The queen of crime writers, PD James, has died, aged 94, after a career that took her from the civil service to the House of Lords via the bestseller lists.
Her family said the writer, who became Baroness James of Holland Park in 1991, died at home in Oxford.
The novelist, who wrote a string of books about detective Adam Dalgliesh, spent 30 years working as a civil servant before becoming a full-time writer. Her publisher, Faber & Faber, said: “It is difficult to express our profound sadness at losing PD James, one of the world’s great writers and a Faber author since her first publication in 1962. She was so very remarkable in every aspect of her life, an inspiration and great friend to us all. It is a privilege to publish her extraordinary books. Working with her was always the best of times, full of joy.”
The Dalgliesh books found a wider audience through a series of ITV adaptations, with Roy Marsden in the lead role, and James branched out into non-fiction and standalone novels, including one updating Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen. Death Comes to Pemberley pitched Austen's characters, Mr Darcy and his wife, Elizabeth, into a murder mystery and was filmed by the BBC.
She listed Austen among the four authors she regarded as having the greatest influence on her work, alongside Dorothy L Sayers, Graham Greene and Evelyn Waugh.
Women and crime writing
Asked why so many successful crime writers were women, she said: “This may be because women have an eye for detail, and clue-making demands attention to the minutiae of everyday living.
“Women, too, are interested in emotions and motives rather than in fast action and weaponry. It may be that women find the formal construction of the detective story psychologically supportive, so that we are able to deal within this structure with violent events which we might not so confidently tackle in the so-called straight novel.”
A former governor of the BBC, James famously confronted its then director general, Mark Thompson, on the Radio 4 Today programme about the excessive paypackets given to some of its top executives. She grilled him as guest editor of the show, telling him it was "really quite extraordinary" that 37 BBC bosses earned more than the prime minister.
Paying tribute, crime writer Ian Rankin said: “So sad about PD James. Every event I did with her was a joy. Sharp intellect, ready wit. She will be missed.”
US crime writer Patricia Cornwell said: “RIP PD James and thanks for encouraging me when I was getting started.”
Baroness Stowell, leader of the House of Lords, said: “In addition to being an acclaimed novelist who brought so much pleasure to so many through her writing, PD James also made a great contribution to public life as a civil servant, a BBC governor and as a peer of the realm. She was a loyal member of the Conservative Party and was much loved by all sides of the House of Lords.” – (PA)