British crime fiction author P D James has died, aged 94, in her Oxford home.

If you love reading crime fiction then you would’ve known P D James. She was the author who created the famous detective and a poet Adam Dalgliesh in her series crime fiction titles, which made into file and TV series as well.

James didn’t start her writing career until she was well up to her 40s due to the hardship of her family life. She was forced to work when she was 15.

James worked in the crime justice system and the health services and it provided her rich and solid background information for Dalgliesh series. James developed stories by laying thick layers of social context and readers have to peel through dark side of human beings and society, to understand her stories better. Often she wouldn’t hesitate to put Dalgliesh into danger. James liked to stick to classic plots, like Christie. But that didn’t stop James  writeing  moving characters, some with subtle or gentle manners; other, individuals, or organizations, cruel as the devil.

14 titles were written in Adam Dalgliesh mystery series which earned her many literary awards:

1.Cover Her Face (1962)

2.A Mind to Murder (1963)

3.Unnatural Causes (1967)

4.Shroud for a Nightingale (1971)

5.The Black Tower (1975)

6.Death of an Expert Witness (1977)

7.A Taste for Death (1986)

8.Devices and Desires (1989)

9.Original Sin (1994)

10.A Certain Justice (1997)

11.Death in Holy Orders (2001)

12.The Murder Room (2003)

13.The Lighthouse (2005)

14.The Private Patient (2008)

Death Comes to Pemberley was her last crime novel and a contribution to Jane Austen, published in 2011 when she was 91. Her age didn’t affect her sharpness. It was adapted into a TV show.

Parramatta City Library holds some P D James’ titles. You can reserve them  through our catalogue. While we farewell a crime queen, we can still enjoy her legacy.

(note: aprpeciation goes to wikipedia and the photo used here is under its Creative Commons Licence)