Product Description

Richard Jury returns in the 5-week New York Times bestseller

A strange and unsolved case of abduction is reopened by Melrose Plant, reexamined by Richard Jury-and revisited by a killer...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37429 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-02
• Released on: 2003-09-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Amazon.com Review
In this, the 18th outing in Martha Grimes's popular series featuring Scotland Yard Superintendent Richard Jury and his aristocrat pal Melrose Plant, Jury, recuperating from a near-fatal shooting (The Blue Last) hears about the two-year-old abduction of his doctor's talented young daughter, Nell Ryder, who disappeared from her grandfather's stud farm, along with a champion thoroughbred horse. Pursuing the stalled investigation when he's released from the hospital, Jury stumbles on a complicated scheme involving murder, insurance fraud, and a scheme to replicate a popular menopause drug derived from the urine of pregnant mares. As readers of this popular series know, while there's a mystery at the heart of every Jury novel, the real payoff is in Grimes's lucent prose, wit, and complex characterizations. Fans of British mystery writer Dick Francis, who's made the world of thoroughbreds his own turf, will find this a delightful diversion, particularly since Francis recently announced his retirement from the genre. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly
Grimes's popular mysteries are named after British pubs, and Rees's excellent performance here will make readers feel as if they're at the bar themselves, listening to the actor spin a good, old-fashioned detective story. Grimes (The Blue Last) has updated Josephine Tey's famous Daughter of Time by having her detective, Scotland Yard's own Richard Jury, solve a mystery while spending time in a hospital. Jury's friend, the aristocratic and occasionally ponderous Melrose Plant, overhears two women talking in the Grave Maurice about Richard's surgeon, whose daughter disappeared two years before from the racing stable where she worked. With Plant doing the legwork, Jury manages to solve the case without getting out of his pajamas. Rees, known for playing an arrogant British ambassador on The West Wing, nicely delineates Plant from the saltier, more ironic Jury, presenting a satisfying tale that should delight mystery fans.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Richard Jury is back, and he's in the hospital but not for long. Dependable sidekick Melrose Plant has overheard the tale of a missing girl, and when it turns out that she is the daughter of Jury's surgeon and that the gossipy woman who related the story is now dead the daring duo take the case.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

More Fantasy than Mystery
I was a big fan of Ms. Grimes' earlier works, but her last few Jury mysteries have been extremely disappointing. Again, she utilizes extremely chance meetings and far-fetched links amoung strangers to produce the mystery as well as solve it. She should also re-read her earlier books and reacquaint herself with her characters. In "The Old Fox Deceived", Melrose had backflashes about participating in a cubbing (pre-season hunt) as a 10-year-old and the trauma of having the fox's blood smeared on him as part of a bizarre ritual. In addition, in the 'Fox Deceived' story, he participated in a hunt -- galloping over fields and jumping ditches and fences -- during which a body was discovered. But, in "The Grave Maurice", he was portrayed as knowing nothing about fox-hunting nor about riding a horse. I think Martha is tired of her characters; maybe she should let them fade away gracefully.

Whoa Nellie!
I've dipped in and out of the Richard Jury series over the years, and generally I've found Martha Grimes' books to be entertaining and well-written -- though not perfect. By contrast, "Grave Maurice" is gravely flawed. How in the world could the mere photograph of a 15-year-old girl, Nell Ryder, engender such intense feelings of yearning and passion in every grown man who sees it? When Nell appears in the flesh, she's described as lucent and luminous but actually seems one-dimensional in the extreme. Meanwhile, the plot is awash in coincidences that rob it of honesty. Face it: Melrose Plant is the one decent character -- give him his own series, Martha, and give handsome Richard Jury's bullet-riddled, bed-hopping body a little rest.

Big Disappointment!
I've been a big fan of Martha Grimes, but this book was a terrible read! I nearly gave up after the first few chapters, but continued plodding through only because I was stuck at a horse show for a week with no other reading material. The plot is poorly done, the characters are shallow (I mean, I really didn't care anymore who lived or died or who ended up being the villian -- I just wanted to get through and done), and it just didn't meet the high expectations I had from my past experience with her books. I think I may have to go back and reread some of her previous works just to remind myself of how good she can be. And if you have never read a Martha Grimes' book, do not choose this one as an example. She can do so much better!