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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
Martha Grimes - immer wieder nett zur Entspannung zwischendurch. Ich hätte allerdings nicht dagegen, wenn die Clique um Melrose Plant mal wieder mehr Raum einnähme, von Marshall Trueblood habe ich ewig nichts gehört. Und die kommunizierenden Tiere in diesem und den vorherigen Bände finde ich mittlerweile als leicht befremdlich.
The 22nd book in the Richard Jury series which are named after pubs in England. While I enjoy this series, especially supporting character Melrose Plant, this was not one of the more successful. First, Melrose Plant and his friends made only brief appearances. Second, there was too much talking among animals, albeit silent communication. Red herrings were plentiful and some of them were particular distracting. But still I remain a Richard Jury fan.
Ms. Grimes' series has definitely made a comeback; while not as strong as the very early books, The Black Cat is certainly better than, oh, Stargazy. What drags her down is the very large cast she's created: we don't need to meet them, or hear about them in every book. We don't need to visit Long Pid in every book. The addition of Trevor and Harry Johnson were great, but then leave out Marshall Trueblood.
It's also noticeable when she drops in information that British writers would take for granted that readers know: "The Knowledge" or that the M 25 is the Ring Road. Still, a series I'll continue to read.
It's also noticeable when she drops in information that British writers would take for granted that readers know: "The Knowledge" or that the M 25 is the Ring Road. Still, a series I'll continue to read.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
I enjoyed this series entry, though I wish Melrose and his wacky friends had been a bit more involved to add levity.
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.
A sequel to THE OLD WINE SHADES, so fans of that novel will be delighted by the return of raconteur Harry Johnson and his dog Mungo. The narrative from Mungo's perspective might not be everybody's cup of tea--I'm usually put off by this sort of thing--but it didn't bother me. I think readers need to give authors the space to take risks.
Classic Martha Grimes. Love Richard Jury, his coworkers, friends and neighbors. Grimes' plots have been implausible in this novel and the one before, but it's such a delightful, easy read, I continue to keep up with Jury and his supporting cast of characters.
Richard Jury is a Superintendent (a high-ranking detective for American readers) with the Metropolitan Police in London. He is aided in his cases by his sergeant, the long-suffering Wiggins, and his best friend, Melrose Plant, a wealthy nobleman who Jury met during the first book in this series. Plant, who has given up his title, spends most of his time drinking at the local pub and finding ways to help (and torture) Jury. There is also a wide cast of characters in these books, so many that I've forgotten a lot of them during the twenty years that I've been reading this series. Most of the humor in the books comes courtesy of Wiggins, who has improved quite a bit in his police skills over the years, and Plant and his village friends. Jury himself is fairly solemn, both due to his upbringing and his career, so his interactions with Plant are a welcome relief.
The particular cases hardly matter in this series; the joy comes in meeting old friends and revisiting familiar scenes. The books are all named after pubs that play a role in the mystery, and in this case, The Black Cat is both the name of a pub where a body is found, and an actual feline that gets mixed up in the mystery. This book, more than some of the others, picks up several plot arcs from the previous two books, so don't start with this book if you haven't read the series before. The Richard Jury books are British mystery at its finest. If the series ever ends, I will have to go back to the start and begin again, and a joyful read it will be.
The particular cases hardly matter in this series; the joy comes in meeting old friends and revisiting familiar scenes. The books are all named after pubs that play a role in the mystery, and in this case, The Black Cat is both the name of a pub where a body is found, and an actual feline that gets mixed up in the mystery. This book, more than some of the others, picks up several plot arcs from the previous two books, so don't start with this book if you haven't read the series before. The Richard Jury books are British mystery at its finest. If the series ever ends, I will have to go back to the start and begin again, and a joyful read it will be.