Customer Reviews
Intriguing Story and Characters but a Tad Slow - By: Mark Baker, 04 Feb 2004 
Venetia Aldridge is a top notch criminal lawyer. She hardly ever looses a case & is able to find the holesin any argument. Her personal life isn't so rosy, however. She is basically estranged from her daughter & considered a problem by her co-workers. Her life really begins to unravel when her daughter announces her engagement - to a man Venetia has recently gotten off for murder. But when Venetia is found deadin her office two days later, it's up to Adam Dalgliesh & his team to figure out who killed her. And with all these motives & suspects, it won't be easy.
I'd heard much about P.D. James, but this was the first time I'd actually read one of her books. I found the writing style engaging & would have a hard time putting it down once I started. On the other hand, I'd have a hard time picking it up again. The beginning especially seems to give us too much background on our characters, stuff we don't need to learn until later if at all. This really slowed the story down for me.
The more I got into it, the better I enjoyed it, however. There were some nice twists along the way with an intriguing sub-plot. The last couple of chapters did seem a little anti-climatic considering what had gone before, but I was surprised by who the killer turned out to be. Using multiple view points greatly added to the story most of the time, although it did confuse me some as far as timeline goes.
I can understand why P.D. James has such a fine reputation. She can paint a picture with words like few other writers currently writing. While she may be a tad too slow for my normal taste, I'm certainly glad to see what all the talk is about. Her reputation is well earned.
Immensely enjoyable - By: , 11 Jun 2002 
This is the first PD James I've read, & I will certainly read some more. A good whodunnit, good, believable characters (Inspector Dalgleish among them), & a good setting (the law courts), & a story that grips. Who could ask for more?
My 2nd P D James - By: , 10 Aug 2001 Very entertaining, felt all the suspects almost lining up for me to pick from! Although I prefer the older settings, it still maintained an air of another era.
Good, but not as good as Original Sin - By: , 03 Mar 2001 this novel is very good, but not as good as Original Sin, which was entirely brilliant. The plot is strong & credible, the denouement inspringly written> But it fails to inspire as much as Original Sin. This novel is powerful, & the end comes like huge lorry on a course for your brain, there are however, i felt, not many suspects for the reader to figure out 'whodunnit?'
I may well be being unreasonable, as i probably am because Original Sin was so brilliant. This is certainly one of her best, even though, it is not the.
Well worth a read. Buy it.
James shows there's justice for all! - By: , 19 Nov 2000 P.D. James purists may argue that "Devices & Desires" is her best work to date, but "A Certain Justice" is certainly a close second! Granted, while James seems to devote less time to her leading man, Adam Dalgliesh, she nevertheless succeedsin making a more complete story--concentrating more on other characters & events (almost as if she's saying "you already know enough about Adam"!). Still, Commander Dalgliesh isin command & it is through his brilliance that the case is solved (orin this case, "cases"!).
Basically, Venetia Aldridge, a brilliant, up-and-coming criminal lawyer is found murdered (there can be no other explanation). As Scotland Yard becomes more involved (after all, it is a murder investigation & the victim is quite prominentin London legal circles), facts begin to emerge that picture a not-so-ordinary past. Venetia is no angel (not yet, anyway!)--there are suspects a-plenty & the motives run rampant, from her cleaning lady to colleaguesin & out of court & to her own family members. She has a past that certainly has cut some crucial corners. She is also a woman with an attitude--an attitude that seemed not to care about making enemies. she is also the mother of a teenaged daughter, & their relationship, too, has been a bit tumultuous--dicey at best.
Venetia is found stabbed to death at her desk, & a barrister's wig placed, askew, on her head. Her body is soakedin blood. A convenient suspect is hurriedly identified (a sociopath whom she'd successfully defendedin a murder trial a few years back!) but, alas, he comes up with an alibi & Dalgliesh must look to others, especially some of her jealous colleagues, for his culprit. James' plot is, indeed, convoluted & for the casual reader may be hard to follow. After all, she hasn't been labeled "queen of crime" for nothing. Trying to follow the plot is more like trying to find the pathin a maze, but that is also probably one of the main attractions for a James novel: it's not simple. At the same time, she painstakingly develops her characters, who, simply, are more than one dimensional. While Venetia, on the surface, reflects an organized, planned concept of justice & law & order, James shows us another side--one of justice running amok, of crueltyin the name of the law, & of fair play being something that seems not to exist. And this road to certain justice is onein a state of disrepair, confusion, & blind leads. It is not without its rewards, however, & by the chilling final-chapters' climax, it is, once again, a jury victory for James!.
