[.ca] A Certain Justice: An Adam Dalgliesh Mystery (ISBN 0739343807)

From Amazon.com:
Although A Certain Justice begins with news of a murder, the victim isn't set to die for another four weeks. Publicly respected but privately loathed, Venetia Aldridge has far more enemies than a brilliant London criminal lawyer should--and at least one of them is determined to do her in. Venetia plies her superior trade in courts that harbor "the illusion that the passions of men were susceptible to order and control," but her past and private life are exceedingly unruly. Her married lover is intent on giving her up; her daughter loathes her; her fellow barristers are determined that she not become the next head of chambers. Even the cleaning women seems to have something on her. The outline alone of this complex novel would take pages (as would the eclectic inventory of players), but P. D. James makes us admire far more than her brilliantly developed plot. James in fact creates a crowded gallery of surprisingly decent suspects, along with one suitably vile creature--who happens to be Aldridge's last client. A superior murder mystery, A Certain Justice is also a gripping anatomy of wild justice. James's characters can be overcome by hate, but she is equally concerned with love's manifestations--human, divine, destructive, and healing.

One of P.D. James' Most Engaging Works:
'A Certain Justice' is a crisp, fast-paced read. It begins inside a courtroom, with Venetia Aldridge defending young Gary Ashe for the murder of his aunt. The scene is swift and captivating, and begins to raise the first questions about Ashe's innocence. After the verdict, we are ushered into the life of Ms. Aldridge. Introduced to us are her nefarious legal colleagues in the Middle Temple, all of whom seem to have a problem with her. After an interesting time which peels back the layers of Venetia's life, she is found murdered, and the mystery begins. Commander Adam Dalgliesh of New Scotland Yard, the poetic protagonist of many of P.D. James' novels, is soon on the case. There are more suspects than you can shake a stick at, and the book never ceases to be of interest as the plot progresses. Ms. James has succeeded in bringing to us a very modern, very moving piece of mystery fiction, and it is quite a satisfying read. The intricate inner-workings of London's court system is the fascinating setting for 'A Certain Justice', and it sets just the right mood for this sober mystery. The characters, even the minor ones, are well-drawn, and the killer's identity is kept under careful wraps until *very late* in the game, adding even more suspense. The experience of 'A Certain Justice' will most likely go by quickly, as you will have no problem becoming involved in this great police thriller, turning page after page. There is mood, there is action, and there is depth. What else would you expect from P.D. James? Also recommended: 'Death In Holy Orders' - the 2001 novel by P.D. James - very good!

Justice is a justified injustice at times:
This detective story is a lot more than a detective story. 1- It is a new stage in the English genre. Sherlock Holmes was an outsider competing with the police. Hercule Poirot was Belgian, so twice an outsider. Here Dalgliesh is a member of Scotland Yard. This book is, in a way, a vindication of Scotland Yard. 2- It contains a deep reflection on social determinism. Both one of the criminals and one of the coppers (a man and a woman) were born and raised in a socially derelict apartment complex and neighborhood for the poor. They both had the same choice, and they chose two different ways. 3- It advocates a certain vision of managing people. Dalgliesh is both strict on basic rules with his subordinates, but also extremely humane, even with unprovable criminals. « It is better for a useful man to continue to be useful than to spend years in gaol ». 4- It displays a deep understanding of human justice and perticularly that fundamentally British principle that it is better to let a criminal go free than to imprison an innocent. This principle is surprisingly original, and also irritating for the judicial system, in foreign countries, in Europe or the USA. Any doubt about the guilt or the value, the force of a piece of evidence has to benefit the accused, no matter what. We suddenly think of Mumia Abu Jamal's case which exposes the radically opposite functioning : contradictory testimonies should benefit the accused. In this case the textimony that does not support the guilt of the accused is overlooked, if not purely negated. 5- Finally, this book is Dickenbsian because it gives us a phenomenal description of the psychology and the social background of all characters, policemen, policewomen, suspects, criminals, etc... We have here a fully developed social tableau of modern time Great Britain. A masterpipece in the genre. When the British set themselves to doing something good, they are excellent. And the detective story genre is one field of absolute perfection for them. Three details though. The keyring of the first victim is overlooked during most of the investigation. A drawback. A jacket belt that is not in the proper place at the end. A shortcoming. What about the never answered question : « Why did he ask me to inquire about the spectacles she was wearing ? » A flaw. But such details do not reduce the value of the book as a fantastic description of modern British society. Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

Suspects, Suspects, Suspects.:
I must admit, this was a different type of Mystery for me. Just an average person, I can normally figure out the "who and why" well before the end of the book. Ms. James did an excellent job of not giving away to many clues so it was impossible until near the end of the book to start piecing things together. I really liked the character of Inspector Delglish. My original thought as I listened to this book was that it would be 2 stars max. The ending of this book caught me by surprise and so I decided to give it 3. If it weren't for Ms. James great detail, I would have probably given it 4 stars. For some reason, Ms. James felt the need to describe every character and place to the most minute detail. This description lent to the length of the book which was extremely long. More then once I thought of not finishing this book. If this hadn't been the audio version I probably wouldn't have finished. I felt the book would have been just as good if not better if some of this description had been left out. About the first 20 chapters (6 tapes) was nothing but a description of the suspects who worked in Chambers. Really, not necessary. I havn't read any other books by Ms. James and am currently undecided about trying another. The only other author I can think of to compare Ms. James with would be Agatha Christie. Both have that passion for describing things in their books to the most minute detail.

Deliciously complicated:
This book is delightfully complicated and devious, with twists and turns to keep a person riveted and guessing throughout. Venetia Aldrige is a successful and demanding barrister, called to defend a man accused of murdering his aunt. She successfully gets him acquitted, then soon afterward is dismayed and fearful when he turns up in her daughter's life. She tries to get some one to help her get rid of him, but she has a personality that hasn't made many friends and no one will help. Then, one morning she is found dead in her chambers. Chief Inspector Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard is summoned to the case and he and his team set out to unravel the mystery of who killed Venetia and why. As suspects are interviewed and backgrounds checked, several plausible motives are uncovered. In which direction does the truth lie? P. D. James is one of today's top-notch mystery writers. Her stories are complex and riveting. So complex, at times, that you wish you had taken notes in the first part of the book to keep all characters straight. Several of her books have been made into movies for the "Mystery" series on PBS. Although the story was so complicated at times that my head hurt, I am still giving this book a high recommendation. Ms. James writes books that are held together with a strong story line, not the flimsy sex-violence-vulgar language "fillers" of many modern writers. I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

A bit overdone:
I had high hopes for this book, and was certainly interested in the "large print" aspect, but was dismayed to find that the publisher chose to make the print SO large that only one letter would fit per page. While this did heighten suspense in that longer words required quite a bit of page-turning, I feel that Random House may have gone a bit overboard.