Cordelia Gray | |
---|---|
First appearance | An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972) |
Last appearance | The Skull Beneath the Skin (1982) |
Created by | P. D. James |
Portrayed by | Pippa Guard Judi Bowker Greta Scacchi Helen Baxendale |
In-universe information | |
Nickname | Delia (by her father) |
Gender | Female |
Occupation | Private detective |
Family | Redvers Gray (father, deceased) |
Significant other | Georges (ex-boyfriend) Carl (ex-boyfriend) |
Nationality | British |
Cordelia Gray is a fictional character created by English author P. D. James. Gray is the protagonist of two novels, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972) and of The Skull Beneath the Skin (1982). Cordelia Gray is a young woman [1] who works as a private detective in London, having inherited the detective agency "Pryde" on the death of her boss, Bernie Pryde, who committed suicide.
Cordelia lost her mother an hour after birth. Her father Redvers, a Marxist traveling poet and revolutionary, did not really care about his daughter, so Cordelia had many adoptive parents, and from six to eight years old she lived in a cottage in Remford with Mrs. Gibson and her children. At eleven, she was confused with another C. Gray and won a scholarship to the Convent of Infant Jesus, where she stayed for six years. Then Redvers took her away from the convent, and they started traveling in Germany and Italy with Mr. Gray's revolutionary friends. During their wandering, Cordelia worked as their maid, cook, bellhop and nurse.
Six months later, Mr. Gray died of a heart disease in Rome. After his death, Cordelia returned to England and became the secretary of the private detective Bernie G. Pryde, and later his partner in investigations. Two months later, Pryde was diagnosed with cancer and committed suicide. Instead of selling the detective agency off, Cordelia decided to keep it open, helped by the young aspiring actor Bevis and the old secretary Mrs. Maudsley. Despite dealing with cases involving murders and threats, the agency becomes specialized in searching for missing animals.
At the conclusion of An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, Cordelia Gray meets James's other detective Adam Dalgliesh. In A Taste for Death it is mentioned that they have been seen dining together. Cordelia is also referred to at the beginning and at the end of another Dalgliesh novel, The Black Tower :
Daniel asked [about Dalgliesh]:
"Is he conscious?"
"Barely. Your chap in there says he's been quoting King Lear. Something about Cordelia anyway ..." [2]
Cordelia lives near Thames Street in an apartment with furniture bought from second-hand dealers or during auctions in the suburbs.
At first shy and unconfident, as the story progresses she learns how to solve a case and becomes methodical and serious. [3] A stoic girl, she deals with the suicide of Bernie calmly. Whilst she seems to like order and knowledge, and seems as though she remains focused to the task, during many occasions within The Skull Beneath the Skin she becomes somewhat superficial and conscious of her appearance, compared to that of the more privileged of her clients. Cordelia loves travelling and reading, and is jealous of her privacy. [4] She is a decent shooter. Despite being educated in a Catholic convent, she is not a strong believer.
Cordelia Gray was first portrayed by Pippa Guard in the 1982 television adaptation of An Unsuitable Job for a Woman directed by Chris Petit.
In four separate feature-length dramas comprise the ITV's HTV series (also called An Unsuitable Job for a Woman ), Cordelia Gray was portrayed by Helen Baxendale.
The books have both been adapted for BBC Radio 4. An Unsuitable Job for a Woman starred Judi Bowker as Cordelia, while The Skull Beneath the Skin featured Greta Scacchi in the role.
Gray was highlighted in volume 14 of the Detective Conan manga's edition of "Gosho Aoyama's Mystery Library", a section of the graphic novels where the author introduces a different detective (or occasionally, a villain) from mystery literature, television, or other media.[ citation needed ] Her name was also used to create a cover name for one of the series' main characters, Ai Haibara: as stated by professor Hiroshi Agasa in volume 18, the "Hai" (灰) kanji meaning "gray" in her surname is a tribute to Cordelia. [5]
Phyllis Dorothy James White, Baroness James of Holland Park, known professionally as P. D. James, was an English novelist and life peer. Her rise to fame came with her series of detective novels featuring the police commander and poet, Adam Dalgliesh.
Helen Victoria Baxendale is an English actress of stage and television. She is known for her roles as Rachel Bradley in the British comedy drama Cold Feet (1997–2003) and Emily Waltham in the American sitcom Friends (1998–1999).
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries is a British crime drama television series that aired on BBC One from 12 March 2001 to 1 June 2008, consisting of six series and 24 episodes. The protagonist, Detective Inspector Thomas "Tommy" Lynley, 8th Earl of Asherton, who is assigned to Scotland Yard, finds himself paired with Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers. In addition to the tensions involved in solving murder cases, the series is built on clashes of personality, gender and class: Lynley is a polished man and a peer of the realm, and Havers is an untidy woman from a working-class background.
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman is the title of a detective novel by English writer P. D. James and of a TV series of four dramas developed from that novel. It was published by Faber and Faber in the UK in 1972 and by Charles Scribner's Sons in the US.
Adam Dalgliesh is a fictional character who is the protagonist of fourteen mystery novels by P. D. James; the first being James's 1962 novel Cover Her Face. He also appears in the two novels featuring James's other detective, Cordelia Gray.
The Body in the Library is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1942 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in May of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.00 and the UK edition at seven shillings and sixpence. The novel features her fictional amateur detective Miss Marple.
Unnatural Causes is a detective novel by English crime writer P. D. James. The third to feature Adam Dalgliesh, it was published in the UK by Faber & Faber in 1967 and by Charles Scribner's Sons in the US. A paperback edition followed the same year. An adaptation of the novel was filmed for television in 1993.
A Certain Justice is a detective novel by British writer P. D. James, published in 1997 by Faber & Faber in the UK and by Alfred A. Knopf in the US. It was the tenth to feature her recurring character Adam Dalgliesh and the book was dedicated to her five grandchildren.
Innocent Blood (1980) is a crime novel by English writer P. D. James. Unlike her Adam Dalgliesh mysteries it is not a detective story but closer to a psychological thriller and was the first of James' novels to step outside the detective genre. It follows the story of a young woman searching for her biological roots, having known since childhood that she was adopted, and the dark truths that she uncovers.
The Skull Beneath The Skin is a 1982 detective novel by English writer P. D. James, featuring her female private detective Cordelia Gray. The novel is set in a reconstructed Victorian castle on the fictional Courcy Island on the Dorset coast and centers around actress Clarissa Lisle, who is to play John Webster's drama The Duchess of Malfi in the castle's restored theatre. It takes its title from T. S. Eliot's poem Whispers of Immortality, where Webster is famously said to be "much possessed by death" and to see "the skull beneath the skin".
Devices and Desires is a 1989 detective novel by English writer P. D. James, the eighth book of her Adam Dalgliesh series. It takes place on Larksoken, a fictional isolated headland in Norfolk. The title comes from the service of Morning Prayer in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer: "We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts".
Cover Her Face is the debut 1962 crime novel of P. D. James. It details the investigations 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," which is quoted by one of the characters in the novel.
The Black Tower is a 1975 detective novel by English writer P.D. James, the fifth book in her Adam Dalgliesh series.
Gosick is a Japanese light novel series written by Kazuki Sakuraba, with illustrations by Hinata Takeda. The series includes 13 novels published by Fujimi Shobo between December 2003 and July 2011. Set in a fictional European country in 1924, a Japanese exchange student meets a mysterious, brilliant girl who only leaves the library to sleep. Her brother, a detective, relies on her exceptional mind to solve difficult mysteries. Tokyopop released the first two novels in English in North America. A manga adaptation drawn by Sakuya Amano was serialized in Fujimi Shobo's Monthly Dragon Age magazine. A 24-episode anime adaptation by Bones aired between January and July 2011. A collection of side stories titled GosickS was published between 2005 and 2011, while a sequel novel series named Gosick New Continent was released in between 2013 and 2016.
A Mind to Murder (1963) is a crime novel by English writer P. D. James, the second in her Adam Dalgliesh series.
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman is a 1982 British psychological thriller film directed by Chris Petit and starring Billie Whitelaw, Paul Freeman, and Pippa Guard. It follows a young female private investigator who is hired to investigate the mysterious suicide of a university student, only to uncover a number of disturbing secrets about his family. The film is based on the 1972 novel of the same name by P. D. James. It marked the first adaptation of the novel, followed by a television series adaptation produced in 1997.
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman is a British television mystery drama series, based upon the 1972 novel of the same name by P.D. James, that starred Helen Baxendale and Annette Crosbie. Two series were produced, each focusing on two separate feature-length dramas, each based in part upon the book of the same name and its 1982 sequel, The Skull Beneath the Skin. These aired on ITV between 24 October 1997 and 16 May 2001, also airing in the United States on PBS as part of their Mystery! series.
Dalgliesh is a British crime drama television series, based on the Adam Dalgliesh novels by PD James. Bertie Carvel stars as the title character, an enigmatic detective–poet. The six-part series premiered on Acorn TV on 1 November 2021 in the United States followed by a Channel 5 premiere on 4 November in the United Kingdom.