Customer Reviews
Original Sin - By: Rich, 06 Dec 2008 
Overwritten but has something which does make you keep reading. A couple of effective set-pieces especially the discovery of the second body. The location is suitably Gothic & imposing. There is a problem with visualising the characters, one or two are difficult to fix an age upon. E.g. I pictured Frances as a middle-aged woman. It turns out she's actually late twenties. The solution is fair though perhaps the tragedy is not as tangible as intended. James does play fair by the reader, there are one or two effective false leads but the clues are well placed.
could do better - By: , 28 Nov 2005 this was my first experience of PD James. good characters, some sharp dialogue, credible plot up to the pretty implausible deus ex machina ending, but please, P.D, what's with the outdated vocabulary? i had to keep checking the publication date because i was getting confused. It was publishedin 1994, & characters are still writing on portable typewriters? they have names like Esmé, Marjorie & Velma? The police are "the fuzz"? It really began to annoy me, to the point where the book was damaged by it. if the characters are stuckin the 1950s, then why should I respect the rest of it as being convincing? I'm presuming of course that it wasn't actually setin 1953, but there are references to AIDS & motorbikes & Docklands, so there's surely no excuse for the Esmés & Velma's. An unnecessary flaw that a good editor should have ironed out.
enjoyable read ruined by an implausable ending - By: , 22 Jul 2001 I do feel that three stars might be a little harsh when it comes to this book as I enjoyed most of it. The plot & the characters are intriguing & the author's sense of place is as good as ever. The problem however, is the ending (which I am not going to ruin for you.) All the carefull structuring comes crashing down as a number of the characters (and onein particular) start actingin a way that defies belief. I get the impression that P D James had no idea how to finish the novel & the cheap ending we are left with comes close to ruining the whole book
Left me absolutely dumbfounded - By: , 03 Mar 2001 
This has got to be the best book she has ever written.
I like nothing more than a book or this sort, a wronged person going after justicein the form of an eye-for-an-eye etc. She makes the reder feel a wonderful compassion for the killer, & all the time since she revelaed the denouement, felt myself willing the 'killer' (i put itin quotation marks because i beileve a killer who is justified should not be classified under th heading killer, but the term 'doer of things which should have been done oh so long ago......') to suceedin their quest for justice.
The writing is wonderful, the atmosphere eerie, the characters donein the detail reminiscent of a painting, the plot interesting, the setting so realistic (One of the main hallmarks of P. D. James) all come together to make this a winning novel.
WHO SAID THE 'GOLDEN AGE' WAS DEAD?
The Sin is hardly Original, but the Book is! - By: , 10 Nov 2000 For Superintendent Adam Dalgleish, there are just too many coincidences, too many "practical" jokes, too many deaths, & too many suspects. In P.D. James' "Original Sin," this quintessential investigator has his hands full. And James, herself, is at top formin this London thriller, all asea with several subplots at once. Intriguing they are, too. Someone is bumping off the partners of Peverell Press, a venerable publishing company now on shaky financial legs that rests on the banks of the Thamesin a real ediface complex called Innocent House, an opulent Venetian-type of building that is at once a landmark as well as a nest of intrigue, murder, & mayhem, going back a couple of generations to its founder.
As one after another body is found, the pieces begin to come together, although not easily nor fast. Dalgleish & his two assistants, Kate Mishkin & Aaron Daniel, have their own personal concerns to sort out as well. James has created a host of
excellently developed characters, as she usually does, & the reader is caught upin the problems & affairs of them all. Finally to solve the case, Dalgleish & company have to look back for their answers, all the way back to World War II France. The climax comes powerfullyin "Original Sin" & as usual James leaves her readers, not necessarily on a joyous note, but one that is pensive, sometimes even remorseful. But what a read. In literature, & especially with P.D. James,
there is justice after all!
