Editing An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (section)

==Literary significance and criticism==
''[[The New York Times]]'' judged the book "A top-rated puzzle of peril that holds you all the way",<ref>[http://greeneheaton.co.uk/books/an-unsuitable-job-for-a-woman Greene & Heaton]</ref> whose characters "are anything but stereotypes," although "at the very end, things are a little too pat".<ref>[https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/01/04/29/specials/james.html NYTimes archive]</ref> [[Jacques Barzun]], in a later supplement to his ''[[A Catalogue of Crime]]'', however, thought it "barely passable".<ref name="COFC">[[Jacques Barzun|Barzun, Jacques]] and Taylor, Wendell Hertig. "A Catalogue of Crime'', New York: Harper & Row, revised and enlarged edition 1989. {{ISBN|0-06-015796-8}}</ref> The novel also received a nomination for an [[Edgar Awards|American Edgar Award]], and many requests for another novel featuring Cordelia Gray.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nixon |first=Nicola |title=Feminism in women's detective fiction |date=1995 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-0-8020-0519-9 |editor-last=Irons |editor-first=Glenwood H. |location=Toronto ; Buffalo |pages=29–45 |chapter=Gray Areas: P.D. James's Unsuiting of Cordelia}}</ref>

Authors commenting on the introduction of the new type of [[Female detectives in the United Kingdom#Female Detectives in Literature|female detective]] noted the novel as a key pioneering work in which the focus is "at least as much on character and theme as…on crime".<ref>Sue Ellen Campbell, "The Detective Heroine and the Death of her Hero", [https://www.jstor.org/stable/26281374 ''Modern Fiction Studies'' 29.3 (1983) p. 498]</ref> Another critic described it as "a political contribution to the recasting of the female detective mould", noting in particular how its heroine avenges a young man's murder by his father and connives in the murder in return of the father by the boy's mother in an act of feminine solidarity.<ref>Maria Vara, [http://www.feministseventies.net/Vara.html "Forms of Agency in Women's Detective Fiction in the Seventies"]</ref>

Critics also note that despite the novel's feminist undertones, Cordelia remains under male authority during the novel. Throughout her investigation, Cordelia follows the teachings of Bernie Pryde's mentor, Superintendent Dalgliesh. SueEllen Campbell says that "Throughout the novel, then, Dalgliesh is present as a sort of transcendental authority."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Campbell |first=SueEllen |title=Feminism in women's detective fiction |date=1995 |publisher=Univ. of Toronto Press |isbn=978-0-8020-0519-9 |editor-last=Irons |editor-first=Glenwood |location=Toronto |publication-date=1995 |pages=12–28 |chapter=The Detective Heroine and the Death of Her Hero: Dorothy Sayers to P.D. James |editor-last2=Irons |editor-first2=Glenwood}}</ref> Similarly, Kate Watson writes in the European Journal of English Studies that "While Cordelia is the central investigating figure in the text, always in the margins is the shadowy figure of Inspector Adam Dalgleish… the patriarchal figure that embodies the conventions of the traditional family of crime fiction."<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Watson |first=Kate |date=August 2010 |title=Family Discord: Challenging the choreography of crime fiction in P. D. James's An Unsuitable Job for a Woman |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13825577.2010.481459 |journal=European Journal of English Studies|volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=133–141 |doi=10.1080/13825577.2010.481459 |issn=1382-5577|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== The Role of ''An Unsuitable Job for a Woman'' in Detective Fiction ===
''An Unsuitable Job for a Woman'' instated Cordelia Gray as the first female private investigator in detective fiction.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} This is frequently acknowledged in the novel, as other characters repeatedly question whether Cordelia's occupation is "suitable" for her. This question inspires the book's title, acknowledging Cordelia's novelty within the genre.<ref name=":0" />

According to Dennis Porter, the novel also stands out from other detective fiction because of its commentary on ethics.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Porter |first=Dennis |title=The Sleuth and the scholar: origins, evolution, and current trends in detective fiction |date=1988 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-26036-0 |editor-last=Rader |editor-first=Barbara A. |series=Contributions to the study of popular culture |location=New York |chapter=Detection and Ethics: The Case of P. D. James |editor-last2=Zettler |editor-first2=Howard G. |editor-last3=Southern Connecticut Library Council}}</ref> In contrast to the detectives that predate the novel, Cordelia continually questions the morals of the people she encounters, and is also motivated by achieving justice for Mark. Based on her successful detection as an independent, "morally upright" woman, Cordelia was frequently viewed as a "hero" around the time of the novel's release.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Kotker |first=Joan |title=Women times three: writers, detectives, readers |date=1995 |publisher=Bowling Green State University Popular Press |isbn=978-0-87972-681-2 |editor-last=Klein |editor-first=Kathleen Gregory |location=Bowling Green, Ohio |chapter=The Re-Imagining of Cordelia Gray}}</ref>

Cordelia also has a distinct closeness to the victim. During her investigation, she lives in Mark's cottage and wears some of his clothes, even using his belt to pull herself out of the well and save her own life. In addition, Cordelia relates to Mark on account of their shared experiences. Both Cordelia and Mark's mothers died shortly after they were born. Mark attended Cambridge University, which Cordelia sought to attend herself. Finally, they both have fathers more dedicated to working for the greater-good than caring for their children. Joan G. Kotker claims that this explains Cordelia's motivation to attain justice for Mark, as she is also "avenging herself."<ref name=":2" />