''The Murder Room'' is a 2003

detective novel Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...

by English writer

P. D. James Phyllis Dorothy James White, Baroness James of Holland Park (3 August 1920 – 27 November 2014), known professionally as P. D. James, was an English novelist and life peer. Her rise to fame came with her series of detective novels featuri ...

, the twelfth in the

Adam Dalgliesh Adam Dalgliesh ( ) 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, Cordeli ...

series. It takes place in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, particularly the Dupayne Museum on the edge of

Hampstead Heath Hampstead Heath is an ancient heath in London, spanning . This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band of London Clay. The heath is rambling ...

in the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London boroughs, borough in Inner London, England. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the former Metropolitan boroughs of the Cou ...

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 ''Death in Holy Orders'' is a 2001 detective novel by P.D. James, the eleventh book in the Adam Dalgliesh series. Setting The novel is mainly set in and around an Anglo-Catholic theological college, Saint Anselm's, on the windswept coast of E ...

'', 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

In a 2003 book review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 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—

ames AMES, short Air Ministry Experimental Station, was the name given to the British Air Ministry's radar development team at Bawdsey Manor (afterwards RAF Bawdsey) in the immediate pre-World War II era. The team was forced to move on three occasion ...

still manages to preserve the element of old-fashioned, hair-raising suspense." ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' 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."

Adaptations

The BBC adapted the book for a two-part, three-hour TV production released in 2004, starring

Martin Shaw Martin Shaw (born 21 January 1945) is an English actor. He came to national recognition in the role of Ray Doyle in ITV crime-action television drama series '' The Professionals'' (1977–1983). Further notable television parts include the ti ...

as Dalgliesh and

Janie Dee Janie Dee (born 20 June 1962) is a British actress. She won the Olivier Award for Best Actress, Evening Standard Award and Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Play, and in New York the Obie and Theatre World Award for Best N ...

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 Robert Hugh Carvel (born 6 September 1977) is a British film and theatre actor. He has twice won a Laurence Olivier Award: for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his role as Miss Trunchbull in '' Matilda the Musical'', and for Best ...

References

External links

* (2004) * (2023) {{DEFAULTSORT:Murder Room, The 2003 British novels Novels by P. D. James Novels set in London London Borough of Camden Faber & Faber books British novels adapted into television shows British detective novels