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Richard Jury #22
All die schönen Toten: Ein Inspektor-Jury
The inimitable Richard Jury returns in a thrilling tale of mystery, madness, and mistaken identityThree months have passed since Richard Jury was left bereft and guilt- ridden after his lover's tragic auto accident, and he is now more wary than ever. He is deeply suspicious when requested on a case far out of his jurisdiction in an outlying village where a young woman has been murdered behind the local pub. The only witness is the establishment's black cat, who gives neither crook nor clue as to the girl's identity or her killer's.Identifying the girl becomes tricky when she's recognized as both the shy local librarian and a posh city escort, and Jury must use all his wits and intuition to determine the connection to subsequent escort murders. Meanwhile, Jury's nemesis, Harry Johnson, continues to goad Jury down a dangerous path. And Johnson, along with the imperturbable dog Mungo, just may be the key to it all.Written with Martha Grimes's trademark insight and grace, The Black Cat signals the thrilling return of her greatest character. The superintendent is a man possessed of prodigious analytical gifts and charm, yet vulnerable in the most perplexing ways.
Hardcover
First published March 31, 2010
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About the author
Martha Grimes
114 books1,454 followersMartha Grimes is an American author of detective fiction.
She was born May 2 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to D.W., a city solicitor, and to June, who owned the Mountain Lake Hotel in Western Maryland where Martha and her brother spent much of their childhood. Grimes earned her B.A. and M.A. at the University of Maryland. She has taught at the University of Iowa, Frostburg State University, and Montgomery College.
Grimes is best known for her series of novels featuring Richard Jury, an inspector with Scotland Yard, and his friend Melrose Plant, a British aristocrat who has given up his titles. Each of the Jury mysteries is named after a pub. Her page-turning, character-driven tales fall into the mystery subdivision of "cozies." In 1983, Grimes received the Nero Wolfe Award for best mystery of the year for The Anodyne Necklace.
The background to Hotel Paradise is drawn on the experiences she enjoyed spending summers at her mother's hotel in Mountain Lake Park, Maryland. One of the characters, Mr Britain, is drawn on Britten Leo Martin, Sr, who then ran Marti's Store which he owned with his father and brother. Martin's Store is accessible by a short walkway from Mountain Lake, the site of the former Hotel, which was torn down in 1967.
She splits her time between homes in Washington, D.C., and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
She was born May 2 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to D.W., a city solicitor, and to June, who owned the Mountain Lake Hotel in Western Maryland where Martha and her brother spent much of their childhood. Grimes earned her B.A. and M.A. at the University of Maryland. She has taught at the University of Iowa, Frostburg State University, and Montgomery College.
Grimes is best known for her series of novels featuring Richard Jury, an inspector with Scotland Yard, and his friend Melrose Plant, a British aristocrat who has given up his titles. Each of the Jury mysteries is named after a pub. Her page-turning, character-driven tales fall into the mystery subdivision of "cozies." In 1983, Grimes received the Nero Wolfe Award for best mystery of the year for The Anodyne Necklace.
The background to Hotel Paradise is drawn on the experiences she enjoyed spending summers at her mother's hotel in Mountain Lake Park, Maryland. One of the characters, Mr Britain, is drawn on Britten Leo Martin, Sr, who then ran Marti's Store which he owned with his father and brother. Martin's Store is accessible by a short walkway from Mountain Lake, the site of the former Hotel, which was torn down in 1967.
She splits her time between homes in Washington, D.C., and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 534 reviews
August 14, 2020
Well, I did it. I'm gonna admit, Ms. Grimes books - I don't know what there is about them. The characters and situation draw me in, the silly sub-plots and side dishes often frustrate me. This time I skipped most of them.
Richard Jury - one of my all-time fav. leads in a crime/mystery book - is investigating the death of a woman found slumped over an outside table at a local pub, the Black Cat. The people in this particular pub - either nonexistent or uninteresting. And that includes the usual small girl-child with an observant eye and questions that Jury simply cannot answer. Throw in Melrose Plant, Jury's rich, sort of boring, though whimsical, friend, and who I like almost as much. Jury often asks Melrose to pose as a 'guest at a country estate,' or an 'expert on wines' or some-such to get answers out of reluctant witnesses. Melrose does so this time, by asking a call-girl out on a 'date.'
(And there's an entire subtext on shoes! The kind the rich and stuffy like to wear, but hurt like hell when you do wear them. Wonder how the shoes are selling during this Time of Covid. Not enough parties and get-togethers, I would think, in order to show them off.)
Moving on...
At any rate, there are more murders, and a lot of fluff and nonsense about a black cat which turns into one, two, three. There are also references here to Shrodinger's cat, and literature, which left me going yeah, okay, whatever.
Not my fav. Richard Jury novel by any means. Skip the dog stuff, throw out the cats, get rid of some of those 'charming' characters which too-often populate this series - like Harry Johnson? What's that about? Lose him! - and I'd like the series a whole lot better.
But I'm not the writer, and I'll keep reading Ms. Grimes if only to get some more Jury, Plant and of course, Wiggins.
Three stars.
Richard Jury - one of my all-time fav. leads in a crime/mystery book - is investigating the death of a woman found slumped over an outside table at a local pub, the Black Cat. The people in this particular pub - either nonexistent or uninteresting. And that includes the usual small girl-child with an observant eye and questions that Jury simply cannot answer. Throw in Melrose Plant, Jury's rich, sort of boring, though whimsical, friend, and who I like almost as much. Jury often asks Melrose to pose as a 'guest at a country estate,' or an 'expert on wines' or some-such to get answers out of reluctant witnesses. Melrose does so this time, by asking a call-girl out on a 'date.'
(And there's an entire subtext on shoes! The kind the rich and stuffy like to wear, but hurt like hell when you do wear them. Wonder how the shoes are selling during this Time of Covid. Not enough parties and get-togethers, I would think, in order to show them off.)
Moving on...
At any rate, there are more murders, and a lot of fluff and nonsense about a black cat which turns into one, two, three. There are also references here to Shrodinger's cat, and literature, which left me going yeah, okay, whatever.
Not my fav. Richard Jury novel by any means. Skip the dog stuff, throw out the cats, get rid of some of those 'charming' characters which too-often populate this series - like Harry Johnson? What's that about? Lose him! - and I'd like the series a whole lot better.
But I'm not the writer, and I'll keep reading Ms. Grimes if only to get some more Jury, Plant and of course, Wiggins.
Three stars.
May 12, 2014
I don't really know why I persist with this series. The hero is an annoying emasculated vacuum who drips around inspecting his own belly-button until the solution basically falls into his lap. There always seem to be small children around without appropriate adult supervision - quite often without parents, apparently. And the books seem to be set in some weird amalgamation of Dickensian England and the late 20th century - any kind of physical disability clearly dooms a person to a half-life in the shadows; small children have names like Dora that disappeared in my grand-parents' generation; and she references bus conductors - who all got laid off about 3 decades ago. And it's irritating when she keeps dropping in Americanisms - 'gotten' is a favourite.
But the worst offence lately is to have the animals talk. There are pages and pages in this 1 of a dog talking to to a cat in the most twee manner - unforgivable.
But the worst offence lately is to have the animals talk. There are pages and pages in this 1 of a dog talking to to a cat in the most twee manner - unforgivable.
June 9, 2010
I finally read my first Richard Jury mystery (and I can hear several fellow mystery fans saying "You haven't read Martha Grimes?!"), and it was the most recent in the series, The Black Cat. It was very kindly sent to me for review by Viking.
The Black Cat has several references in the book--there is the pub called The Black Cat, and no less than 3 actual black cats, one of which goes missing for awhile.
I enjoyed this book very much, and now need to go and read the rest of the series involving Richard Jury, who in this book is a Superintendent. He has a decent sense of humor, something I personally like in a main character. He is intelligent, and makes connections in quickly and in a reasonable way.
The murders that occur involve women who are escorts, dressed very well in designer clothes and shoes when they are found. Here it reads a little like Vogue magazine, with a lot of designer name-dropping, and Jury and his male co-workers learning a little about women's fashion. Jury even starts noticing women's shoes. Two of these murders occur in London, one in Thames Valley, so for awhile it is not certain if the murders could be connected. The mysteries were solved fairly and in an interesting way; again, I look forward to reading more Jury novels.
One idiosyncrasy that distracted me slightly was that there were two animals that communicated with each other--it worked with the story, but I'm not sure it worked for me.
Highly recommended.
From my review posted at http://tiny.cc/zdy6u
The Black Cat has several references in the book--there is the pub called The Black Cat, and no less than 3 actual black cats, one of which goes missing for awhile.
I enjoyed this book very much, and now need to go and read the rest of the series involving Richard Jury, who in this book is a Superintendent. He has a decent sense of humor, something I personally like in a main character. He is intelligent, and makes connections in quickly and in a reasonable way.
The murders that occur involve women who are escorts, dressed very well in designer clothes and shoes when they are found. Here it reads a little like Vogue magazine, with a lot of designer name-dropping, and Jury and his male co-workers learning a little about women's fashion. Jury even starts noticing women's shoes. Two of these murders occur in London, one in Thames Valley, so for awhile it is not certain if the murders could be connected. The mysteries were solved fairly and in an interesting way; again, I look forward to reading more Jury novels.
One idiosyncrasy that distracted me slightly was that there were two animals that communicated with each other--it worked with the story, but I'm not sure it worked for me.
Highly recommended.
From my review posted at http://tiny.cc/zdy6u
June 1, 2010
I DID enjoy this book in spite of the annoyances in it, but I cannot recommend it. I found so many obvious errors that it is hard to believe the editors let it through.For example, a single woman, had the same last name as her maternal aunt. This COULD happen, but it would be so unusual as to require some kind of comment. Later Melrose Plant uses an assumed name to engage an escort service and then gives his own credit card number.This would have immediately uncivered his ruse, since the names would not match when the service went to check the credit card. There are more....
The solution to the murders then finally depends on a coincidence so unlikely that it just is not believable SPOILER AHEAD: A woman who is extremely angry that her husband is having an affair happens to meet a stranger in a pub who is also angry at losing a lover, and they arrange to commit murder for each other. Not only is it unbelievable that two strangers would confide such desires to each othe, but it has been done before. As a matter of fact, I recognized so many things in this book that were recongizable as having been done before that I now wonder if she intended a spoof?
The solution to the murders then finally depends on a coincidence so unlikely that it just is not believable SPOILER AHEAD: A woman who is extremely angry that her husband is having an affair happens to meet a stranger in a pub who is also angry at losing a lover, and they arrange to commit murder for each other. Not only is it unbelievable that two strangers would confide such desires to each othe, but it has been done before. As a matter of fact, I recognized so many things in this book that were recongizable as having been done before that I now wonder if she intended a spoof?
December 15, 2020
Fun mystery. The animals are especially charming. Just enough blood and gore mixed in with a humor.
May 26, 2010
Perhaps more of a 3+ but I love Martha Grimes, Richard Jury, Melrose Plant, Sgt Wiggins, the whole gang so I will plunge ahead with a 4. I keep expecting to get fed up with the lot of them, my usual MO with ongoing series, but somehow the mix of whimsy, quirky characters and police procedure works for me and I keep being quite happy with each new mystery. This particular offering features beautiful, expensive and strappy designer shoes ... I love shoes, used to really, really love shoes, now I love my feet rather more and, alas, have given up high heels and settled for sensible pumps (at most) so I enjoyed, well, enjoying them secondhand so to speak along with the other plot twists and turns. Nice quick read.
October 11, 2011
This book had a nice unexpected twist. That much I liked.
What I don't like is that Richard Jury is getting grumpier with each novel, which is in keeping with how old he should be, but at odds with how old he's said to be in the book.
About two or three years have passed since Martha Grimes first started writing the Richard Jury mysteries. Sue Grafton's novels are the same way. A year will pass in real time, but only a week or month has passed in Kinsey Millhone's world. The difference is that Kinsey Millhone remains trapped in the era in which she began: the 1980s. Richard Jury, on the other hand, is keeping up with the times while managing to stay fortysomething.
This bothers me because he often recalls his childhood during World War II. His mother died in the German Blitz on London from September 1940 to May 1941 when Jury was six years old. That means he was born in 1934 or 1935. In 2010, he would be 75 years old and probably retired.
Cell phones are small and commonly owned in the world of Richard Jury, which means either he and his closest companions -- Phyllis Nancy, Melrose Plant and Carol Anne Palutsky -- have partaken of the fountain of youth or somebody's not paying attention.
I used to love Richard Jury mysteries because they were filled humor and suspense. But this last one was tough to read. I'm not sure if I'll try the next one.
What I don't like is that Richard Jury is getting grumpier with each novel, which is in keeping with how old he should be, but at odds with how old he's said to be in the book.
About two or three years have passed since Martha Grimes first started writing the Richard Jury mysteries. Sue Grafton's novels are the same way. A year will pass in real time, but only a week or month has passed in Kinsey Millhone's world. The difference is that Kinsey Millhone remains trapped in the era in which she began: the 1980s. Richard Jury, on the other hand, is keeping up with the times while managing to stay fortysomething.
This bothers me because he often recalls his childhood during World War II. His mother died in the German Blitz on London from September 1940 to May 1941 when Jury was six years old. That means he was born in 1934 or 1935. In 2010, he would be 75 years old and probably retired.
Cell phones are small and commonly owned in the world of Richard Jury, which means either he and his closest companions -- Phyllis Nancy, Melrose Plant and Carol Anne Palutsky -- have partaken of the fountain of youth or somebody's not paying attention.
I used to love Richard Jury mysteries because they were filled humor and suspense. But this last one was tough to read. I'm not sure if I'll try the next one.
July 2, 2023
I absolutely love this series. This is actually a re-read for me . . . I originally read The Black Cat when it was newly published. It was the first time I had read Martha Grimes. I liked the book so much that I decided to go back to the beginning of the series. And now I have read all of the first 22 books!
Given that this story led me to go back and read the whole series, how could I give it anything but 5 stars as a rating? Great characters, an interesting mystery, and some great humor around Jury's friends and neighbors makes this book and the others in the series very enjoyable indeed.
Given that this story led me to go back and read the whole series, how could I give it anything but 5 stars as a rating? Great characters, an interesting mystery, and some great humor around Jury's friends and neighbors makes this book and the others in the series very enjoyable indeed.
December 2, 2018
Richard Jury stories are always at least a little weird and this one has communicating dogs and cats - communicating with each other that is. There are three women shot to death in this story, one at the Black Cat Pub in Chesham, one in St. Paul's yard and one in a quiet London street.
All three work for escort agencies and all three are dressed in high end clothes, particularly designer shoes. It is quickly discovered that the first woman was actually the local librarian but living a different life in London on the weekend.
The book is about appearances and life styles, about obsessions and loves. Little Dora of the Black Cat Pub loves her cat Morris who has disappeared and would recognize her "in a dark alley filled with black cats". Her guardian brings in another black cat but Dora is having none of it. Adults can lose their loves, sometimes for a long time, but the feeling remains. Dora's missing Morris gets tangled up with Harry Johnson and his dog Mungo and Jury gets tangled in a demonstration of "the cat came back". Johnson's cat Schrodinger is still trying desperately to protect her kittens from Mungo's kidnapping. Another dog gets found and added to the menagerie at Ardry's End.
The solution to the murders is more than slightly sad. Other than the obsessions and loves I don't know how to deal with this book. I've learned to allow the Ardry and Johnson stuff to mutter quietly in the background while the case marches along in the foreground. (Shoes, dogs, cats, sheesh.)
All three work for escort agencies and all three are dressed in high end clothes, particularly designer shoes. It is quickly discovered that the first woman was actually the local librarian but living a different life in London on the weekend.
The book is about appearances and life styles, about obsessions and loves. Little Dora of the Black Cat Pub loves her cat Morris who has disappeared and would recognize her "in a dark alley filled with black cats". Her guardian brings in another black cat but Dora is having none of it. Adults can lose their loves, sometimes for a long time, but the feeling remains. Dora's missing Morris gets tangled up with Harry Johnson and his dog Mungo and Jury gets tangled in a demonstration of "the cat came back". Johnson's cat Schrodinger is still trying desperately to protect her kittens from Mungo's kidnapping. Another dog gets found and added to the menagerie at Ardry's End.
The solution to the murders is more than slightly sad. Other than the obsessions and loves I don't know how to deal with this book. I've learned to allow the Ardry and Johnson stuff to mutter quietly in the background while the case marches along in the foreground. (Shoes, dogs, cats, sheesh.)
August 21, 2010
I use to be such a Richard Jury fan. Or I should say a Melrose Plant fan. I continue to read this series because I loved them so much in the past. I think Ms. Grimes is a wonderful authoress and reading her past books often feels like attending one of her writing courses at Johns Hopkins. Especially when she uses her romance novel writing character to discuss life in "the business". But this one felt flat. Superintendent Richard Jury accuses his Scotland Yard partner, Wiggins, of not being Wiggins enough and trying to hard to sound like a copper from a television show, specifically one that Helen Mirren had starred in, "Prime Suspect". That's a little bit like how I felt. This installment felt a bit heavier, edgier and lacking the sweet charms of earlier Jury novels. When Wiggins returns to his homier, less copper-like, behavior Jury lets out a sigh of relief. I'm looking for that also, next time. It did contain the needed elements of her formula, a child, animals that send mental messages and the Melrose Plant crew seated at Dick Scrogg's but it seemed to be missing it's heart.
August 5, 2017
😂 Reading the other reviews I'm quite amazed at the roller coaster of feeling about this book. From 'I loved this book' to 'I'll never read another Martha Grimes again'. 😐 Well although I felt this was quite a departure from many of her other books I thoroughly enjoyed it. Perhaps I was just in the mood for a more lighthearted view of a murder mystery. Yes it quite took me by surprise: movie themes, talking animals (think Beatrix Potter), good wine and absolutely haute couture shoes! I found myself being entertained by all the characters sideshows and still felt the bittersweet poignancy of loss.
One side note: I'm not a big fan of Jury's neighbor Carole-Anne. She's the epitome of annoying. 🙄
One side note: I'm not a big fan of Jury's neighbor Carole-Anne. She's the epitome of annoying. 🙄
April 10, 2012
Meh. I couldn't get into this book and I've loved the earlier Richard Jury books. Where were all the great characters - not even Melrose Plant could save this one from its plodding dreariness. When you've got chapters that involve a dog as the narrator, you have come to the end of creativity me thinks. Time to retire Inspector Jury and move on to a new character.
February 28, 2013
I think anyone who loves shoes will love this story! Parts of it are hokey with the conversations between the cats and the dog - but the shoe references are amazing - even for someone like me who can only vaguely remember the great shoe designers!!!
April 29, 2010
Great dialogue. Descriptions of animals, clothing & shoes are both fun & engaging. Narrator John Lee does a great job with the regional dialects of England. Very enjoyable read.
December 28, 2018
This is my second book in the series where Detective Superintendent Richard Jury has to solve a murder in the environs of London. This one revolves around high price shoes and escorts. Whilst there are literary references, there are not as many as in the prior installment, Dust. But there are film references however which would helped in figuring out the motive for the murders.
This is much better written than Dust and highlights that this series is better read in sequence. The intriguing aspect in this narrative is that Grimes plays upon our stereotypes in this one and it was well executed. She gets you engaged in the major characters and their dynamics. The two dynamics that fascinated me are Wiggins and Jury, but Jury and Harry Johnson is the more arresting. The latter relationship is similar in some ways to that of Holmes and Moriarty but yet holds it own thrall.
Despite an improvement in the series, my verdict is to borrow this series. It will not be to everyone’s taste. You need to be well acquainted with popular culture - books, noir films- and Henry James. Or willing to immerse yourself in references highlighted. Grimes seems to love Henry James. And she loves animals. The viewpoint from Mungo was sheer delight and serves as comic relief.
This is much better written than Dust and highlights that this series is better read in sequence. The intriguing aspect in this narrative is that Grimes plays upon our stereotypes in this one and it was well executed. She gets you engaged in the major characters and their dynamics. The two dynamics that fascinated me are Wiggins and Jury, but Jury and Harry Johnson is the more arresting. The latter relationship is similar in some ways to that of Holmes and Moriarty but yet holds it own thrall.
Despite an improvement in the series, my verdict is to borrow this series. It will not be to everyone’s taste. You need to be well acquainted with popular culture - books, noir films- and Henry James. Or willing to immerse yourself in references highlighted. Grimes seems to love Henry James. And she loves animals. The viewpoint from Mungo was sheer delight and serves as comic relief.
April 25, 2021
Well, those were certainly all words.
Tone deaf, sometimes creepy, convoluted... but yes, Grimes did indeed write words.
Wow, this has to be the worst one yet. Not only is there an egregious classism, regarding what “kind” of woman might become an escort, but there is a gross amount of “slut shaming” going on, from a DS who sleeps with or considers sleeping with every woman he knows.and what is with all the alliterative names? Simon Santos, Chris Cummins, ONDINE OVERALLS?!?!
Plus, we’re back to about 1/4 of the chapters being narrated by animals. Dogs that can read, and cats who can articulate the different between smoked and fresh fish, FFS. The Harry storyline is boring. The Lu storyline is borderline gross.
Grimes has imbued Jury with a really creepy tendency for fascination with “sexy” girl children. She has reduced Plant to a semi-comatose idiot, bumbling around in the stories for absolutely no reason.
If only I could give zero stars...
Tone deaf, sometimes creepy, convoluted... but yes, Grimes did indeed write words.
Wow, this has to be the worst one yet. Not only is there an egregious classism, regarding what “kind” of woman might become an escort, but there is a gross amount of “slut shaming” going on, from a DS who sleeps with or considers sleeping with every woman he knows.and what is with all the alliterative names? Simon Santos, Chris Cummins, ONDINE OVERALLS?!?!
Plus, we’re back to about 1/4 of the chapters being narrated by animals. Dogs that can read, and cats who can articulate the different between smoked and fresh fish, FFS. The Harry storyline is boring. The Lu storyline is borderline gross.
Grimes has imbued Jury with a really creepy tendency for fascination with “sexy” girl children. She has reduced Plant to a semi-comatose idiot, bumbling around in the stories for absolutely no reason.
If only I could give zero stars...
June 18, 2021
The problem with reading number 22 in a series, when you have only read one or two others, is you miss a lot of the subtleties. And she is such a good writer, there are a lot of them. get the feeling Ms Grimes wanted to mix things up a bit, anthropomorphizing some pets, and giving nice little character development tangents to round things out. Except when you are late to a 22 book long party, it loses a lot of the context. Dnf. Probably great if you are a die-hard fan and keep up with the rest of the books, more or less in order.
August 17, 2025
I might reread this in the future because there were so many chapters that felt pointless, but paid off at the end. But at the same time, the grand reveal was telegraphed like halfway through the book.
May 5, 2019
Another great novel in the Richard Jury series.
June 15, 2025
This was my first book by this author. I think the storyline was a good mystery, but a dig and cat that talked to each other and many adult conversations about another dogs name took away from the story.
September 5, 2025
I honestly don’t even know what happened…
Someone please explain the purpose of all the animals.
Someone please explain the purpose of all the animals.
February 21, 2025
Definitely the first whodunnit I’ve read that features 3 cats, countless kittens, 2 dogs, a horse, and a goat.
July 6, 2016
After the disappointment of Dust, I found Martha Grimes to be a bit more back to form with this penultimate entry in her Richard Jury series. It had dogs and cats and children and the recurring characters that we've come to expect in the series. The plot was pretty well done and there were plenty of red herrings as well as foreshadowing of clues to send us toward the solution.
Moreover, in this one, the Long Piddleton contingent made only a very brief and mostly unannoying appearance. That was a plus.
On the other hand, there was a bit too much of the non-verbal communication between the dog, Mungo, and the cat, Morris (a female cat, by the way), as they tried to make the stupid humans see the truth. There were a few chapters that were seen through the eyes of the animals and which we spent inside their heads. Just a bit too precious, but Grimes really can't seem to control herself when it comes to her animal characters; they are always extremely intelligent and anthropomorphized.
The mystery here involves the murder of three beautiful women, all dressed to the nines in designer clothes and shoes. The first woman is killed in Chesham on the patio of a pub called The Black Cat. Subsequently, two more women are killed in a similar manner in London. It turns out that all three were leading double lives. They had their ordinary lives and jobs and then their second secret lives which involved jobs with escort services, although each one worked for a different service.
The police make the natural assumption that since all three worked for escort services, their deaths must somehow be connected to that work. But, at length, Superintendent Richard Jury begins to suspect that there may be something else in the women's background that connects them. He's unconvinced that this is the work of a serial killer and starts looking for another explanation.
Throughout the novel, there is a virtual plethora of black cats and red herrings. There are multiple references to old movies such as Vertigo, Strangers on a Train, and Now, Voyager and the reader begins to wonder, are these movies supposed to be a clue? Since Jury spends a lot of time on trains and does some of his best thinking on them, perhaps that narrows it down a bit. Hmm...I remember the plot of that movie - strangers meet on a train and agree to commit murder for each other. Could it be...? Has Grimes lifted her plot from the Hitchcock movie?
In addition to the main plot, there is a subplot involving Jury's paramour from the last book, the Inspector Lu Aguilar who was knocked down and seriously injured by an automobile. We discover that she is paralyzed and will likely never walk again and, as the story progresses and Grimes doesn't appear to have any further use for her, she slips into a coma and doesn't seem to be long for this world.
Meanwhile, Jury, though feeling guilty about Aguilar, is apparently ready to resume his relationship with Dr. Phyllis Nancy, while simultaneously still being mesmerized by his upstairs neighbor, Carole-Anne. He just can't seem to resist those redheads.
Moreover, in this one, the Long Piddleton contingent made only a very brief and mostly unannoying appearance. That was a plus.
On the other hand, there was a bit too much of the non-verbal communication between the dog, Mungo, and the cat, Morris (a female cat, by the way), as they tried to make the stupid humans see the truth. There were a few chapters that were seen through the eyes of the animals and which we spent inside their heads. Just a bit too precious, but Grimes really can't seem to control herself when it comes to her animal characters; they are always extremely intelligent and anthropomorphized.
The mystery here involves the murder of three beautiful women, all dressed to the nines in designer clothes and shoes. The first woman is killed in Chesham on the patio of a pub called The Black Cat. Subsequently, two more women are killed in a similar manner in London. It turns out that all three were leading double lives. They had their ordinary lives and jobs and then their second secret lives which involved jobs with escort services, although each one worked for a different service.
The police make the natural assumption that since all three worked for escort services, their deaths must somehow be connected to that work. But, at length, Superintendent Richard Jury begins to suspect that there may be something else in the women's background that connects them. He's unconvinced that this is the work of a serial killer and starts looking for another explanation.
Throughout the novel, there is a virtual plethora of black cats and red herrings. There are multiple references to old movies such as Vertigo, Strangers on a Train, and Now, Voyager and the reader begins to wonder, are these movies supposed to be a clue? Since Jury spends a lot of time on trains and does some of his best thinking on them, perhaps that narrows it down a bit. Hmm...I remember the plot of that movie - strangers meet on a train and agree to commit murder for each other. Could it be...? Has Grimes lifted her plot from the Hitchcock movie?
In addition to the main plot, there is a subplot involving Jury's paramour from the last book, the Inspector Lu Aguilar who was knocked down and seriously injured by an automobile. We discover that she is paralyzed and will likely never walk again and, as the story progresses and Grimes doesn't appear to have any further use for her, she slips into a coma and doesn't seem to be long for this world.
Meanwhile, Jury, though feeling guilty about Aguilar, is apparently ready to resume his relationship with Dr. Phyllis Nancy, while simultaneously still being mesmerized by his upstairs neighbor, Carole-Anne. He just can't seem to resist those redheads.
May 16, 2010
Better than some of her later works, not as good as the earlier ones. Aunt Agatha is not here! Did she die in an earlier work? She is sorely missed. In this story, Harry Johnson is not the culprit -- but Jury is determined to attempt to blame him, he comes close to harrassing him in this story. The killer is Hitchcockian-- two women decide to kill the one the other one hates, and almost pull it off. Jury finds out that the wife of one of the Thames Valley Police staff, Chriss Chissum, in a wheel chair because of her stubborn determination that if she has the right of way in a cross walk, cars should stop, finds out that her husband has reconnected with a girl they both knew in high school. He loved her then, and when they meet again in their early 30's, after he's been married since high school to Chris, he finds he's still in love with her. We never find out if she was in love with him --- probably not, because the first victem, Stacy Storm, or Mariah Cox, in her first life, is planning to marry Barry Devlin. In one life she is a librarian. In the second life she is an escort. She is found dead at the Black Cat in couture clothing and shoes.
We also don't find out who Lu Aguilar is. She is lying in a coma in a hospital, and Jury is feeling guilty because he is relieved. She also was so injured in an accident in a previous book that she will not walk again. We don't find out anything about this, or the relationship between Jury and her.
A third myster involves animals. Mungo, Harry Johnson's dog -- or is he someone's else's dog that Harry has taken? Mungo's thoughts are shared with thereader. Also, the thoughts of Morris, Dora's cat -- a child somehow "related" to be woman care-taking the "Black Cat" bar are shared with Mungo and the reader. Harry Johnson has somehow stolen this cat, and replaced it with another. Harry also owns another black cat, Schroidiner, who has just had babies. Cats are switched back and forth throughout this book. Mungo also leaves his abode with Harry, as Morris is returned to Dora by Plant. Plant then picks up Mungo from Dora's place at the end of the story, but we do not find out if he returns him to H. Johnson or?
The third victim Dee Dee, also an escort, is murdered because she has remembered something that would incriminate one of the murderers.
We also don't find out what the sargent does when he finds out his wife has murdered his girl friend.
As usual, with M. Grimes, lots of loose ends.
We also don't find out who Lu Aguilar is. She is lying in a coma in a hospital, and Jury is feeling guilty because he is relieved. She also was so injured in an accident in a previous book that she will not walk again. We don't find out anything about this, or the relationship between Jury and her.
A third myster involves animals. Mungo, Harry Johnson's dog -- or is he someone's else's dog that Harry has taken? Mungo's thoughts are shared with thereader. Also, the thoughts of Morris, Dora's cat -- a child somehow "related" to be woman care-taking the "Black Cat" bar are shared with Mungo and the reader. Harry Johnson has somehow stolen this cat, and replaced it with another. Harry also owns another black cat, Schroidiner, who has just had babies. Cats are switched back and forth throughout this book. Mungo also leaves his abode with Harry, as Morris is returned to Dora by Plant. Plant then picks up Mungo from Dora's place at the end of the story, but we do not find out if he returns him to H. Johnson or?
The third victim Dee Dee, also an escort, is murdered because she has remembered something that would incriminate one of the murderers.
We also don't find out what the sargent does when he finds out his wife has murdered his girl friend.
As usual, with M. Grimes, lots of loose ends.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 13, 2018
For a few years I read everything I could by Martha Grimes and I still have a soft spot for the oddball team of Richard Jury and Melrose Plant. But not for this book.
It's verging on a soap opera with a half-hearted murder mystery bumbling along in the background. Who's Jury shagging now? The voluptuous neighbor? The hot coroner? What about the smarmy back-and-forth in the wine bar with his nemesis ... there's some closeted tension there, no? And how guilty should he feel about not remaining faithful to poor Lu in a perhaps-terminal coma in hospital? "Wake up Lu" ... gag me Martha ... . It's As the World Turns stuff.
I'm also not a fan of anthropomorphized pets, so the Mungo / Morris chapters were ... painful. And the ending relies far too heavily on a past relationship that the reader isn't privy to until it pops up to let Jury solve the case, ta-da. It's lazy storytelling. I haven't kept up with the series to know if this is part of a fade to black or just a weak link. But I can't recommend it compared with the delightful early books that set the series rolling.
PS: Why is Jury so riled at the neighbor for taking messages badly, when he's out and his answering machine (yup, still has one) isn't working. He cn gt a crp mssg r not no he evn gt a cll, yeah? So why's he shouting at the neighbor? Somewhere along the way Jury turned into a bit of a cranky old git.
It's verging on a soap opera with a half-hearted murder mystery bumbling along in the background. Who's Jury shagging now? The voluptuous neighbor? The hot coroner? What about the smarmy back-and-forth in the wine bar with his nemesis ... there's some closeted tension there, no? And how guilty should he feel about not remaining faithful to poor Lu in a perhaps-terminal coma in hospital? "Wake up Lu" ... gag me Martha ... . It's As the World Turns stuff.
I'm also not a fan of anthropomorphized pets, so the Mungo / Morris chapters were ... painful. And the ending relies far too heavily on a past relationship that the reader isn't privy to until it pops up to let Jury solve the case, ta-da. It's lazy storytelling. I haven't kept up with the series to know if this is part of a fade to black or just a weak link. But I can't recommend it compared with the delightful early books that set the series rolling.
PS: Why is Jury so riled at the neighbor for taking messages badly, when he's out and his answering machine (yup, still has one) isn't working. He cn gt a crp mssg r not no he evn gt a cll, yeah? So why's he shouting at the neighbor? Somewhere along the way Jury turned into a bit of a cranky old git.
March 10, 2016
Disappointed. This is the third mystery fiction book I read and I can't believe am not liking any of them. Maybe "The purloined letter", "Murders in the Rue Morgue", "The adventures of Sherlock Holmes" etc. destroyed my ability to like any other detective/investigator.
The plot had few interesting parts which impressed me a little, mainly when Jury's colleague gave several hints and alluded on a murderer's motives. The analogy with Poe's "The Black Cat", Hitchcock's "Vertigo" and "Strangers in a Train" was, I think, the best part of the whole investigation of the murders. Jury doesn't appear to be that clue-based and logical investigator, nor creative. He was just a dull character.
Jury's colleague only deserved the two stars.
The plot had few interesting parts which impressed me a little, mainly when Jury's colleague gave several hints and alluded on a murderer's motives. The analogy with Poe's "The Black Cat", Hitchcock's "Vertigo" and "Strangers in a Train" was, I think, the best part of the whole investigation of the murders. Jury doesn't appear to be that clue-based and logical investigator, nor creative. He was just a dull character.
Jury's colleague only deserved the two stars.
July 7, 2011
I listened to this and it was beautifully read. Morris, the cat, and Mungo, the dog, are actually prime movers in this murder mystery. Escort service women are being murdered, shoes being quite a significant clue, and Richard Jury is at his best. My favorite parts seem to deal with other animals (names: Aggrieved and Aghast) and the relationship of Dora to Morris. Lots of intelligent conversation and quips and references...made me happy, esp. since I can no longer wear 4" heels. Sigh.
April 23, 2010
I paused another book to read this one right away. If I had to choose one favorite author it would be Martha Grimes. I don't want to give away much about this one but it has the fey sense of humor, the kind of magic slightly alternate universe and the return of Mungo, the dog who rescues humans and here, cats. It was just wonderful.
May 18, 2010
The story had many references to prior cases handled by the detective, Richard Jury and it would have been helpful to have read them before. But this was my first read of this author. It is written with a sense of humor and an interesting plot. Cats and dogs figure in the plot line quite while as they take an interest in the goings on and contribute to the mystery. A fun read.
September 8, 2010
Pretty standard Grimes, which is to say it includes a decent mystery embellished with precocious children, animals and offbeat Melrose Plant (whose Aunt Agatha is strangely missing this time). Grimes harkens back to previous mysteries (and pubs), but crosses the line this time by introducing a dog and cat conversing with one another. It smacks of gimmickry and detracts from the story.
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