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324:"Her first detective story, immediately pleasing and impressive. The pace is deliberate, the characterization of the members of an English county family very well done, and the central character of Sally Jupp – a servant girl with imagination and a love of power – most unusual but compelling. Insp. Dalgliesh is perhaps too quietly competent in his disclosure of Sally's killer – and, despite the title, the girl isn't a Duchess of Malfi." –
205:
The cocoa discovered at Sally's bedside is found to contain traces of Mr Maxie's sleeping tablets. Martha has been using them to drug Sally's cocoa so that she would oversleep, be discredited and eventually dismissed. It is Mrs. Eleanor Maxie who eventually confesses to the murder of Sally Jupp after
181:
village of
Chadfleet. Mrs. Maxie's son and daughter, Stephen Maxie and Deborah Riscoe, are both at the party. Serving at table is Sally Jupp, chosen from a local refuge for unmarried mothers to help in the house by Mrs Maxie and now living in with her infant son, Jimmy. Also present at the meal are
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after her death. Sally had blackmailed her uncle (who unbeknownst to her had spent her trust fund) into giving her 30 pounds. She had pretended to be unmarried because revealing her marriage would have jeopardised her husband's job and she liked to "play with people". She revealed
Stephen Maxie's
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Deborah later visits
Stephen at the hospital where he works and sees her brother talking with Sally. Stephen says that Sally had brought him some of their terminally ill father's sleeping tablets, Sommeil, which she found under old Mr. Maxie's bed. Stephen suspects that Mr. Maxie has managed to
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as Sally Jupp. As the television adaptation was set contemporaneously but the characters' ages had to remain unchanged, Felix Hearne's military service was relocated to Cyprus and a secondary storyline was added about
Cypriot drug-dealers. It was filmed at
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wrote "This is a literate and not unpromising first novel, but modeled firmly upon the detective story of 30 years ago at its dullest... When I keep urging a return to the formal detective story, this is not what I mean."
190:, Sally announces that Stephen has asked her to marry him. The following day, Martha complains that Sally has overslept again. On entering the room, Sally's strangled body is found. Detective Chief Inspector
151:. It details the investigations into the death of a young, ambitious maid, surrounded by a family which has reasons to want her gone – or dead. The title is taken from a passage from
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proposal of marriage for the same reason, although it is notable that she had not accepted it, and deliberately uses
Deborah's mug for her cocoa on her final night.
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deceive his devoted servant Martha, pretending to take the tablets when he is simply concealing them for a suicide attempt. On the day of St. Cedd's church
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The novel ends with a later meeting between Adam
Dalgliesh and Deborah Riscoe, where it is hinted that a future relationship will develop between them.
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Dalgliesh reveals everyone's movements on the night. It is clear, through a process of elimination, that only she could be the culprit.
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The novel was generally very well received by critics although the author later described it as her least favourite among her books.
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Stephen's former romantic interest, Catherine Bowers; Alice
Liddell, warden of St Mary's Refuge; and Dr Epps, the family doctor.
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The story opens with a dinner party hosted by Mrs. Eleanor Maxie at
Martingale, a manor house in the (fictional)
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It emerges much later that Sally had been secretly married to James
Ritchie, who returns from his job in
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as Adam
Dalgliesh, John Vine as Inspector John Massingham (instead of Detective Sergeant Martin),
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458:. New York: Harper & Row. 1971, revised and enlarged edition 1989.
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298:– domestic servant assisting Martha at Martingale for several months
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and Detective Sergeant Martin arrive and begin their investigation.
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A television version of the novel was produced for Britain's
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as Mrs Maxie, releasing it on CD shortly after airing.
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which is quoted by one of the characters in the novel.
432:"The Salon Interview – P.D. James – The Art of Murder"
238:– owner of Martingale, mother to Stephen and Deborah
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286:– Warden of St. Mary's Refuge for Girls
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430:Reese, Jennifer (26 February 1998).
274:– long-time physician of the Maxies
167:. Mine eyes dazzle; she died young,"
317:Literary significance and criticism
16:1962 Dalgliesh novel by P. D. James
819:Novels adapted into radio programs
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475:Boucher, Anthony (24 July 1966).
147:is the debut 1962 crime novel of
123:Print (hardback & paperback)
767:Talking About Detective Fiction
244:- surgeon at a London hospital
388:produced a radio serial, with
250:– widowed daughter of Eleanor
1:
703:An Unsuitable Job for a Woman
353:network in 1985. It starred
256:– Eleanor's invalid husband
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760:The Maul and the Pear Tree
710:The Skull Beneath the Skin
626:Death of an Expert Witness
313:– Sally's secret husband
230:Detective Sergeant Martin
218:Detective Chief Inspector
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814:British detective novels
742:Death Comes to Pemberley
612:Shroud for a Nightingale
804:Faber & Faber books
418:Encyclopedia Britannica
330:In a 1966 book review,
794:Novels by P. D. James
373:as Felix Hearne, and
280:– vicar of Chadfleet
661:Death in Holy Orders
477:"Criminals at Large"
456:A Catalogue of Crime
326:A Catalogue of Crime
302:Mr. and Mrs. Proctor
158:The Duchess of Malfi
799:Novels set in Essex
789:1962 British novels
735:The Children of Men
682:The Private Patient
640:Devices and Desires
369:as Deborah Riscoe,
33:First edition cover
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481:The New York Times
365:as Stephen Maxie,
361:as Eleanor Maxie,
337:The New York Times
284:Miss Alice Liddell
236:Mrs. Eleanor Maxie
824:1962 debut novels
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654:A Certain Justice
633:A Taste for Death
396:as Dalgliesh and
232:- his assistant
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112:Publication place
49:Cover artist
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605:Unnatural Causes
598:A Mind to Murder
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440:. Archived from
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290:Martha Bultitaft
272:Dr. Charles Epps
266:Catherine Bowers
133:A Mind to Murder
128:Followed by
103:Publication date
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444:on 5 June 2011.
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380:Rainthorpe Hall
359:Phyllis Calvert
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332:Anthony Boucher
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254:Mr. Simon Maxie
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120:Media type
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96:Faber and Faber
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22:Cover Her Face
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485:. Retrieved
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752:Non-fiction
573:P. D. James
502:James, PD,
394:Robin Ellis
386:BBC Radio 4
375:Kim Thomson
355:Roy Marsden
345:Adaptations
149:P. D. James
43:P. D. James
783:Categories
508:, BBC shop
483:. New York
404:References
392:as Felix,
390:Hugh Grant
367:Mel Martin
296:Sally Jupp
571:Works by
437:Salon.com
306:the Blitz
199:Venezuela
92:Publisher
487:13 April
59:Language
62:English
695:series
583:series
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67:Series
39:Author
179:Essex
82:Crime
78:Genre
73:No. 1
530:IMDb
489:2017
460:ISBN
188:fete
528:at
351:ITV
334:of
223:of
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