The Murder Room

Murders present meet murders past in P.D. James's latest harrowing, thought-provoking thriller. Life imitates art. The redoubtable Commander Adam Dalgliesh is on the trail of a murderer whose MO mimics a museum exhibit. The Dupayne, a small London museum devoted to the interwar years 1919-1939, is in turmoil. As its trustees argue over whether it should be closed, one of them is murdered. Yet even as Dalgliesh investigates this mysterious killing, a second corpse is discovered. Thus paired, the two murders look uncannily similar to the crimes in the museum's "Murder Room" gallery. As Dalgliesh attempts to unravel this increasingly urgent puzzle, its complications impinge more and more upon the relationship he is developing with Emma Lavenham. And as he moves closer to a solution, he grows further from commitment to Emma.