Skull Beneath the Skin

Skull can be interpreted as an investigation by PD James into the way a classical detective character, stereotypes, crime and setting would be affected by the introduction of modern-world issues and values. Essentially she has placed the manor-house setting within contemporary Britain, and migrated its inhabitants to Courcy Castle as a controlled experiment in sociology. In this way, James succeeded in providing yet another permutation of crime fiction; instead of following the typical trend of police procedurals, science crime or thrillers that were popular in her time and which completely discarded the features of classical crime fiction, she chose instead to tweak the conventions of the traditional sub-genre while raising the same issues that were being introduced in other stories. At the time of Skull's release, the crime genre was saturated with forensic thrillers, spy adventures, and ultra-violent or feminist literature. This was a direct reply to the exponential rise in crime rates, anti-government sentiment, and the outdated values which classical fiction seemed to be purporting. Skull was a surprise in offering a return to the traditional style which became fresh once again due to lack of exposure, while still appealing to the moral fibre of modern society. The result of this experiment is a confirmation that the traditional style of writing (including its character and setting) is incongruous with the modern world and its values, and that the change in writing style that encapsulated contemporary crime fiction is justified.