Death of an Expert Witness Themes & Social Concerns

Death of an Expert Witness Social Concerns/Themes

Noted for her keen sociocultural perceptions, P. D. James once again addresses the issue of a child in search of identity. Sixteen-year-old Eleanor Kerrison, the victim of a broken home, seeks the affection of her father and resents all interference, especially an unlikable housekeeper/ companion. She is unaware of her father's indifference to her in preference to her brother, William, whose custody is his obsession. Dealing with the role of human passions in their various forms, James addresses the jealousy between the arrogant Edwin Lorrimer, the victim of an unknown murderer, and the newly appointed Director of the Forensic Science Laboratory, Maxim Howarth. She suggests an incestuous relationship between Maxim Howarth and his half-sister Domenica Schofield, a factor not to be ignored in Howarth's resentment of his sister's former lover, Lorrimer. The novel also treats of the tension between the perfectionist Lorrimer and his mediocre Scientific Officer Cliff Bradley.