The Murder Room: Difference between revisions

The Murder Room
	First edition
Author	P. D. James
Language	English
Series	Adam Dalgliesh #12
Genre	Crime, mystery
Publisher	Faber & Faber
Publication date	9 November 2003
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
ISBN	0-571-21821-0
OCLC	52143680
Preceded by	Death in Holy Orders
Followed by	The Lighthouse

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The Murder Room is a 2003 detective novel by English writer P. D. James, the 12th in the Adam Dalgliesh series. It takes place in London, particularly the Dupayne Museum on the edge of Hampstead Heath in the London Borough of Camden.

Plot

The Dupayne Museum is an eclectic collection of English memorabilia from the period between World War I and World War II. The murder room of the title refers to a room displaying relics of murders that occurred during this period. The Dupayne Museum is the property of three siblings, who are in the midst of a family row over whether or not to renew the lease on the building that houses the museum. When Neville Dupayne is killed in a manner mirroring one of the murders displayed in the Murder Room, Commander Dalgliesh is called in to investigate.

Emma Lavenham, a character from Death in Holy Orders, becomes important in this novel as a romance develops between her and Commander Dalgliesh. The novel ends with a love letter from Dalgliesh to Lavenham, in which he asks her to marry him. She accepts his proposal.

Reception

The Daily Telegraph reported on reviews from several publications with a rating scale for the novel out of "Love It", "Pretty Good", "Ok", and "Rubbish": Independent, Observer, Spectator, and TLS reviews under "Love It" and Guardian, Times, and Sunday Telegraph reviews under "Pretty Good" and Daily Telegraph and Sunday Times reviews under "Ok".^[1]

In a 2003 book review for The New York Times, Patricia T. O'Connor called the book "strikingly similar to James's previous mystery, Death in Holy Orders.. But this time something new has been added. Dalgliesh has a serious love interest", and wrote "This is a very busy mystery, full of traffic jams and ringing cellphones—[James] still manages to preserve the element of old-fashioned, hair-raising suspense."^[2] Kirkus Reviews wrote: "Despite a plot less ineluctable than her best (Death in Holy Orders, 2001, etc.), James creates another teeming world in which murder is only the symptom of a more pervasive mortality."^[3]

Adaptations

The BBC adapted the book for a two-part, three-hour TV production released in 2004, starring Martin Shaw as Dalgliesh and Janie Dee as Lavenham. The production was released on DVD in the U.S. in October 2005.

A further adaptation was aired in 2023 as part of the Dalgliesh series starring Bertie Carvel.

References

^ "Books of the moment: What the papers say". The Daily Telegraph. 12 July 2003. p. 162. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
^ O'Connor, Patricia T. (7 December 2003). "Grisly Pictures From an Institution". New York Times. New York. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
^ "The Murder Room". Kirkus Reviews. 18 November 2003.

External links

The Murder Room at IMDb (2004)
The Murder Room at IMDb (2023)

[1] "Books of the moment: What the papers say". The Daily Telegraph. 12 July 2003. p. 162. Retrieved 19 July 2024.

[2] O'Connor, Patricia T. (7 December 2003). "Grisly Pictures From an Institution". New York Times. New York. Retrieved 27 February 2017.

[3] "The Murder Room". Kirkus Reviews. 18 November 2003.

[1]

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|2003 Dalgliesh novel by P. D. James}}
+{{Distinguish|text=the nonfiction book by [[Michael Capuzzo]]}}
+{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
 {{Infobox book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books -->
 | name         = The Murder Room
 | title_orig   =
 | translator   =
-| image        = [[File:Themurderroom.jpg|200px]]
+| image        = Themurderroom.jpg
-| caption = 1st edition
+| caption      = First edition
 | author       = [[P. D. James]]
 | cover_artist =
@@ Line 10: / Line 13: @@
 | language     = English
 | series       = [[Adam Dalgliesh]] #12
-| genre        = [[Crime]], [[Mystery fiction|Mystery]]
+| genre        = [[Crime]], [[Mystery fiction|mystery]]
 | publisher    = [[Faber & Faber]]
-| release_date = [[2003 in literature|2003]]
+| release_date =  9 November [[2003 in literature|2003]]
 | media_type   = Print ([[Hardback]] & [[Paperback]])
 | pages        =
@@ Line 21: / Line 24: @@
 }}
-'''''The Murder Room''''' is a 2003 [[detective novel]] and the 12th in the [[Adam Dalgliesh]] series by [[P. D. James]]. It takes place in [[London]], particularly the Dupayne Museum on the edge of [[Hampstead Heath]] in the [[London Borough of Camden]].
+'''''The Murder Room''''' is a 2003 [[detective novel]] by English writer [[P. D. James]], the 12th in the [[Adam Dalgliesh]] series. It takes place in [[London]], particularly the Dupayne Museum on the edge of [[Hampstead Heath]] in the [[London Borough of Camden]].
+==Plot==
-The Dupayne Museum is an eclectic collection of English memorabilia from the period between World War I and World War II. The Murder Room of the title refers to a room displaying relics of murders that occurred during these years. The Dupayne Museum is the property of three siblings, who are in the midst of a family row over whether or not to renew the lease on the building that houses the museum. When Neville Dupayne is killed in a manner mirroring one of the murders displayed in the Murder Room, Commander Dalgliesh is called in to investigate.
+The Dupayne Museum is an eclectic collection of English memorabilia from the period between World War I and World War II. The murder room of the title refers to a room displaying relics of murders that occurred during this period. The Dupayne Museum is the property of three siblings, who are in the midst of a family row over whether or not to renew the lease on the building that houses the museum. When Neville Dupayne is killed in a manner mirroring one of the murders displayed in the Murder Room, Commander Dalgliesh is called in to investigate.
-Emma Lavenham, a character from ''[[Death in Holy Orders]]'', becomes important in this novel as a romance develops between her and Commander Dalgliesh. The novel ends with a love letter from Dalgliesh to Lavenham.
+Emma Lavenham, a character from ''[[Death in Holy Orders]]'', becomes important in this novel as a romance develops between her and Commander Dalgliesh. The novel ends with a love letter from Dalgliesh to Lavenham, in which he asks her to marry him. She accepts his proposal.
+==Reception==
-The BBC adapted the book for a two-part, three hour TV production released in 2004, starring [[Martin Shaw]] as Dalgliesh and [[Janie Dee]] as Lavenham.  The production was released on DVD in the U.S. in October 2005.<ref>http://www.amazon.com/P-D-James-The-Murder-Room/dp/B000AOEMUU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1363506730&sr=8-3&keywords=The+Murder+Room</ref>
+''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' reported on reviews from several publications with a rating scale for the novel out of "Love It", "Pretty Good", "Ok", and "Rubbish": ''[[The Independent|Independent]]'', ''[[The Observer|Observer]]'', ''[[The Spectator|Spectator]]'', and ''[[Times Literary Supplement|TLS]]'' reviews under "Love It" and ''[[The Guardian|Guardian]]'', ''[[The Times|Times]]'', and ''[[Sunday Telegraph]]'' reviews under "Pretty Good" and ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'' and ''[[Sunday Times]]'' reviews under "Ok".<ref>{{cite news |title=Books of the moment: What the papers say |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-telegraph/153085937/|access-date=19 July 2024|work=The Daily Telegraph |date=12 Jul 2003|page=162}}</ref>
+In a 2003 book review for ''[[The New York Times]]'', Patricia T. O'Connor called the book "strikingly similar to James's previous mystery, ''Death in Holy Orders''.. But this time something new has been added. Dalgliesh has a serious love interest", and wrote "This is a very busy mystery, full of traffic jams and ringing cellphones—[James] still manages to preserve the element of old-fashioned, hair-raising suspense."<ref>{{cite news |last= O'Connor |first=Patricia T. |date=December 7, 2003 |title=Grisly Pictures From an Institution |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/07/books/grisly-pictures-from-an-institution.html |newspaper=New York Times |location=New York |accessdate=February 27, 2017 }}</ref> ''[[Kirkus Reviews]]'' wrote: "Despite a plot less ineluctable than her best (Death in Holy Orders, 2001, etc.), James creates another teeming world in which murder is only the symptom of a more pervasive mortality."<ref>{{cite journal|title=''The Murder Room'' |newspaper=Kirkus Reviews|date=18 November 2003|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/pd-james/the-murder-room-2/}}</ref>
-==References==
+==Adaptations==
+The BBC adapted the book for a two-part, three-hour TV production released in 2004, starring [[Martin Shaw]] as Dalgliesh and [[Janie Dee]] as Lavenham. The production was released on DVD in the U.S. in October 2005.
+A further adaptation was aired in 2023 as part of the ''[[Dalgliesh (TV series)|Dalgliesh]]'' series starring [[Bertie Carvel]].
+==References==
 {{Reflist}}
+==External links==
+*{{IMDb title|qid=Q93887863}} (2004)
+*{{IMDb title|qid=Q129104736}} (2023)
 {{Dalgliesh}}
+{{Authority control}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Murder Room, The}}
-[[Category:2003 novels]]
+[[Category:2003 British novels]]
 [[Category:Novels by P. D. James]]
 [[Category:Novels set in London]]
 [[Category:London Borough of Camden]]
-[[Category:Faber and Faber books]]
+[[Category:Faber & Faber books]]
+[[Category:British novels adapted into television shows]]
+[[Category:British detective novels]]
-{{2000s-crime-novel-stub}}

v t e Works by P. D. James
Adam Dalgliesh series	Cover Her Face A Mind to Murder Unnatural Causes Shroud for a Nightingale The Black Tower Death of an Expert Witness A Taste for Death Devices and Desires Original Sin A Certain Justice Death in Holy Orders The Murder Room The Lighthouse The Private Patient
Cordelia Gray series	An Unsuitable Job for a Woman The Skull Beneath the Skin
Other novels	Innocent Blood The Children of Men Death Comes to Pemberley
Non-fiction	The Maul and the Pear Tree Talking About Detective Fiction