The Part-Time Job by PD James Review

A grown man decides to moiderize his old school bully - using his part-time job! Wha…

PD James’ short story wasn’t bad. It reads very rushed, almost like an outline - specifics are glossed over (ie. what the bully did when they were kids that was so bad that the bitterness and anger has continued well into the victim’s life) and any obstacles the man faces in enacting his grim plan are easily overcome. And I think that’s likely because James thought of the ending first and went back from there - it feels like the reveal of the part-time job is the point of the story.

Take the revenge plot where...

SPOILERS

the man bludgeons the bully’s wife to death with a golf club to frame the bully. But, seeing as how the man literally got away with the wife’s murder so effortlessly, why not ignore the wife entirely and just bludgeon the bully to death instead? Wouldn’t that be more satisfying and certain than going through the effort of framing the bully for murder, then hoping that the jury will find him guilty and condemn him to death, all so the man can reveal that his part-time job is… public hangman! 

END SPOILERS

And that’s why I think it’s rather contrived.

Still, I wasn’t bored and wanted to see how the madness would play out. The Part-Time Job is a decent, dark short story that’s worth a read for crime fiction fans who enjoy the likes of Patricia Highsmith and Agatha Christie.