Innocent Blood

Notes

Innocent Blood by P.D. James is the book that made her an overnight success at the age of sixty. It was her ninth novel. It is a standalone story, and unlike her Adam Dalgliesh mysteries, it isn’t a classic detective story but a psychological thriller. It isn’t a secret about who the murderer is, so there isn’t a mystery to be solved. However, the story has its share of twists and a startling end.

It depicts the story of a woman who has known since childhood that she was adopted. When she becomes old enough, she decides to find out who her parents are, unearthing dark secrets that should have stayed buried.

Publisher’s Synopsis

Philippa Palfrey, adopted as a child, believes herself to be the motherless, illegitimate daughter of an aristocratic father. At eighteen she exercises her right to find out the truth. What she discovers will change her life forever. Philippa embarks on a thrilling investigation, enters a new and terrifying world and soon comes to realize that she is not the only one interested in her parents’ whereabouts.

From the bestselling author of Death Comes to Pemberley, Children of Men and Death in Holy Orders, Innocent Blood is both a mystery and a thriller, a superb novel that explores the themes of self-identity, blood ties, guilt and revenge.

P.D. James has been influential as a crime writer for many years and her writing is often compared to the work of authors such as Val McDermid, Ian Rankin and Peter Robinson.

‘A fascinating psychological study of blood ties, guilt and revenge’ Sunday Telegraph

Read a full review of Innocent Blood by P.D. James at Freshly Worded.