The Black Tower

P. D. James was a bestselling and internationally acclaimed crime writer. She was the creator of Adam Dalgliesh and Cordelia Gray, and their long and successful series of mysteries. Her works include Cover Her Face (1962), An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972), Innocent Blood (1980), Children of Men (1992), and the Jane Austen-inspired Death Comes to Pemberley (2011).

James was born in Oxford in 1920. She won awards for crime writing in Britain, America, Italy and Scandinavia, including the Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Award. She received honorary degrees from seven British universities, was awarded an OBE in 1983 and created a life peer in 1991. In 1997 she was elected President of the Society of Authors, and stood down from this role in 2013. P. D. James - awarded an OBE in 1983 and made a life peer in 1991 - was the bestselling, internationally acclaimed author of eighteen crime novels including the Adam Dalgliesh and Cordelia Gray series, The Children of Men and two posthumously published collections of short stories. She won numerous awards for crime writing, including the Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Award and CWA Diamond Dagger, the highest honour in British crime writing.