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Cover Her Face

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About this listen

 St Cedd's Church fête has been held in the grounds of Martingale manor house for generations. As if organising stalls, as well as presiding over luncheon, the bishop and the tea tent, were not enough for Mrs Maxie on that mellow July afternoon, she also has to contend with the news of her son's sudden engagement to her new parlour maid, Sally Jupp. On the following morning the village are shocked by the discover of Sally's body. Investigating the violent death at the manor house, Detective Chief-Inspector Adam Dalgliesh is embroiled in the complicated passions beneath the calm surface of English village life.©2015 P. D. James (P)2015 Faber & Faber Crime Detective Mystery Traditional Detectives Fiction Village Exciting Suspense

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Critic reviews

"A classic story of English rural murder." ( The Times)
"The greatest contemporary writer of classic crime." ( Sunday Times)
"There are very few thriller writers who can compete with P.D. James at her best." ( Spectator)
Most relevant
An OK story but very hard going was glad it was relatively short story narrator was OK.

Very hard Going

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Very much still in the tradition of Christie, Marsh et al. Fortunately the style adapted as the series progressed, even if Dagleish has never aged.

Oddly outdated

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This is my first foray into P. D. James and I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable it was. It’s a classic whodunnit set in an English country manor.

Narration was also top-notch and I’m pleased to see Daniel Weyman narrated the whole series.

Pleasant listening

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I just loved this book! Not only because it was a great mystery but because of the exquisite writing. How she shaped the characters so that I felt invested in each and everyone. They felt as real to me as anyone I know! The structure of the story was superb too! The way the story built slowly and then took twists and turns with different characters taking centre stage. The tension built and by the end I was on tender hooks to know who did it! This was not one I worked out at all and that is a rarity for me.

If you are a fan of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers, Simon Brett or any of the detection club then P D James is for you!

A masterclass in the detective mystery

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Read this a long time ago and having just reread Shroud for a Nightingale and enjoyed it, thought I’d try this. Compared to Shroud I thought this was very lightweight, no real plot to it and such a poor reason to murder someone. After rereading this I was almost surprised she continued with this series.

Not quite as good as I remembered

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A great read = full of excitement and
Thrills.
I have listened to it twice will listened
to it again.

A Brilliant Story

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nice light read, with a strange story leaving you guessing right up to the end.

light read

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For some reason have never read this author before but glad I did so now, beautiful writing and so wonderfully well read;ew readers earn 5 stars from me but this one certainly did. The combination of a good story and a good reader is a true pleasure.

Enjoyed thoroughly!

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As someone who has never been a particular fan of crime novels, i was very impressed by Cover Her Face. A murder mystery nearly 60 years old contains few thematic surprises for a modern audience and yet P.D.James' elegant lexicon and observations of character and mannerism kept me completely engaged for the duration. Previous reviews paint this first work of the series as a precursor to the following works which I look forward to listening to. Daniel Weyman's performance is excellent.

A well executed whodunnit

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Good story, but a bit dated now. Definitely a product otherwise decade in which it was written.

Cover Her Face

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