Cover Her Face (novel)
Encyclopedia
Cover Her Face is the debut 1962 crime novel of P. D. James
. It details the investigations by her poetry-writing detective Adam Dalgliesh
into the death of a young, ambitious maid, surrounded by a family which has reasons to want her gone - or dead.
The title is taken from a passage from John Webster
's The Duchess of Malfi
: "Cover her face. Mine eyes dazzle; she died young."
village of Chadfleet. Mrs. Maxie's son and daughter, Stephen Maxie and Deborah Riscoe, are both at the party. Also present are Dr. Charles Epps, the vicar
Bernard Hicks, Miss Alice Liddell, who is the Warden at St. Mary's Refuge for Girls, and Catherine Bowers, a guest at the estate who is in a relationship with Stephen Maxie. Serving at the party is Sally Jupp, an unmarried mother with an infant son, who was employed by Mrs. Maxie at the recommendation of Miss Liddell.
Stephen Maxie champions Sally during dinner, and afterwards Deborah Riscoe cryptically predicts that the young servant will cause trouble. During dinner, it is also mentioned that the Maxie's elderly domestic servant, Martha Bultitaft, is not very pleased with Sally Jupp.
On the Thursday before St. Cedd's church fete
, which takes place every year on the grounds of Martingale, Deborah goes to London and visits Stephen at the hospital where he works. There she sees her brother talking with Sally, who looks carefully dressed in a grey suit. Stephen says that Sally brought him some of their father's tablets, which she found on old Mr. Maxie's bed. Stephen suspects that old Mr. Maxie manages to deceive Martha, pretending to take his tablets when he is simply hiding them in his bed.
Stephen again praises Sally and tells Deborah to take the tablets and put them in the medicine cupboard at their father's room. Deborah is suspicious as to why Sally came to Stephen with the tablets and not to Mrs. Maxie or herself.
When Sally returns to Martingale, she taunts Martha about the tablets and her care for old Mr. Maxie.
On the day of the fete, Sally shows up wearing exactly the same dress that Deborah is wearing, with the same accessories. Guests are shocked into silence, but Deborah appears unconcerned. Later that day, Sally announces that Stephen has asked her to marry him. Miss Liddell is distraught by this announcement and her unkind words are met by abuse, with Sally calling her a "sex-starved old hypocrite" and threatening to reveal her secrets.
The following day, Martha complains that Sally has overslept again. When there is no response to repeated knocking at her bedroom, Stephen and Felix (a close friend of Deborah's, who is staying at the house) go up a ladder to enter the room through the window, and find Sally Jupp's lifeless body.
Sally Jupp is found to have died of manual strangulation by a right-handed person. She is also found to have been drugged. The local constabulary request that Scotland Yard
send an experienced homicide detective, and Detective Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh
and Detective Sergeant Martin arrive. They interview the family members and guests of the Martingale household. They also interview Miss Liddell, Dr. Epps, some neighbours of the Maxies, and Sally's aunt and uncle.
It emerges that Sally is already secretly married to James Ritchie, who has a successful job in Venezuela
, but returns to England after her death. Sally has been saving money for her husband's return. She blackmails her uncle (who unbeknownst to her had spent her modest trust fund) into giving her 30 pounds. She pretended to be an unmarried mother because revealing the marriage would jeopardise her husband's job and she likes to 'play with people'. She revealed Stephen Maxie's proposal of marriage for the same reason, although it is notable that she did not accept it.
Martha had been regularly drugging Sally at night so that she would oversleep, and be discredited, and eventually dismissed from Martingale. It is Mrs. Eleanor Maxie who eventually confesses to the murder of Sally Jupp after Dalgliesh reveals everyone's movements on the night. It is clear, through a process of elimination, that only she could be the culprit.
She goes to prison, having been found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter
, and Deborah is left alone in the house. Martha goes to stay with a friend in Herefordshire
. Old Mr. Maxie, an invalid throughout the story, dies shortly before Mrs Maxie confesses; it becomes clear that she was waiting for his death before doing so.
The novel ends with a meeting between Adam Dalgliesh and Deborah Riscoe. Adam gives Deborah a lift back to Martingale. Deborah tells him that Catherine will probably marry James Ritchie, thus providing a mother for Sally Jupp's son Jimmy (named after his father). It is hinted that a relationship will develop between Adam and Deborah.
– in charge of the investigation
Detective Sergeant Martin – Dalgliesh's partner
Mrs. Eleanor Maxie – owner of Martingale, mother to Stephen and Deborah
Stephen Maxie – son of Eleanor; admires and desires Sally Jupp; doctor at St. Luke's Hospital
Deborah Riscoe – daughter of Eleanor; her husband, Edward Riscoe, died of poliomyelitis less than a year after they were married
Mr. Simon Maxie – Eleanor's invalid and elderly husband
Felix Hearne – in love with Deborah; holds both French and British decorations for his part in the WW2 resistance movement; tortured by the Gestapo
Dr. Charles Epps – a widower, long-time physician of the Maxies
Bernard Hinks – vicar of Chadfleet
Miss Alice Liddell – Warden of St. Mary's Refuge for Girls
Catherine Bowers – guest at Martingale; expects to marry Stephen Maxie
Martha Bultitaft – the Maxie's long-time domestic servant
Sally Jupp – domestic servant at Martingale for several months; victim of homicide; lived at St. Mary's during the last five months of her pregnancy, then returned from the hospital after giving birth and stayed there till coming to work at Martingale
James Ritchie – Sally's husband
Mr. and Mrs. Proctor – Sally's aunt and uncle who raised her after her parents were killed during the Blitz
"Her first detective story, immediately pleasing and impressive. The pace is deliberate, the characterization of the members of an English county family very well done, and the central character of Sally Jupp -- a servant girl with imagination and a love of power -- most unusual but compelling. Insp. Dalgliesh is perhaps too quietly competent in his disclosure of Sally's killer -- and, despite the title, the girl isn't a Duchess of Malfi." - A Catalogue of Crime
network in 1985. It starred Roy Marsden
as Adam Dalgliesh, Phyllis Calvert
as Eleanor Maxie, Mel Martin
as Deborah Riscoe, Julian Glover
as Felix Hearne, and Kim Thomson
as Sally Jupp.
BBC Radio 4
produced a radio serial, with Hugh Grant
as Felix and Siân Phillips
as Mrs Maxie, releasing it on CD shortly after airing.
P. D. James
Phyllis Dorothy James, Baroness James of Holland Park, OBE, FRSA, FRSL , commonly known as P. D. James, is an English crime writer and Conservative life peer in the House of Lords, most famous for a series of detective novels starring policeman and poet Adam Dalgliesh.-Life and career:James...
. It details the investigations by her poetry-writing detective Adam Dalgliesh
Adam Dalgliesh
Adam Dalgliesh is a fictional character who has been the protagonist of fourteen mystery novels by P. D. James. Dalgliesh first appeared in James's 1962 novel Cover Her Face and has appeared in a number of subsequent novels.-Character:...
into the death of a young, ambitious maid, surrounded by a family which has reasons to want her gone - or dead.
The title is taken from a passage from John Webster
John Webster
John Webster was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi, which are often regarded as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. He was a contemporary of William Shakespeare.- Biography :Webster's life is obscure, and the dates...
's The Duchess of Malfi
The Duchess of Malfi
The Duchess of Malfi is a macabre, tragic play written by the English dramatist John Webster in 1612–13. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theatre, then before a more general audience at The Globe, in 1613-14...
: "Cover her face. Mine eyes dazzle; she died young."
Plot summary
The story opens with a dinner party hosted by Mrs. Eleanor Maxie at Martingale, a mediaeval manor house in the (fictional) EssexEssex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
village of Chadfleet. Mrs. Maxie's son and daughter, Stephen Maxie and Deborah Riscoe, are both at the party. Also present are Dr. Charles Epps, the vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
Bernard Hicks, Miss Alice Liddell, who is the Warden at St. Mary's Refuge for Girls, and Catherine Bowers, a guest at the estate who is in a relationship with Stephen Maxie. Serving at the party is Sally Jupp, an unmarried mother with an infant son, who was employed by Mrs. Maxie at the recommendation of Miss Liddell.
Stephen Maxie champions Sally during dinner, and afterwards Deborah Riscoe cryptically predicts that the young servant will cause trouble. During dinner, it is also mentioned that the Maxie's elderly domestic servant, Martha Bultitaft, is not very pleased with Sally Jupp.
On the Thursday before St. Cedd's church fete
Fête
Fête is a French word meaning festival, celebration or party, which has passed into English as a label that may be given to certain events.-Description:It is widely used in England and Australia in the context of a village fête,...
, which takes place every year on the grounds of Martingale, Deborah goes to London and visits Stephen at the hospital where he works. There she sees her brother talking with Sally, who looks carefully dressed in a grey suit. Stephen says that Sally brought him some of their father's tablets, which she found on old Mr. Maxie's bed. Stephen suspects that old Mr. Maxie manages to deceive Martha, pretending to take his tablets when he is simply hiding them in his bed.
Stephen again praises Sally and tells Deborah to take the tablets and put them in the medicine cupboard at their father's room. Deborah is suspicious as to why Sally came to Stephen with the tablets and not to Mrs. Maxie or herself.
When Sally returns to Martingale, she taunts Martha about the tablets and her care for old Mr. Maxie.
On the day of the fete, Sally shows up wearing exactly the same dress that Deborah is wearing, with the same accessories. Guests are shocked into silence, but Deborah appears unconcerned. Later that day, Sally announces that Stephen has asked her to marry him. Miss Liddell is distraught by this announcement and her unkind words are met by abuse, with Sally calling her a "sex-starved old hypocrite" and threatening to reveal her secrets.
The following day, Martha complains that Sally has overslept again. When there is no response to repeated knocking at her bedroom, Stephen and Felix (a close friend of Deborah's, who is staying at the house) go up a ladder to enter the room through the window, and find Sally Jupp's lifeless body.
Sally Jupp is found to have died of manual strangulation by a right-handed person. She is also found to have been drugged. The local constabulary request that Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
send an experienced homicide detective, and Detective Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh
Adam Dalgliesh
Adam Dalgliesh is a fictional character who has been the protagonist of fourteen mystery novels by P. D. James. Dalgliesh first appeared in James's 1962 novel Cover Her Face and has appeared in a number of subsequent novels.-Character:...
and Detective Sergeant Martin arrive. They interview the family members and guests of the Martingale household. They also interview Miss Liddell, Dr. Epps, some neighbours of the Maxies, and Sally's aunt and uncle.
It emerges that Sally is already secretly married to James Ritchie, who has a successful job in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, but returns to England after her death. Sally has been saving money for her husband's return. She blackmails her uncle (who unbeknownst to her had spent her modest trust fund) into giving her 30 pounds. She pretended to be an unmarried mother because revealing the marriage would jeopardise her husband's job and she likes to 'play with people'. She revealed Stephen Maxie's proposal of marriage for the same reason, although it is notable that she did not accept it.
Martha had been regularly drugging Sally at night so that she would oversleep, and be discredited, and eventually dismissed from Martingale. It is Mrs. Eleanor Maxie who eventually confesses to the murder of Sally Jupp after Dalgliesh reveals everyone's movements on the night. It is clear, through a process of elimination, that only she could be the culprit.
She goes to prison, having been found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter
Manslaughter
Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
, and Deborah is left alone in the house. Martha goes to stay with a friend in Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
. Old Mr. Maxie, an invalid throughout the story, dies shortly before Mrs Maxie confesses; it becomes clear that she was waiting for his death before doing so.
The novel ends with a meeting between Adam Dalgliesh and Deborah Riscoe. Adam gives Deborah a lift back to Martingale. Deborah tells him that Catherine will probably marry James Ritchie, thus providing a mother for Sally Jupp's son Jimmy (named after his father). It is hinted that a relationship will develop between Adam and Deborah.
The Characters
Detective Chief Inspector Adam DalglieshAdam Dalgliesh
Adam Dalgliesh is a fictional character who has been the protagonist of fourteen mystery novels by P. D. James. Dalgliesh first appeared in James's 1962 novel Cover Her Face and has appeared in a number of subsequent novels.-Character:...
– in charge of the investigation
Detective Sergeant Martin – Dalgliesh's partner
Mrs. Eleanor Maxie – owner of Martingale, mother to Stephen and Deborah
Stephen Maxie – son of Eleanor; admires and desires Sally Jupp; doctor at St. Luke's Hospital
Deborah Riscoe – daughter of Eleanor; her husband, Edward Riscoe, died of poliomyelitis less than a year after they were married
Mr. Simon Maxie – Eleanor's invalid and elderly husband
Felix Hearne – in love with Deborah; holds both French and British decorations for his part in the WW2 resistance movement; tortured by the Gestapo
Dr. Charles Epps – a widower, long-time physician of the Maxies
Bernard Hinks – vicar of Chadfleet
Miss Alice Liddell – Warden of St. Mary's Refuge for Girls
Catherine Bowers – guest at Martingale; expects to marry Stephen Maxie
Martha Bultitaft – the Maxie's long-time domestic servant
Sally Jupp – domestic servant at Martingale for several months; victim of homicide; lived at St. Mary's during the last five months of her pregnancy, then returned from the hospital after giving birth and stayed there till coming to work at Martingale
James Ritchie – Sally's husband
Mr. and Mrs. Proctor – Sally's aunt and uncle who raised her after her parents were killed during the Blitz
Literary significance and criticism
The novel was generally very well received by critics."Her first detective story, immediately pleasing and impressive. The pace is deliberate, the characterization of the members of an English county family very well done, and the central character of Sally Jupp -- a servant girl with imagination and a love of power -- most unusual but compelling. Insp. Dalgliesh is perhaps too quietly competent in his disclosure of Sally's killer -- and, despite the title, the girl isn't a Duchess of Malfi." - A Catalogue of Crime
Adaptations
A television version of the novel was produced for Britain's ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
network in 1985. It starred Roy Marsden
Roy Marsden
Roy Marsden is an English actor, who is probably best known for his portrayal of Adam Dalgliesh in the Anglia Television dramatisations of P. D. James's detective novels.- Education :...
as Adam Dalgliesh, Phyllis Calvert
Phyllis Calvert
Phyllis Calvert was an English film, stage and television actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 1940s....
as Eleanor Maxie, Mel Martin
Mel Martin
Mel Martin is an English actor. She has appeared in such British television programmes and films as The Pallisers, Love for Lydia, Bergerac, Cover Her Face, Lovejoy, Inspector Morse, Cadfael, When the Boat Comes In, Midsomer Murders and "A Touch of Frost".She starred as Fiona Samson, the double...
as Deborah Riscoe, Julian Glover
Julian Glover
Julian Wyatt Glover is a British actor best known for such roles as General Maximilian Veers in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, the Bond villain Aristotle Kristatos in For Your Eyes Only, and Walter Donovan in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.-Personal life:Glover was born in...
as Felix Hearne, and Kim Thomson
Kim Thomson
Kim Thomson is an English actress who has appeared on stage, television and film since the early 1980s in both the United Kingdom and the United States.-Early life:...
as Sally Jupp.
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
produced a radio serial, with Hugh Grant
Hugh Grant
Hugh John Mungo Grant is an English actor and film producer. He has received a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and an Honorary César. His films have earned more than $2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide. Grant achieved international stardom after appearing in Richard Curtis's...
as Felix and Siân Phillips
Siân Phillips
Jane Elizabeth Ailwên "Siân" Phillips, CBE, is a Welsh actress.-Early life:Phillips was born in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Neath Port Talbot, Wales, the daughter of Sally , a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker-turned-policeman...
as Mrs Maxie, releasing it on CD shortly after airing.