this edition of Innocent Blood includes a Readers' Guide, with all of two questions. James really does not leave much to the imagination, which is an odd sort of rigidity for a mystery novelist).