The Skull Beneath the Skin Audiobook By P. D. James cover art

The Skull Beneath the Skin

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The Skull Beneath the Skin

By: P. D. James
Narrated by: Penelope Dellaporta
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Private detective Cordelia Gray is invited to the sunlit island of Courcy to protect the vainly beautiful actress Clarissa Lisle from veiled threats on her life. Within the rose red walls of a fairy-tale castle, she finds the stage is set for death.

©2001 P.D. James (P)2009 Random House Detective Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Traditional Detectives Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Fiction

Critic reviews

“Richly intricate and literate”, [James’s second Cordelia Gray mystery] “shows James at the height of her storytelling powers” (San Francisco Chronicle)

"P.D. James is “the greatest living mystery writer.” (People)
Intriguing Plot • Astute Characterizations • Outstanding Performance • Complex Writing • Classic Mystery
Highly rated for:
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Would you consider the audio edition of The Skull Beneath the Skin to be better than the print version?

Yes because the performance by P. De La Porta was outstanding

Who was your favorite character and why?

Who wouldn't love Cordelia Gray!

What does Penelope Dellaporta bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Astute characterizations

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Classic English mystery!

Taught mystery - great narration

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Once again Miss Grey funds all the answers, yet doesn't get the glory of success in public.

Some nice tidbits of British history.

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Strange ending, more like a Le Carre: Everything dissolves into ambiguity making one wonder why one cared how the novel would end. Interesting, if not all likeable, characters, intriguing plot, excellent writing style ending in a existentialist shrug.

PD James

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Cordelia Gray is a strong character. She firmly believes in truth. She is compassionate, intelligent, and resourceful. Listeners will see these characteristics in this complex, often dark novel. It was hard to stop listening. Kudos to P. D. James.

A Principled Principal

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I almost want to just exclaim about James’ vocabulary, but that wouldn’t convey the complexity in her writing or the great listening experience, so I’ll sum it up by saying that I’m a therapist who doesn’t enjoy overly simplified characters or story lines and I appreciated this read as one of my favorite vacation reads this summer!!

Wonderful listen

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I thoroughly enjoyed it, right up to the ending which I found very unsatisfying and disappointing.

great book with a bad ending

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nothing at all it was very good reading and stimulating enjoyable reading I recommend this author to all who like good mystery

twists in plot

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It's a crime that there are no more books in this series!! Excellent and interesting stories.

The 2nd & last Cordelia Gray Mystery!

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I've read many P.D. James mystery novels, and really like how the plot and character tangents miraculously sync up by the end, In
this book, the tangents begin sounding like random thoughts. Still, the use of language is superb.

Disappointed

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Grooming/coersion situation, where victim fights back and outsider's actions changes it from self defense to murder. PD James comes from a different era and an sa against a young male is not considered a crime.

Spoiler

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