P. D. James

P. D. James was born in Oxford in 1920 and educated at Cambridge High School for Girls. From 1949 to 1968 she worked in the National Health Service and subsequently in the Home Office, first in the Police Department and later in the Criminal Policy Department. All that experience has been used in her novels. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Royal Society of the Arts and has served as a Governor of the BBC, a member of the Arts Council, where she was Chairman of its Literary Advisory Panel, on the Board of the British Council and as a magistrate in Middlesex and London. She has won awards for crime writing in Britain, America, Italy and Scandinavia, including the Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Award. She has received honorary degrees from seven British universities, was awarded an OBE in 1983 and was created a life peer in 1991. In 1997 she was elected President of the Society of Authors.

She lives in London and Oxford and has two daughters, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Photograph © Ulla Montan

Death Comes to Pemberley P. D. James Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 8 December 2011. Inspired by a lifelong passion for the work of Jane Austen, PD James masterfully recreates the world of Pride and Prejudice, and combines it with the excitement and suspense... Format: Hardback - Released: 03/11/2011 Lovereading Price: £14.24 - Saving £4.75 (25%)

The Maul and the Pear Tree : The Ratcliffe Highway Murders, 1811 P. D. James Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 9 December 2010. P. D. James and T. A. Critchley piece together the evidence of an early 19th century murder case in this fascinating book. Format: Paperback - Released: 04/11/2010 Lovereading Price: £5.99 - Saving £2.00 (25%)

The Private Patient P. D. James Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 23 October 2008. PD James is still at the top of her game at the ripe old age of 88. Great plotlines of murder and mystery and plenty of characters to get... Format: Hardback - Released: 28/08/2008 Lovereading Price: £14.24 - Saving £4.75 (25%)

The Lighthouse P. D. James This eagerly awaited successor to The Murder Room displays the qualities which aficionados have come to expect of P.D. James: sensitive characterisation, an exciting and superbly structured plot and vivid evocation of place. The Lighthouse is a subtle and... Format: Hardback - Released: 10/10/2005 Lovereading Price: £13.49 - Saving £4.50 (25%)

The Children of Men P. D. James The year is 2021. No child has been born for twenty-five years. The human race faces extinction. Under the despotic rule of Xan Lyppiat, the Warden of England, the old are despairing and the young cruel. Theo Faren, a cousin... Format: Paperback - Released: 05/08/2010 Lovereading Price: £5.99 - Saving £2.00 (25%)