"I needed to write that book, although I knew that millions of people, thousands of people, anyway, would much rather they had another mystery. So I knew it was unlikely to be a success. I would never settle down and think 'now is the time to write a straight novel.' I think it is very possible to be a good novelist within the form of the mystery and if the next idea comes along for a mystery, that's what I'll write. And I expect that's what will happen. You know, you can never tell what ideas you'll get."

Does she favor any of her books over others?

"Difficult. I think that books are really like children, and you like them for different reasons. You love them all, and you can't put them really in order of favorites. But, I think of the mysteries, I would put A Taste For Death quite high, along with Devices and Desires, and Death of an Expert Witness."

Does she mind if people are alerted to the original books only after viewing the Mystery Theatre adaptations?

"No, it doesn't bother me at all. I think it is one of the advantages of television that millions of people have come to the great classics simply because they have seen them on television. Jane Austen, Middlemarch,, you know, through television. I think it's much better to read the books than watch television, obviously. On the whole, I've been quite fortunate with the television versions. I think they've done pretty well. Some better than others. The Dalgliesh isn't my idea of Dalgliesh."

What is her idea of Dalgliesh, if actor Roy Marsden doesn't quite fit the bill? "It's very difficult to describe him. But he's clean shaven, darker, more hair, no mustache."

James has spent her career as a writer poring over ghastly crimes and death--does she actually visit morgues or frequent scenes of crime?

"No, I don't visit scenes of crime, but I did work for quite a few years in the British Home Office, and I was responsible for the administration of the Forensic Science Service, so I know exactly how forensic science laboratories work. And I get a lot of technical help both from senior detectives and from forensic scientists, so that's been very helpful."

Helpful, but not too helpful, thank you. She's not planning on applying her theoretic knowledge in the practical sphere any time soon, not that it hasn't been suggested to her before. While teaching a seminar on mystery writing in a high security prison, she was approached by a convicted murderer. "We should work together," he said. "You've got the talent, but I've got the experience."

James may joke about murder but she considers crime in the first degree a serious matter. Does she think murder is ever justified?

"That's a difficult question. I think we're all capable of homicide, which is a rather different crime, because it can't be premeditated. I'm sure if I or my grandchildren were attacked, I'd be capable of killing somebody. But I think murder, in the sense of premeditated or planned, is something that very few people are capable of. And I don't honestly think it's ever justified. I think it's a dangerous philosophy, to say it's ever justified."