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A review by beckmank
The Black Cat by Martha Grimes
4.0
I enjoyed this Richard Jury mystery more than the last few Martha Grimes has published. The murder and investigation were interesting - an unidentified woman is found dead, wearing a designer dress and shoes. Who was she? As the mystery unfolds other women are murdered. Jury is sure they are connected, but how?
In a typical Jury mystery we usually have a nice (funny) secondary story involving Melrose Plant and the Long Pidd crew. Melrose shows up (although his sideline doesn't get going until the latter half of the book), but the Long Pidd gang only gets one very small chapter - maybe 3 pages if I remember correctly. This was my great disappointment in the book. Melrose and his friends usually have a humorous storyline going on which adds color and fun to the seriousness of Jury's investigation. Instead, Melrose get's paired up with 3 cats and Harry Johnson's dog Mungo. By the end it was humorous, but I really missed the Jack and Hammer crowd. They left a great hole in the story.
Instead of the usual crowd, Harry Johnson is present again in this book. (For backstory, read The Old Wine Shades.) I didn't feel he added much, except for bringing along his dog. A lot of the side story was dedicated to Mungo and three cats.
Otherwise, a good mystery. Next time I hope she leaves the animals at home and brings back Melrose & Co!
In a typical Jury mystery we usually have a nice (funny) secondary story involving Melrose Plant and the Long Pidd crew. Melrose shows up (although his sideline doesn't get going until the latter half of the book), but the Long Pidd gang only gets one very small chapter - maybe 3 pages if I remember correctly. This was my great disappointment in the book. Melrose and his friends usually have a humorous storyline going on which adds color and fun to the seriousness of Jury's investigation. Instead, Melrose get's paired up with 3 cats and Harry Johnson's dog Mungo. By the end it was humorous, but I really missed the Jack and Hammer crowd. They left a great hole in the story.
Instead of the usual crowd, Harry Johnson is present again in this book. (For backstory, read The Old Wine Shades.) I didn't feel he added much, except for bringing along his dog. A lot of the side story was dedicated to Mungo and three cats.
Otherwise, a good mystery. Next time I hope she leaves the animals at home and brings back Melrose & Co!