Adam Dalgliesh

Adam Dalgliesh (pronounced "dal-gleash") is a fictional character who is the protagonist of fourteen mystery novels by P. D. James; the first being James's 1962 novel ''Cover Her Face''. He also appears in the two novels featuring James's other detective, Cordelia Gray.

Character

In the first novel, Dalgliesh is a Detective Chief Inspector. He eventually reaches the rank of Commander in the Metropolitan Police at New Scotland Yard, London. He is an intensely cerebral and private person. He writes poetry, a fact about which his colleagues are fond of reminding him. Several volumes of his poetry have been published. Dalgliesh lives in a flat above the Thames at Queenhithe in the City of London. In the earlier novels he drives a Cooper Bristol, later a Jaguar. He was described as being "tall, dark and handsome" by some women, alluding to Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen's '' Pride and Prejudice''.

His father was the rector of a Norfolk country parish. His sole family relation was his aunt, Jane Dalgliesh, whom he held in high esteem. After her death, Dalgliesh inherits, among other bequests, a converted windmill located on the Norfolk coast. In his lengthy career, he has been quite astute and successful and now heads a squad of CID officers working on only the most sensitive cases.

Dalgliesh is a widower. He lost his wife in childbirth 13 years before ''A Mind to Murder,'' and was reluctant to commit himself ever since. His relationship with Deborah Riscoe ended because of this. During his time at St. Anselm's in Suffolk, he meets Cambridge lecturer Emma Lavenham and later asks her to marry him. The wedding takes place at the end of ''The Private Patient'', published in 2008.

The character's name was chosen in honour of the author's English teacher at Cambridge High School. Years later, she learnt that Miss Dalgliesh's father had in fact been named Adam.

Bibliography

Novels

Short stories

* "The Boxdale Inheritance"
* "The 12 Clues of Christmas"

Related novels

Cordelia Gray mysteries:

# ''An Unsuitable Job for a Woman'' (1972)
# '' The Skull Beneath the Skin'' (1982)

Recurring characters

Partners

Detective Sergeant Martin is Dalgliesh's partner in ''Cover Her Face'' and ''A Mind to Murder''. (Martin is played in the ITV adaptation by Robert Pugh.) In ''Shroud for a Nightingale'' he partners with Detective Sergeant Masterson (portrayed by Jeremy Irvine for the Channel 5 series). Dalgliesh's first permanent partner was the moody and arrogant Detective Chief Inspector Massingham (played by John Vine). Detective Inspector Kate Miskin (played for ITV by Penny Downie, Lizzy McInnery and Sarah Winman, for the BBC by Tilly Blackwood and for Channel 5 by Carlyss Peer) serves with Dalgliesh and Massingham in Scotland Yard's Special Investigation Squad. In '' The Lighthouse'', Miskin takes over running the investigation when Dalgliesh contracts SARS. She is still a member of Dalgliesh's team in ''The Private Patient'' (2008).

DI Daniel Aaron (Tim Dutton) replaces Massingham when Massingham leaves Dalgliesh's squad. Aaron is presumably suspended after the events of '' Original Sin''; DI Piers Tarrant ( William Beck) is his replacement. When Tarrant is then transferred to Special Branch, DS Francis Benton-Smith replaces him. (Miskin has a short romantic relationship with Piers Tarrant after he leaves the Squad.) Benton-Smith, the ambitious and good-looking son of English and Indian parents, is at first resented by Kate Miskin, but they develop a good working relationship.

Relatives, friends, and romances

Jane Dalgliesh is Adam Dalgiesh's aunt and his sole living relative until her death prior to '' Devices and Desires''. Introduced in '' Unnatural Causes'', she is described as a very private and cerebral person, not unlike Dalgliesh himself. She is fond of bird watching and possesses a cottage in Suffolk which she later sells and buys a converted windmill in Norfolk, which Dalgliesh inherits upon her death.

Conrad Ackroyd is one of Dalgliesh's personal friends. He is a member of the ''Cadaver Club'', a private club of crime enthusiasts featured in ''Unnatural Causes'' as well as other novels. He is editor and publisher of ''The Paternoster Review''. Ackroyd's connections in the London establishment are often an asset to Dalgliesh.

Deborah Riscoe (played by Mel Martin) is one of Dalgliesh's romantic interests; they first meet when a murder shakes Riscoe's home in ''Cover Her Face''; their relationship develops over the course of ''A Mind to Murder''. However, because of Dalgliesh's reluctance to commit, Riscoe ends their relationship via a letter at the conclusion of ''Unnatural Causes'', accepting a transfer to the United States of America.

Emma Lavenham (played by Janie Dee) is a lecturer in literature at Cambridge University. She and Dalgleish meet in ''Death in Holy Orders'', develop a relationship during '' The Murder Room'', and, following Dalgliesh's convalescence from SARS on Combe Island (in '' The Lighthouse''), decide to marry, which they do at the end of ''The Private Patient''.

Dalgliesh makes several small appearances in the two novels in the Cordelia Gray series, ''An Unsuitable Job for a Woman'' and '' The Skull Beneath the Skin''. Cordelia Gray is a private detective and runs a detective agency in Kingsly Street. Dalgliesh is asked to look into the death of Sir Ronald Callender in Cambridge and acquits Gray of any charges. Gray and Dalgliesh stayed in contact, as evidenced by the congratulations card Dalgliesh receives from Gray while convalescing after a successful operation at the beginning of ''The Black Tower''. Gossiping Conrad Ackroyd also remarks on Dalgliesh's being seen dining out with Cordelia in '' A Taste for Death''.

Adaptations

Television

All of James's novels featuring Adam Dalgliesh up to and including ''The Murder Room'' have been adapted for television, beginning with ''Death of an Expert Witness'' in 1983. The first ten novels (in the order shown below) were adapted by Anglia Television for transmission on the ITV network and starred Roy Marsden as Dalgliesh. The BBC
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