The Murder Room

An Adam Dalgliesh Mystery

By: P. D. James

Narrated by: Charles Keating

Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

The Dupayne, a small private museum in London devoted to the interwar years 1919 - 1939, is in turmoil. As its trustees argue over whether it should be closed, one of them is brutally and mysteriously murdered. Yet even as Commander Dalgliesh and his team proceed with their investigation, a second corpse is discovered. Someone in the Dupayne is prepared to kill and kill again. Still more sinister, the murders appear to echo the notorious crimes of the past featured in one of the museum’s galleries: the Murder Room. The case is fraught with danger and complications from the outset, but for Dalgliesh the complications are unexpectedly profound. His new relationship with Emma Lavenham—introduced in the last Dalgliesh novel, Death in Holy Orders—is at a critical stage. Now, as he moves closer and closer to a solution to the puzzle, he finds himself driven further and further from commitment to the woman he loves.

©2003 P.D. James (P)2003 Random House, Inc., Random House Audio, A Division Of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[A] superbly realized setting. … The plot unfolds at its Jamesian leisure; the rich, almost posh quality of its slow unveiling allows for sharp sketches of character and place…. [James] ought never to be confused with such practitioners of the murder-in-the-vicarage genre as Agatha Christie. She is subtler, more sophisticated, much more adept at creating character, and her social conservatism gives her a much darker view of human nature.”—Martin Levin, The Globe and Mail“[T]he premise is delicious.”—Telegraph (UK)

“James’s eye for architecture and nature is rare in most genres of the novel now, and this skill for physical description—along with her psychological acuity.”—The Guardian (UK)"]

“If crime fiction were classical music, P. D. James’s books would be filed under Grand Opera. In a sense, James is the last of the great Golden Age crime writers. She has an instinctive grasp of narrative: despite the leisurely prose, the shocks are beautifully handled. The plot purrs along like a well-designed and well-maintained engine. James writes with rare authority about the civil service, the police and the justice system. She also does an exceptionally good corpse—she never cheapens the physical appearance of death, but describes it with both respect and clinical attention to detail.”—The Independent (UK)

boring

I found the writing tedious, the plot silly, the characters self absorbed. The only fun part of the listen was deciphering British speak.

too slow

I gave this book two full hours of my time and was still asking myself, "When will the story really start?" Too many details make this a tedious tale. The characters seem more likely to be charactures. I couldn't make myself listen to the rest.

Very nice narrators' delivery, overall bore.

What disappointed you about The Murder Room?

I was sure I would like it. So I got it. Love narrators' work. Characters unique and easy to
Discern...and there are a lot of them. Many just there for volumn to fill the museum and founding family to set stage. So disappointed by how s-l-o-w the plot was, that I could have wept! No murder until chapter 8, I think. Very laborious to get thru. I really wanted a Great book!

What could P.D. James have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

As above

What three words best describe Charles Keating’s performance?

Very excellent indeed.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment

Any additional comments?

As above. Thanks

Murder by boredom

My most beloved authors are British, including some of mystery/crime writer Marjorie Allingham's novels. P.D. James overwrites everything and seems utterly lacking in a sense of humor. After slogging through a few hours of "The Murder Room" I have determined never to read another book by her. I've read a handful, and some were more tolerable than others, but they just never really gripped me. But this latest Dalgliesh installment is abysmal. I devoured all the books in Ellis Peters' Inspector Felse series narrated by Simon Prebble, and compared to that literary and listening experience, Inspector Dagliesh comes off as a lackluster, overly introspective, pretentious pseudo poet with no zest for life overthinking everything and surrounded by people that never stop talking and talking and talking, or by two dimensional characters (and WAY too many of them!) I could care less about. Listening to the so-called build up that goes on for chapters is sheer unadulterated boredom that feels like the murder of my precious time. It's all too intellectual and cluttered with details that may or my not mean anything but I don't care because I can't believe these people really exist as living breathing souls. The writer's job is to convince me they really do exist so I care about them, but from the beginning of this book, I felt subjected to a parade of playing pieces that exist only for the sake of the contrived mystery. And I'm afraid Charles Keating doesn't help matters. There's nothing wrong with his narration but there's a lackluster, understated quality to it that doesn't help. The male voices are very similar, and the female voices all sound pretty much the same to me, and aren't terribly appealing.

The Murder Room is terrible.

I agree with the reviews from Jc from Ashburn, VA and Suandrix from Lewis Center, OH. This was the worst book I "tried to listen to" that I can remember. After 2 hours, I couldn't take it anymore. This is the first time I writen a review as I thought it was that bad. While I was here, I also wrote a review for "Last Man Standing" which was long but excellent.

Slower than molasses in January.

This book was on the list for the mystery club I attend which is why I bought it. I literally had to force myself to finish it. Otherwise I would have stopped after the first 2 hours. Why spend 15 minutes describing a room that 2 characters simply meet in for 30 seconds? Do we really need to hear the entire life history of each and every character no matter how minor a part they play in the story? The murderer is so improbable its laughable. I think this is just an 83 year old author who is riding on her past fame. Does she still have an editor? If so, this book would easily be 200 pages shorter. And that last scene where Adam's girlfriend reads his letter through the end of the book is enough to gag you. Gooey nonsense. Had this been P.D. James' first book, it would never have made it.