An Unsuitable Job for a Woman

by P. D. James

Published 6 November 1972
This is the first Cordelia Gray mystery which introduces us to the young sleuth, now the sole proprietor of the Pryde Detective Agency, and hard at work on her first independent case. Sir Ronald Callender's son Mark is found hanged in mysterious circumstances, and he hires Cordelia to shed some light on his son's apparent suicide. But as Cordelia pieces together the facts surrounding his death, delving back into the long-buried secrets of the Callender family, she finds that Mark had many good friends - and one deadly enemy.

The Skull Beneath the Skin

by P. D. James

Published 1 January 1982
Hired to protect a beautiful but neurotic actress, Cordelia Gray soon becomes embroiled in a case as dangerous to her own life as it is mysterious. Clarissa Lisle hopes to make a spectacular come back in a production of The Duchess of Malfi, to be played in Ambrose Gorringe's sinister castle at Courcy Island. Cordelia is there to ensure her safety following the appearance of a number of poison-pen letters. But it soon becomes clear that all are in danger. Trapped within the walls of the Gothic Castle, the treacherous past of the island re-emerges, and everyone seems to have a motive for sending Clarissa 'down, down the hell'. Marking the return of Cordelia Gray, The Skull Beneath the Skin is a complex mystery that more than lives up to its predecessor, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman.