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Book Cover for: The Skull Beneath the Skin, P. D. James

The Skull Beneath the Skin

P. D. James

Invited to protect an actress within the rose red walls of a fairy-tale castle, Detective Cordelia Gray finds the stage is set for death in this "richly intricate and literate" (San Francisco Chronicle) mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of the Adam Dalgliesh series.

Actress Clarissa Lisle has always been famous for her ravishing beauty--and her unscrupulous manipulations. Now on the death-shrouded island of Courcy, her schemes win her a starring role in a nightmare in which she can trust no one--not her deceived husband; her dangerously insecure stepson; her ominously genial host; her dependent, desperate cousin; or her cruelly amusing ex-lover. Soon Detective Cordelia gray finds that nothing is as it seems on Courcy--especially after the curtain goes down. Here she must delve into ancient secrets and guilt-stained pasts--and risk her life to stop a brilliantly cunning murderer who has set the stage for her death.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Scribner Book Company
  • Publish Date: Apr 17th, 2001
  • Pages: 448
  • Language: English
  • Edition: Scribner PB Fic - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.04in - 5.31in - 1.00in - 0.83lb
  • EAN: 9780743219563
  • Categories: Mystery & Detective - Women SleuthsMystery & Detective - TraditionalThrillers - Suspense

About the Author

James, P. D.: - P.D. James is the author of twenty previous books, most of which have been filmed and broadcast on television in the United States and other countries. She spent thirty years in various departments of the British Civil Service, including the Police and Criminal Law Departments of Great Britain's Home Office. She has served as a magistrate and as a governor of the BBC. In 2000 she celebrated her eightieth birthday and published her autobiography, Time to Be in Earnest. The recipient of many prizes and honors, she was created Baroness James of Holland Park in 1991 and was inducted into the International Crime Writing Hall of Fame in 2008. She lives in London and Oxford.
James, P. D.: - P. D. James (1920-2014) was born in Oxford in 1920. She worked in the National Health Service and the Home Office From 1949 to 1968, in both the Police Department and Criminal Policy Department. All that experience was used in her novels. 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 Honour for Literature. She received honorary degrees from seven British universities, was awarded an OBE in 1983 and was created a life peer in 1991.

Praise for this book

"One of the finest, most absorbing craftsmen of the profession."-- "The Washington Post"
"One of the most chilling crime writers around."-- "Observer"
"The greatest contemporary writer of classic crime."-- "The Sunday Times (London)"