P. D. James

P. D. James (1920-2014), full name Phyllis Dorothy James, was a British crime novelist best known for the Adam Dalgliesh series, fourteen novels following a Scotland Yard detective who is also a published poet, and widely credited with elevating the classic English detective novel into more psychologically serious, literary territory. Beginning with Cover Her Face in 1962, the series ran for nearly five decades, with James's plotting growing increasingly intricate and her prose more overtly literary as the series matured.

Before her writing career took off, James worked for years in the National Health Service and then the Home Office, including postings in the police and criminal law departments -- direct professional exposure to forensic and legal process that gave her procedural detail unusual authority. Beyond Dalgliesh, she wrote the dystopian novel The Children of Men, adapted into the acclaimed 2006 film of the same name directed by Alfonso Cuaron, a striking departure from her crime fiction that showed the range beneath her reputation as a genre specialist.

A new reader should start with Cover Her Face for the earliest, most classically structured Dalgliesh mystery, or Devices and Desires for a more mature example of her later, denser style. The Dalgliesh novels have been adapted for British television multiple times, including a 2003-2005 ITV series and later BBC productions.