Cover Her Face

P. D. James · first published 1962 · ISBN 9780722150320

This debut novel introduces Adam Dalgliesh, a Scotland Yard detective who is also a published poet. When a young parlor maid is smothered in her bed at a country house, Dalgliesh must navigate the secrets and jealousies of the household to find her killer. James uses the locked-room mystery format to probe deeper questions about motive, identity, and the gap between public and private lives.