Resumo de A Certain Justice

P.D. James enjoys a stellar reputation in the field of murder
mysteries. A prize-winning author, she has published over a dozen
mysteries. A Certain Justice in one of them.As the story of
Venetia Aldridge, a high-powered lawyer in London, develops one of
James? strong points as a writer comes immediately to the fore. She is
faultless in presenting the procedural aspects of a crime story. Since
procedure, especially when it comes to gathering and submitting
evidence, is a key aspect of detective work, those who appreciate that
aspect of storytelling will certainly enjoy reading this novel.For
other readers, however, who want more character development, A Certain
Justice may leave much to be desired. While the story includes a
good-sized list of characters?Venetia?s associates in the law firm
where she works, the daughter from whom she is estranged, the lover she
comes to scorn, and so many others?James never succeeds in bringing
them fully to life. They appear to be little more than stock characters
a reader would expect to encounter in a murder mystery, as the police
go about their search for the identity of the killer. When
James does devote time to characters and their motivations for their
actions, she does it in too much of a mechanical fashion. In a way, she
appears to be playing a game of cat-and-mouse with her readers. For no
sooner than she introduces a character, she turns around and hints at
why she/he could be the murderer. In short, she throws far too many red
herrings in the path of investigating officers. As a result, some
readers will find reading A Certain Justice to be an unsatisfying
experience.As for the matter of description of locales, James
falls short of the mark there, too. For readers who are not familiar
with London, for example, more vivid descriptions of places would serve
to enhance their enjoyment of the storytelling. When a writer manages
to elicit on the part of readers a sense of the actual sights, sounds
and odors of a particular location through fully developed descriptions
of them, that writer has delivered in full on a promise critical to
captivating a reading audience.In the end, of course, the
police (under the able leadership of James? principal investigator,
Dalgliesh) solve the crime and identify whodunit.

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