Crime Writer P D James Dies at 94
The famous crime writer P D James a.k.a. Baroness James of Holland Park died at the age of 94. Her agents said she passed away peacefully in her sleep at her home in Oxford
The writer's publishers Faber & Faber said, "This is a very sad day for us at Faber. 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. We will miss her hugely," reports the Sussex Express.
She worked 30 years as a civil servant before becoming a full-time writer. The author's many books featured detective Adam Dalgliesh as the lead and sold millions of books around the world, and were adapted for television and film.
The writer was greatly influenced by the works of Jane Austen along with Dorothy L Sayers, Graham Greene and Evelyn Waugh. A delightful mix of mystery and romance.
Asked why so many successful crime writers were women, she said in an interview: "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."
Crime writer Ian Rankin paying tribute to the writer said: "So sad about PD James. Every event I did with her was a joy. Sharp intellect, ready wit. She will be missed."
Her latest work was Death Comes to Pemberley, a new novel updating Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice. Her best known novels include The Children of Men and The Murder Room.
