Dust

The first in the series that I truly detested, mostly because suddenly Richard Jury is cheating on his girlfriend, Phyllis Nancy with detective Lu Aguilar, a force of nature, ignoring Carol Anne and in general being a prig. Melrose Plant is as delightful as always, and I hate when Grimes doesn't wrap up the story but leaves you guessing as to the ending - it's clear as mud to me. This doesn't change the fact that I'll be reading the next book in the series, just that I'm irritated by this entry. Oh well.

Oh, about the story - Benny Keegan and Sparky go to deliver room service to Billy Maples, a youngish playboy (aged 32) and finds him shot through the heart. He calls Jury to get him on the case. The case is entwined with the seavacs and show more the kindertrains from WWII. One of the issues for me is that it is no longer clear to me when the modern stories are supposed to be set - early 1990s, 2000s? By now Richard should be retired.

This blog entry explores what the ending meant or didn't mean. http://maebookblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/dust-by-martha-grimes_14.html show less

law-enforcement, murder-investigation, British-detective -----
There may be only one murder investigation, but it's still as convoluted as ever. Plant gets to emulate Henry James in order to investigate part of the victim's life, Jury is ambushed by a barracuda, and World War 2 history invades the present. A very busy book which needs a second reading to catch up with the nuances hiding clues. A good read.

Oh no.. she's done it again...another Inspector Jury with the cliff hanger for an ending. Really, these should come with a warning that a) they should be read in sequence, and b) you're not going to find out who did the dastardly deed until you get hold of the next in the series.

So in 'Dust' Inspector Jury is trying to tie up the loose ends from a previous case, referenced sporadically in this book, when he's called into the scene of a murdered man in a hotel. All evidence seem to point to the killer interrupting him during his dinner and killing him. But the killer inconveniently leaves no fingerprints or clues as to his identity behind.

Inspector Jury also finds himself in unfamiliar territory with the delectable Detective Inspector show more Lu Aguilar. There's more attention given to sex in this book rather than laying out paths to solving the murder. The way the various links to the murdered man unfolds keeps this a very engaging book though, which makes it all the more frustrating to get to the end of the book only to find not just that you still don't know who did it, but that there now seems to be a new mystery to solve... in the next book. show less

Richard Jury is called in to help solve the murder by a young boy he has befriended in the past on another case. He finds that he also knows the grandfather of the murdered man from working with him on another case. He now has two people expecting him to come up with the murderer. The problem is the lack of clues, or the subtlety of them. He is also paired with a beautiful detective whose presence sparks an animal attraction between the two of them that just adds distraction to the whole case.

Characters from previous cases appear in this tale. Some providing help and others distraction. Jury is a bit of a somber character who sometimes seems to over analyze to the point that he can't see the forest for the trees.

For me, I enjoy Melrose show more Plant as he tends to add a nice touch of humour and levity. He is useful to Jury in his investigating behind the scenes. He can go where Jury can't as people won't always tell the truth to the police.

I enjoy Martha Grimes' mysteries as they can be read at a leisurely pace and don't reveal everything all at once. Gives you something to ruminate about. show less

First of all, I don't like books that end in cliffhangers. To me, it smacks of desperation on the author's part; as if they feel that their writing isn't good enough to make the reader come back for more after a self-contained story. What little resolution there was in this book was vague and not particularly gripping, and I'm not sure whether it was my general lack of interest that made me skip parts or whether there were some giant plot holes in the story. All in all, not a book I would recommend when introducing anyone to the Richard Jury series, but somehow it still managed to hold my interest just enough for me to want to know the outcome of this. The comfortable familiarity with the characters means that if there is a sequel to show more this, I will probably read it, albeit reluctantly. Al least this one had no superhero dog. show less

It saddens me to read Martha Grimes these days - she's completely discarded the notion of plotting or character development. But her ability to evoke an atmosphere still charms.

I enjoyed this story, however, was a bit confused on who the murderer was. I'm a regular Richard Jury mystery fan, but disliked the inclusion of the sexy love affair that Grimes included this time. Didn't seem relevant. I'd rather enjoy eating dinner with Melrose Plant.