I Am the Only Running Footman

Rating:
Summary: Another great Richard Jury adventure!
Review: After reading "I am the Only Running Footman" I am again satisfied with yet another great Martha Grimes novel. Her stories contain a great collection of mystery crimes with the lead detective being Richard Jury. In this book, Richard has to team up with an old rival in order to solve one of this centuries greatest cases, the scarves murder. But there seem to be no leads. So will Jury and arch rival Macalvie be able to put their past behind them and solve this crime, or will there be yet another victim of the fatal scarves.

Rating:
Summary: Another Richard Jury novel
Review: This is a reprint of a novel copyrighted in 1986. As in other novels by this author, the title is the name of a pub. Inspector Jury is joined again by Melrose Plant who has an estate near Long Piddleton on the River Piddle. In this novel, Jury is assigned to a case where a young woman has been strangled with her own scarf. The investigation reopens an older, unsolved case where another young woman was also strangled with her own scarf. Inquiries into the pasts of the two women turn up love affairs that may be related - both women were sleeping around to some degree.

The questions are whether these are serial killings or well-planned murders, and what would be the motive. Various odd characters are introduced including the odd family that owns and operates the Mortal Man. While the plot is interesting, digressions into discussions of the various characters (many not involved in the main plot) tends to detract from the main story line. At times, the story seems to wander.

When events are finally drawn together, it seems a bit abrupt. The story comes to a climax as the solution to the mystery is revealed, but it seems to leave some loose ends. A short added chapter might have closed things out better. One is left to wonder what finally happened to some of the characters.