Handsome Cambridge dropout Mark Callender died hanging by the neck with a faint trace of lipstick on his mouth. When the official verdict is suicide, his wealthy father hires fledgling private investigator Cordelia Gray to find out what led him to self-destruction. What she discovers instead is a twisting trail of secrets and sins, and the strong scent of murder.

An Unsuitable Job for a Woman introduces P. D. James's courageous but vulnerable young detective, Cordelia Gray, in a “top-rated puzzle of peril that holds you all the way” (The New York Times).

Review

People [P.D. James is] the greatest living mystery writer.

From the Inside Flap

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.

An Unsuitable Job For A Woman