As a writer of detective stories, James sees herself in the British classical tradition. Both she and her critics compare her to Dorothy Sayers; many feel that she surpasses her predecessor, particularly in character analysis and profound observation of human behavior. She is philosophically oriented, and expresses the tensions of modern society, and the current ambiguity of moral values. Among classical authors, her favorite is Jane Austen, for whom her second daughter was named, and whom her characters frequently quote.

She cites among her other preferred writers George Eliot, Anthony Trollope, Graham Greene, and Evelyn Waugh. Her social realism points to the influence of Thomas Hardy. Critics have seen in Innocent Blood echoes of the Oedipus story and, in the careful descriptions of London, reminiscences of Dickens.

Sister Irma M. Kashuba, S.S.J.