Innocent Blood (novel)

"Innocent Blood" (1980) is a mystery novel by P. D. James.

Plot summary

A young women, Philippa Palfrey, finds out that her father and mother are actually her adoptive parents. Her biological parents were convicted ten years ago for the abuse and killing of a young girl which caused her adoption. Her father died in prison a couple of years later. Her mother, Mary Ducton, still lives, however, and when she is released from prison, Philippa looks her up and decides to live with her in a small flat in London.

In the meantime, the father of the young girl has sworn vengeance and plots to kill Mary. He starts shadowing them and learns about their wereabouts.

The story ends when Philippa discovers that she was actually adopted before the incident with the little girl out of safety reasons because Mary had almost killed her when she became angry. This infuriates Phillipa and she tells Mary she wishes that Mary were dead. Mary then commits suicide. Immediately afterwards, the father of the little girl breaks into the flat and stabs Mary in the neck, unaware that she is already dead.

Literary significance and criticism

"P. D. James chose to write a novel in which crime might figure but would not be the mainspring of the action. The work is a great success -- with the public and with the connoisseurs. ... The diverse characters are admirably drawn and the author's fingerwork in tying and untying threads is as deft as her touches of sordid life and as nimble as her prose."Barzun, Jacques and Taylor, Wendell Hertig. "A Catalogue of Crime". New York: Harper & Row. 1971, revised and enlarged edition 1989. ISBN 0-06-015796-8]

References