Rating: 
Summary: Did Martha write this?
Review: I have read every book in the Richard Jury series, having come upon it by first buying the Blue Last. I found myself straying from reading this one on a number of occassions, unusual in that I typically read Martha's books in two days. Did Ms. Grimes actually write this book, or did she use a ghost writer? In either case, I am very disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Depressing
Review: I have been a fan of Jury and company since the start of this series, but when I turned the last page of this book, I only felt depressed. Even with the delightful schemes that Melrose undertakes to keep Agatha away from Ardry End I found that this is one book I will not keep on my book shelf.
Rating:
Summary: Veiled motivations
Review: I have been a fan of the Richard Jury series since its beginning, but this, the latest installment, was incredibly disappointing. First, and most importantly, the "mystery" is secondary to Grimes' primary goal, which is to lambaste a real pharmaceutical company. She is an avid animal rights activist, (for which I do not fault her), but this format should not be a platform for her political agenda, at least without notifying her reader of her intentions. Her attacks dominate the book. (Biting the Moon, her unabashed effort to this end, is absolutely awful.) Beyond this, the editing was erratic, with numerous misplaced quotation marks and grammatical errors. Lastly, we can only conclude that Grimes views her American audience as blissfully ignorant and uncaring of UK geography. Check the proximity of Hadrian's Wall to Cambridge. All together a dismal disappointment, especially as the denouement to Jury bleeding out in the last novel.
Rating:
Summary: Riddles Wrapped into a Mystery Springing from a Tragedy
Review: This novel reminded me of one of those Russian nesting dolls, where you keep finding another doll inside of the one you are holding, when you take the doll apart. There's enough plot and character development here for 6 novels. I graded the book down mostly because no one should read this novel without having read quite a few of the earlier ones in the series. Most of the best references and ironies won't mean much otherwise. And many of them are rather long sections. Even in a series, authors need to make novels as stand-alone as they can. I also graded the book down because one plot element just didn't make sense to me (the location of the missing heroine for two years). On the other hand, I thought that the development of the theme of honoring animal rights was well done. I don't remember a novel that does it any better. Along the way, I had a lot of fun. Regular Richard Jury and Martha Grimes fans should definitely read this one! The Grave Maurice is one of Melrose Plant's best and most humorous outings. You see new sides of Richard Jury, and they will make him more appealing to you. I also appreciated the reference to Josephine Tey's wonderful book about Richard III. The Grave Maurice is also as steeped in English horse racing as the typical Dick Francis effort, which made the book all the more appealing to me. After you finish this story, think about the moral priorities for you in protecting life and liberty! What comes first?
Rating: 
Summary: Grimes is brilliant
Review: Grimes's poignant prose is not for every slovely plebeian. You have to be somewhat intelligent to appreciate the message behind Grimes's novel. Unfortuanately old, haggard, miserly hags have become offended that anyone such a mystery writer may have taken them out of the realm of the trivial and superfical. Grimes reveals the harrowing issue of animal mistreatment that rivals Anne Brote's Agnes Grey. I applaud her wholeheartedly.
Rating:
Summary: Big Disappointment!
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: A good book? Neigh...
Review: In one of Martha Grimes's most recent books, a mystery writer complains about how she's become shackled to her fictional detective series to the degree that she'd be laughed at if she wrote "serious" fiction. Well, if Grimes herself is having the same kind of identity crisis, and this is the kind of "serious" fiction for which she wants to be known, then I'd rather she stop writing altogether. It won't be that great a stretch, as "The Grave Maurice" is hardly "writing" at all. It's some plotting, some character description and a lot of pontificating -- but it's not much of a book. I would say it's not up to Grimes's usual standards, but unfortunately, as her usual standards have plummeted in the past few years, this is sadly par for the course. So many of the once great mystery series out there (this one, Sue Grafton's Alphabet Series, Janet Evanovich's once-hilarious Stephanie Plum novels, most particulary Patricia Cornwell's Scarpetta books -- even the great P.D.James's latest) have taken on a stale, musty been-there-done-that, send-me-the royalty-checks quality. Writers do nothing more than insult the intelligence of loyal fans when they churn out chewed-over, by-the-numbers tripe. If you have nothing to say, ladies, don't say it. (And that goes for James Patterson and any number of male mystery authors who could never put two words together in the first place.) My apologies, folks, for the over-hyphenated (there I go again!) diatribe. I guess I'm just madder about wasting my time than I'd thought.
Rating:
Summary: The Grave Morose
Review: This latest from Martha Grimes was easily put down through the first half. Picked up half way through with some notion of redemtion, but the ending left a fruther bad taste in the mouth. I can't say this was poorly done, but is is not representative of the Richard Jury series, more like her other books with dispondent aimless characters. (No matter how many time the work "focused" was used, unbelievably surmised from a photograph, she was aimless through out the book). The plot did not particularly hold together well, some characters stuffed in to plug obvious gaps in the ploting. I was expecting a more fun read Grimes, had I known, I would have read it a nother time.
Rating:
Summary: A Grave robber!
Review: I own most of Martha's books and have read them all. The Grave
Maurice will not go on my shelf for a future re-read. Nor will
l pass it on to friends or my local library. I feel as though
I've been "had"! Was this actually written by Ms. Grimes?? Is
someone masquerading as Inspector Jury? And was that ending
supposed to be a "surprise twist"? I'd say it was a
perverse way to end a story--completely without logic,
completely leaving the reader with egg on ones face and a bad
taste in ones mouth. At least this one!
Rating:
Summary: Come off thy high horse
Review: I usually like this author, but this book really is a little preachy. In addition, the reason for Nell's failure to promptly return to home is not really conveyed through the rest of her characterization - though I imagine the sustained ill-treatment she received might have accounted for some irrationality.
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