Phyllis Dorothy James White, known as P.D. James, was born in Oxford in 1920 and became one of Britain's most celebrated mystery writers, earning the sobriquet "Queen of Crime." Largely self-educated after age 16, she worked in hospital administration and later as a civil servant before dedicating herself full-time to writing.
She is best known for creating fictional detective Adam Dalgliesh, featured in 14 novels.
James expanded beyond mysteries with her dystopian work The Children of Men (1992) and a Pride and Prejudice sequel.
Made a life peer in 1991, she passed away in Oxford in 2014.
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