An Unsuitable Job for a Woman

By: P. D. James

Narrated by: Penelope Dellaporta

Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

P. D. James is “the reigning mistress of murder.” (Time)

Handsome Cambridge dropout Mark Callender died hanging by the neck with a faint trace of lipstick on his mouth. When the official verdict is suicide, his wealthy father hires fledgling private investigator Cordelia Gray to find out what led him to self-destruction. What she discovers instead is a twisting trail of secrets and sins, and the strong scent of murder.

An Unsuitable Job for a Woman introduces P. D. James’s courageous but vulnerable young detective, Cordelia Gray, in a “top-rated puzzle of peril that holds you all the way” (The New York Times).

©2001 P.D. James (P)2008 Books on Tape

Brilliant

I'm new to PD James. Great story, characters, writing, plot twists! Wonderful narration! I'll be back for all her books.

Great listening

Loved following James’ fabulously evocative language on Dellaporta’s understated voice. Sweet story with twists and turns and some measure of justice.

Excellent & enjoyable story! Very good reader!

It was a pleasure to have listened to this audible book. Very good story and an excellent reader. Thoroughly enjoyable in every way!

Superwomen Soar Suiitably

P D James, she of the ambivalent index gender, is now so well known that grandly to praise her is just the silliest redundancy. Here she is wonderfully backgrounding some of her famous characters. Great stuff. What makes this one irresistible is the magnificent performance of Penelope Dellaporta, with the single exception of Alison Larkin the absolute best interpreter of first-rate novels in recording history. Yes, I am that old.

Excellent murder mystery

A riveting and pithy murder mystery with a working class heroine set in 1970s Cambridge. Better than Agathie Christie. Genuinely entertaining with enough twists to keep you guessing until the end and great narration as well!

Engaging storytelling and a mystery

I really enjoyed listening to this book. I even liked the characters, who seemed very real.
This was my first PD James mystery, as I listed to another of her books, "Children of Men," and wanted a bit more. The detective Cordelia seemed very real, and not some super sleuth or bored aristocrat slumming it or wonder woman. You or I could be her, provided that we're practical unsentimental workaholics.
My only irritation was I couldn't seem to tell what year it was until later into the story. I couldn't imagine this taking place in the now, with some antiquated things in the book, so I thought it was post WW2. Well it was a little later than that and I had to readjust the image I had in that "theater of the mind" when I had to go late 60s.

Unsuitable Job for a Woman

I loved this book. It had great plot and character development and was an interesting story.

Intriguing tale with a few surprises

This book was a fun listen. The narrator did a commendable job differentiating between characters though at times I had to go backwards in order to understand which character said what. The ending was predictable but only if the reader is well versed in human behavior. The writer dropped little hints early on that the character tracked down later. If the listener was listening carefully then the ending should not be a surprise. The only surprise was Ms. Grey’s crucial decision in chapter 6 which seemed a bit out of character, but probably because I did not give sufficient credence to her growing obsession for Mark. Overall it’s an excellent book I will recommend highly to others. The author is an excellent writer.

Another good story from P.D. James!

A good story that takes a little while to get going. Excellent performance by the narrator!

Pretty Good

This was a pretty good who done it story. The narrator did a great job.