P. D. James

English mystery novelist P.D. James is best known for her Adam Dalgliesh novels, although I expect that her two Cordelia Gray novels (which loosely connect to the Dalgliesh series) picked up in circulation after they were filmed using one of the actresses that appeared on Friends. James seems less interested in the big Scooby-Doo-style "reveal" than in characterization and style, which means that most of her mysteries are elegantly written, absorbing stories with an ending that you can see a mile away.

Note: James's favorite novelist is Jane Austen, making her a woman with excellent taste, and she has said that she was strongly influenced by Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone, another fun mystery that's long on excellent writing and characterization and short on intelligent plotting.


Aftertaste:
None.

Availability:
Everywhere.

Other Recommendations:
Anything by Josephine Tey

The mysteries of Georgette Heyer



Website:
http://www.randomhouse.com/features/pdjames/ -