Cover Her Face

By: P. D. James

Narrated by: Penelope Dellaporta

P. D. James is “the greatest living mystery writer”. (People)

Headstrong and beautiful, the young housemaid Sally Jupp is put rudely in her place, strangled in her bed behind a bolted door. Coolly brilliant policeman Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard must find her killer among a houseful of suspects, most of whom had very good reason to wish her ill. Cover Her Face is P. D. James' electric debut novel, an ingeniously plotted mystery that immediately placed her among the masters of suspense.

©1992 P. D. James (P)2008 Books on Tape

3 stars

I typically do enjoy murders in the quiet English village motifs, however, at times I felt it would have been a better short prose rather than a novel. The plot dragged some and if it wasn't for the appeal of the characters I would've lost interest. I do feel that P.D. James is a great writer and that perhaps this was just a dud and I am willing to continue with the series. It's just a shame about the narrator. I can appreciate a quiet if not subdued performance as long as it doesn't hinder the pace of the plot, but, as before mentioned above it was rather dull.

Narrator Not Up to the Job

Penelope Dellaporta reads Cover Her Face in an old-fashioned style more suited to Agatha Christie than P.D. James. In addition, when reading dialogue, she does not do a creditable job with male voices. James describes Inspector Dalgliesh as having a deep voice, yet if you didn't know what you were listening to, you might think that the voice you were hearing was that of a woman. It's hard to understand why Dellaporta was given the job of narratimg the first ten Adam Dalgliesh novels; P.D. James deserves better.

Great story

I enjoyed the story and the reader is excellent setting the right tone. I recommend this book

Good story

The story is good and the characters engaging. The reader was excellent. Ran out of words

A Bit slow

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I understand that this is the debut of Inspector Dalgleish. The plot was a bit slow, and the narrator even more so. I found listening at 1 1/2 speed to be about right. the audio sounded like it had been recorded over a phone, and there was a slight ground loop hum in the background. Overall, I wish I had read this book rather than listened to it. I should have listened more closely to sample. Even so, I plan on reading or listening to more P D James.

Would you recommend Cover Her Face to your friends? Why or why not?

I would recommend the book, not the recording.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Penelope Dellaporta?

Katherine Kellgren or Donada Peters

Do you think Cover Her Face needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I believe it has several.

OK but...

What did you like best about Cover Her Face? What did you like least?

I *think* I liked this book but can't be sure because the narration was too distracting. Characters were shrill, whiny, almost hysterical in places where they should have been stoic. Dalgleish was performed as if he were there to soothe us to sleep.

How could the performance have been better?

Different narrator.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

Any additional comments?

I will try other P.D. James books, but not narrated by Penelope Dellaporta. I think I'll stick to old fashioned reading for the next one.

the narrator in

the last chapter skips some of the paragraphes and you should stop the narrating and read it

Could use a different reader

Not P D James' best, but even at that she is in a class by herself. Would have been helped by a better reader. Love her books and it's a pleasure to be able to listen to them. The writing is just so good.

Riveting

A riveting mystery; well read with an ending that will definitely come as a surprise.

Beautiful writing, average mystery

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The writing is wonderful. Succinct, vivid descriptions; witty, erudite dialogue. The mystery, alas, left much to be desired. The motives of some of the characters just didn't ring true to me. So, as far as recommending goes, if they want to read a good mystery, then no. If you just love the sounds of well written sentences, then yes.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I felt we needed more hints about who the murderer was dropped throughout the book.

Any additional comments?

This was, I believe, P.D. James' first book. There's enough promise here that it's no surprise it wasn't her only book. Still, she could've been better. And I'm sure she was.