The Murder Room by P. D. James - BOOK BEGINNING

 

I know it is now Nonfiction November but I don't think nonfiction is going to do it for me this month. Are you reading nonfiction in November?

Mysteries seem to be the only thing that engages my brain these days. I'm trying to read a Nabokov novel, Bend Sinister, which has a mysterious title but is no mystery. Although it's killing me! I get though about ten pages each night before the words are swimming and I'm snoring. 

I'm having much better luck with P. D. James's The Murder Room, which I'm reading with my ears. I have no trouble paying attention, even to the audiobook. P D. James always builds the story up layer by layer and they are never rip roaring thrillers, but they are always well-written and completely engrossing. This one is no exception. I love it.

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

So let's play Book Beginnings! Please share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading this week or a book that caught your fancy. Share the link to your post below. 

If you don't have a blog but posted on social media, leave a comment and explain where we can find you. Please use the #bookbeginnigns hashtag to make it easier. If you just want to play along here, leave a comment with the opening sentence, name of the book, and the author. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

From The Murder Room by P. D. James:

On Friday 25 October, exactly one week before the first body was discovered at the Dupayne Museum, Adam Dalgliesh visited the museum for the first time. 

All P. D. James mysteries are set in some version of a "locked room" type closed community -- a hospital, a publishing house, a religious seminary. It's a sophisticated twist on the Golden Age, Agatha Christie style country house mystery where the cast of characters literally ends up in a locked room with the detective forcing a confession in the final scene. 

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING

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THE FRIDAY 56

Freda at Freda's Voice hosts another teaser event on Fridays. Participants share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of the book they are reading -- or from 56% of the way through the audiobook or ebook. Please visit Freda's Voice for details and to leave a link to your post.

MY FRIDAY 56

Coming out into Harley Street, he decided to take a taxi to Hampstead Heath station and walk across the Heath past Hampstead Ponds and the viaduct to Spaniards Road and the museum. He found himself mentally summing up his life with a detached wonder that fifty-five years which had seemed so momentous could have left him with so meager a legacy.

This teaser is a good example of the layering. She introduces each character in such detail! This is from page 56 of the hardback edition, which I had on my shelf. There was no dead body until 35% of the way into the audiobook.