The Murder Room

"The Murder Room," from a novel by P.D. James, is an excellent whodunit starring Martin Shaw as Adam Dalgliesh, and that's the problem right there. Though a fine actor, he just isn't Dalgliesh for me. I remember the old series starring Roy Marsden as being more exciting.

The story concerns a lease about to expire on a family museum, and there is one holdout, Neville Dupayne, who does not want to re-sign. The museum features a Murder Room, which displays information on notorious murders that took place between World War I and World War II. Neville, a doctor, thinks the money could be put to medical use.

When Neville dies in what appears to be a copycat murder of a display in the Murder Room, Commander Dalgleish is brought in. He has a lot of suspects to choose from -- the victim's brother and sister, museum employees who stood to lose their jobs, his secretary who is also his ex-mistress, and others. The solution, however, won't be found by investigating only the present day.

Though a good mystery and well-done, it was too long, in part because a subplot dealt with Dalgleish's love life, which I, for one, couldn't have cared less about. I didn't even understand why this woman was so interested in him, as the character was emotionally very uptight and a workaholic.

I found Dalgleish's relationship with his associates unpleasant, and both of them uninteresting.

I can only ask, where's Roy Marsden when you need him. He's only four years older than Shaw.

Famed mystery writer P.D. James spins an intricate tale of deception and murder in this classic style whodunit story, converted to TV movie, set at a spooky old museum in England. Three wealthy siblings in charge of the Dupayne Museum are at odds over its future. One wants to close it down for financial reasons; the other two want to keep it open, presumably for posterity. One of its rooms is dedicated to infamous murders that occurred between WWI and WWII. When a murder occurs at the museum, the MO closely resembles a murder described in the murder room.

The plot contains ample red herrings, and just the right number of suspects. There's some good spine-tingling suspense, especially toward the film's end, when the murderer dressed in black and concealed by darkness prowls around in the building at night. The story reminds me, in some ways, of Agatha Christie's novel "Cat Among The Pigeons"; indeed, in "The Murder Room" an old tomcat figures into the story's conclusion.

As with the best whodunits, the plot leads viewers down the garden path; what seems important is not; what's seemingly irrelevant may be very important. If there's a theme to the story, it's spoken by one of the suspects: "The past isn't so easily shaken off; old sins return".

As engaging as the film is, it's not perfect. I did not care at all for the romantic subplot of the lead detective. With a runtime of three hours, this subplot not only unnecessarily prolongs the movie, but it also intrudes into the whodunit puzzle. In addition, the film's editing at the beginning is too frantic. Viewers must endure a barrage of too many new characters and too many flashbacks. As a result, the first thirty minutes present a chaotic jumble of confusing images. All these images make sense on a repeat viewing; but I almost gave up on the film, at first. Finally, the film's ending, as regards the explanation of the killer's motive, seems rushed. A couple of key questions are never answered.

"The Murder Room" is made to order for viewers who like classic whodunit puzzles. There's plenty of time to sink your teeth into the story and get to know the suspects and their potential for being the killer. Casting and acting are quite good. And for a TV movie, production design and sets are surprisingly detailed and lavish. The only real weaknesses are an unnecessary subplot, and an intimidating thirty-minute intro. Given those constraints, this film offers some terrific whodunit entertainment.

This is a great murder mystery story about a museum which is having problems among its administrators and there is a possibility it will be closed. The main attraction to the museum is a room dedicated to murders which were committed in a brutal and horrible fashion. For example, a person being stuffed in a trunk and a mallet that crushed in a skull and the list goes on and on. Martin Shaw, (Adam Dalgliesh) plays the role of a stuffed shirt uptight investigator who is told to his face he is hard to communicate with. Adam has his hands full trying to investigate various murders which were being copied from murders committed in the Murder Room of the museum. Adam meets up with a pretty female he knew in the past and his character seems to change after this girl hits on him for romance. Great Mystery story and a great film to view. Enjoy.

As an avid P.D. James fan and reader, I find myself critical of "The Murder Room" and Martin Shaw's performance in it. Unlike other comments, I feel that the movie must at least be true to the writer's creation of the character's personality. "Judge Deed" is NOT "Adam Dagliesh", but the portrayal by Shaw is similar. Adam Dagliesh is a classy, private, remote, creative intelligent, sensitive character, not the "Bull In a China Shop" personality that Martin Shaw portrays in Murder Room. Don't get me wrong, I love "Judge Deed" and Shaw's portrayal of him, but his performance simply doesn't fit as James's "Dagliesh" character. Let's dredge Mr. Roy Marsden out of his theater environment for these wonderful new productions of P.D. James excellent novels and enjoy his accurate and creative interpretation of the Dagliesh character. In closing I must say that the film itself was well written, well directed, and true to the novel.

As always, P D James has written a very good and intriguing story. The adaptation is faithful to the book: nothing much is added or taken out. However maybe the explanation of the murderer's motives was glossed over a little.

I actually prefer Martin Shaw rather than Roy Marsden as Adam Dalgliesh. Martin Shaw's portrayal is arguably less faithful to the character as P D James writes it, but portrays him as a more human, likable character. I always found Roy Marsden's portrayal (and his description in P D James's books) to be stern, humourless, aloof, distant and with no likable qualities or little human failings that I could identify with.

I liked the subplot about his girlfriend. It showed his vulnerability and his awkwardness with women; the letter that he wrote to her at the end (I won't spoil it by mentioning the subject) was very moving.

I agree that characters of Dalgliesh's two inspectors weren't really developed properly (they aren't in the book either). One of the slight failings of the Dalgliesh books and TV series are that the relationship between Dalgliesh and his sidekicks isn't strong enough that they can confide in each other, in the way that Morse and Lewis or Wexford and Burden do. The acid test of a "good" TV detective, aside from their deductive qualities, is whether you like them as a person and could imagine yourself discussing a case with them over a pint. With Morse, Frost or Wexford, this is easy to imagine; with Dalgliesh, especially as portrayed by Roy Marsden, I suspect that the conversation would be a bit tense and there would be lots of long silences! At least it is easier to imagine having a drink and a chat with Martin Shaw's version of Dalgliesh.