1920 – born Phyllis Dorothy James in Oxford, educated in Cambridge

1936 – age of 16 she left school to take a job in a tax office

1941 – she married a doctor, Connor Bantry White, whose experiences in World War II left him damaged emotionally (he dies in 1964); she became the sole supporter of their two daughters

1949 – she joined the British Civil Service where she had a long and successful career: first in hospital administration, then in the Home Office (from 1968-1972); then the Criminal Policy Division of the Home Office (1972-79), specializing in juvenile delinquency

1962 – wrote her first novel in the early mornings (often in the train on the way to work); title Cover Her Face it introduced Commander Adam Dalgleish, the policeman who appears as the central character in most of her later works

1972 – her first Cordelia Gray novel is published An Unsuitable Job for a Woman; she continues to write Adam Dalgleish novels as well

1986 – A Taste for Death published, introducing a second female detective, DI Kate Miskin, who reappears in subsequent James novels

1997 - A Certain Justice James’ most recent Dalgleish mystery published

PD James on Mystery Writing