The Beautiful Mystery

The detective novel became prominent in English in the 19th century, most prominently through the works of Edgar Allen Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Wilkie Collins. In the 20th century, the Golden Age of Detective fiction, exemplified by the works of Agatha Christie, focused on the detective as a lone genius who reveals the culprit at the novel’s denouement. Christie’s Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple are mostly static characters who remain largely unaltered by the cases they investigate, however horrific or tragic.

Late-20th-century British novelist P.D. James significantly expanded the “crime story” genre: Her main protagonist Adam Dalgliesh has a complex inner life and his character development and aging process are recurring themes in her novels, which follow him from his early career in the 1970s to a final appearance in 2008. Dalgliesh is contemplative and often confronts complex moral problems in his murder investigations.

Penny published a tribute to P.D. James and cited her as a key influence in her understanding of the mystery genre. One Dalgliesh novel, Death in Holy Orders, published in 2001, takes place at a remote theological college, similar to Penny’s choice of a monastic

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