The Skull Beneath the Skin by P.D. James

     I really like P.D. James! This is her second Cordelia Grey mystery. Cordelia is a private investigator, so this book (unlike most of the P.D. James I've read) is not a police procedural. 

     Cordelia is hired to protect her client’s actress wife (Clarissa) on a private island where she (Clarissa) will star in a small play. Clarissa has been receiving threatening letters for months and Cordelia’s job is to shield the high-strung star from the letters—not the danger they threaten. Clarissa’s husband doesn’t believe Clarissa’s life is in any danger—just her serenity. Suspense, murder and danger follow.

     

     I always know what to expect from P.D. James. She is expert at picking apart her characters—their motivations, their feelings, their reactions. Her mysteries are as much psychology as they are action. I find I have to be in the mood for a P.D. James, but when I am, they are sublime.

Bad language: A few mild bad words, I think
Sex: Zero sex scenes. Clarissa and her friends are promiscuous, so infidelity and sensuality are referred to, but there are no descriptions—just the facts (and most of those are in the past).