P D James was born in Oxford and educated at Cambridge High School for Girls. From 1949 to 1968 she worked in the National Health Service and subsequently in the Home Office, first in the Police Department and later in the Criminal Policy Department. All that experience was used in her novels. She was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Royal Society of Arts and served as a Governor of the BBC, a member of the Arts Council, where she was Chairman of the Literary Advisory Panel, on the Board of the British Council and as a magistrate in Middlesex and London. She was an Honorary Bencher of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple. She won awards for crime writing in Britain, America, Italy and Scandinavia, including the Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Award and The National Arts Club Medal of Honor for Literature (US). She received honorary degrees from seven British universities, was awarded an OBE in 1983 and was created a life peer in 1991. In 1997 she was elected President of the Society of Authors, stepping down from the post in August 2013.
Genres: Mystery, Historical Mystery, Science Fiction
Series
Inspector Adam Dalgliesh
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)
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)
Novels
Collections
Nursing Stories (1979) (with others)
Tales of Obsession (1994) (with others)
Crime Writers: A Decade of Crime (2013) (with others)
The Mistletoe Murder (2016)
Sleep No More (2017)
Tales of Obsession (1994) (with others)
Crime Writers: A Decade of Crime (2013) (with others)
The Mistletoe Murder (2016)
Sleep No More (2017)
Anthologies edited
Chapbooks
Novellas and Short Stories
Non fiction
The Maul and the Pear Tree (1971) (with T A Critchley)
Time to Be in Earnest (1999)
Talking about Detective Fiction (2009)
Time to Be in Earnest (1999)
Talking about Detective Fiction (2009)
Omnibus editions
Anthologies containing stories by P D James
Short stories
Murder, 1986 (1970) | |||
The Mistletoe Murder (1998) |
Awards
|
P D James recommends

Cat Among the Pumpkins (2014)
(No. 2 Feline Detective Agency, book 2)
Mandy Morton
"Original and intriguing...a world without people which cat lovers will enter and enjoy."

The Betrayal of Trust (2011)
(Simon Serrailler, book 6)
Susan Hill
"A new crime novel by Susan Hill is an event eagerly awaited by all afficionados."

A Small Case for Inspector Ghote? (2009)
(Inspector Ghote, book 26)
H R F Keating
"Mr Keating has created in Inspector Ghote an enchanting and engaging character."

Rumpole and the Primrose Path (2002)
(Rumpole)
John Mortimer
"Rumpole, like Jeeves and Sherlock Holmes, is immortal."
More recommendations
Visitors also looked at these authors