Cordelia Gray
Created by P.D. James

A far cry fromt G.G. Fickling's Honey West or Carter Brown's Mavis Seidlitz. One of the Queens of Mystery Fiction, P.D. James should get at least some credit for creating the modern female P. I. when she unleashed CORDELIA GRAY upon an unsuspecting world. Cordelia's inherits a detective agency when her mentor, Bernie Pryde, commits suicide. Instead of selling it off, for a quick profit, she decides to keep it going, despite it being "an unsuitable job for a woman," the title of P.D. James 1972 novel (and a possible tip of the hat to James Rubel's No Business For a Lady, which also featured a female private eye?).

Shy, lacking in confidence, and unworldly, Cordelia at first makes an unlikely candidate for a private detective. But as the book progresses, and she learns the ropes and understand herself, it turns out Cordelia is exactly the right woman for the job.

Almost forgotten (at least until the recent TV series), Cordelia never-the-less paved the way for younger sisters Sharon McCone (1977), Anna Lee (1980), V.I. Warshawski (1982) and Kinsey Millhone (1982), among others.

The first novel even generated a 1982 offbeat, atmospheric British film adaptation that, while well-received, never really garned the audience it deserved, either in Britain or in the States. However, a more recent series of British and American-produced made-for-television films seems to have rejuvenated interest in Cordelia, and she may yet get the credit she deserves.

And in 1997, a new adaptation of An Unsuitable Job for a Woman appeared on PBS in the States, which served as a pilot for a string of further episodes, although these are based on original works by other writers, not on anything written by PD James.

One plot development that has attracted a lot of attention is Cordeilia's pregnancy, after a brief Italian fling. As well as coping with carrying a child, Cordelia now finds herself having to cope with her well-meaning, but overly-protective office assistant, Mrs. Sparshott, who insists on taking a more active role in the cases that come their way, due to her boss's "condition." I may be wrong, but it seems the last pregnant private eye (and possibly the genre's first) was Max Allan Collins Ms. Tree, but this is probably a first for television.

Author P.D. James is one of the mystery genre's most well-respected authors, and the creator of Adam Dalgliesh, the moody, book-loving police detective (and not a private eye, but we won't hold that against her.) Se seems to have some spunk to her credit, too. James reportedly was so taken aback by the recent TV series she says she'll never write another book with the character, in case these cretins get a hand on it. That's no way to treat a Lady. Or a Dame.

NOVELS

FILM

TELEVISION

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.

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