5th in the Richard Jury series.

On his way to Newcastle to spend Christmas with his cousin and her family, Jury meets a somewhat mysterious woman, Helen Minton, in a graveyard. Definitely attracted, he returns to Washington Old Hall the next day to find Helen dead--murdered. Unofficially, he offers his help to the Sunderland constabulary; later, he plays on Chief Superintendent Racer's weaknesses (of which there are many) and manages to get permission to enter the case officially along with Sgt. Wiggens.

Meanwhile, Melrose Plant, Aunt Agatha, and Vivian Rivington are on their way to Spinney Abbey in nearby Spinneyton in a blizzard. Forced to stop at a somewhat disreputable pub, The Jerusalem Inn, to await more reliable transportation to the Abbey where they are to partake in a weekend social gathering of artists and writers, they witness two of the Inn's favorite pastimes: brawling and snooker. In the latter, a teenage boy is sweeping all before him with the skill and aplomb of a professional. Once at the Abbey, Melrose is is astonished to find out that the boy is Tommy Whittaker, the 11th Marquess of Meares, a local estate--unbeknownst to his guardian, Lady Elizabeth St. Leger, a formidable old woman who has plans for the young marquess that do not include a career in snooker.

Naturally, no country weekend with a disparate group of guests is free from tensions, and being snowbound exacerbates the situation--to the point of murder. When the police are called in, both Jury and Plant are surprised to find each other on the scene; it turns out that Jury's murder case occurred within a short distance and under the same jurisdiction as that at Spinney Abbey. Naturally, both turn out to be connected.

Jerusalem Inn is one of the best of the series, with an excellent plot and some of the best of Grimes' early writing. There are several children in the plot, but the crucial one is Tommy Whittaker. However, he is the innocent victim of a lapse in editing: in an early section, his father is referred to as the 10th marquess while later on, his son is mentioned as the 10th marquess.

The climax is very good and well done, although one has to keep a somewhat careful track of the characters in order to understand one of the more interesting aspects of the plot. Grimes' wit is still subdued (although certainly not lacking) in this book, and her one-time only characters are not as interesting or as strong as in other books; Jerusalem Inn is far more of a plot-driven book than is usual for this series.

For those who understand snooker, the epilogue should be fun.

Grimesism:'Melrose had let out a long breath when he had finally escaped from the school's black-gowned, ivy-hung, crenelated-bell-towered, mullion-windowed atmosphere. He'd sooner be bricked in by poe than spend a term there."

Highly recomended. ( )

Try to read the first one first as the main character developes a deeper personality over time. ( )

If I'm not mistaken, this is the 18th in the series of Richard Jury mysteries. In this story, Jury meets a beautiful woman in a graveyard, but when he goes back to meet her the next day, she's dead. Investigating on his own leads him to a snowed-in house party attended by none other than Melrose Plant and his Aunt Agatha, and yet another dead woman and one being slowly poisoned. There's also the usual precocious little girl, and a brief visit of the usual stereotypical Americans. ( )