The Man With a Load of Mischief

Rating:
Summary: Richard Jury
Review: Finally! Another Agatha Christie! In this mystery novel, Martha Grimes creates the detective Richard Jury, in the first of his ?pub mysteries? throughout England and abroad. We also meet Melrose Plant, soon to become his close friend and companion in solving mysteries. Plant is an interesting character in that he gave up his title years ago (although his butler, Ruthven, keeps calling him ?sir?). We also meet Melrose?s vulgar American Aunt Agatha Ardry, determined to inherit his money.

They investigate a series of murders in Plant?s home village of Long Piddleton. How are these murders connected? I found myself waiting breathlessly for the conclusion, not knowing the psychology of Grimes? characters.

To date, I have read maybe the first six or seven mysteries in the Richard Jury series, and every time Martha Grimes gets better. However, she becomes more and more predictable, as the person ?whodunnit? is the one you least suspect in the end.


Rating:
Summary: Great way to meet the characters in the Richard Jury series
Review: For those of you who, like me, discovered Martha Grimes when she was well into her series of books featuring Richard Jury, I highly recommend this first in the series. The well plotted, if somewhat overly complex story is a good read, but the real fun is in meeting Melrose Plant, Superintendent Racer (sans cat), Marshall Trueblood, Vivian and Little Pid for the first time. There is an added bonus in that one of the characters is an expert on the history of the strange and exotic names of English country inns. As the afficianado knows, Ms. Grimes has used these names to good effect as titles for the books in her Jury series

Rating:
Summary: Unusually Captivating
Review: I am a Richard Jury fan to the core. I normally like to begin a series by reading the first book written. However, Man with a Load of Mischief was the second book I read by Martha Grimes. Here we are introduced to the main characters that appear throughout the Richard Jury series. Ms. Grimes does a wonderful job of giving her characters life and color. They seem almost real from the wealthy and charming former earl, Melrose Plant to his irritating aunt-by-marriage Agatha. Here we get a glimpse of Marshall Trueblood who owns the antique store and revals in dressing loudly, smoking colored cigarettes and teasing Agatha. Here Jury meets these characters and more for the first time and forms a lasting friendship with Melrose. Here we get the first glimpse into Jury's life where relationships with women are rarely successful for long periods of time. Martha Grimes cleverly mixes murder with humor to produce a very entertaining novel. A true literary success.

Rating:
Summary: The Beginning of a Beautiful Thing...
Review: I have read maybe 10 or 12 of Grime's Jury/Plant mysteries in no particular order, and I loved every single one of them. However, I was quite surprised this year that I have been able to reread 2 of them so far ("The Old Silent" and "Man With a Load of Mischief") and enjoy them as much as the first time! The humor and her perfect timing are as fresh the 2nd time around, and I had honestly forgotten many of her subtle clues.

For anyone new to Grimes, she is an absolutely masterful mystery writer. What sets her apart is her focus on a pair of sharp, witty, handsome and ultimately vulnerable 40 year old bachelors, Jury and Plant. Jury and Plant are so endearing in their development - as opposed to a Poroit or Holmes - that you wish you actually knew them or people like them. In fact, you feel like you do know them. Their surrounding cast of characters - Lady Ardry, Vivian, Trueblood, Scroggs, Withersby, Wiggins, Fiona, Mrs. Wasserman, Racer - all heighten your appreciation of the main characters.

In this particular book, the first in the series, you get to see Grimes set the stage with all these characters. How does Jury (an inspector with the New Scotland Yard) ever hook up with Plant (a part-time professor who gave up his titles years ago)? Why is Trueblood in Long Pidd? What is Plant and Vivian's history? How do you pronounce Ruthven? What is the deal with the names of pubs in England (a central theme for Grimes)?

The basic plotline in this book is that 2 men - strangers to the small village of Long Pidd - have been strangled and left to be discovered in very odd ways. The reason for their murders is so obscure that Scotland Yard gets brought in to help out. After Jury arrives on the scene, however, the murders don't stop. What is the connection between these random people? Will the entire population of the small town be killed off before the murderer is found? Will Jury and Plant become good friends? All these questions are answered as Grimes also masterfully laces her humorous storyline with clues and names that point to solution of these mysterious murders.

Rating:
Summary: The Beginning of a Beautiful Thing...
Review: I have read maybe 10 or 12 of Grime's Jury/Plant mysteries in no particular order, and I loved every single one of them. However, I was quite surprised this year that I have been able to reread 2 of them so far ("The Old Silent" and "Man With a Load of Mischief") and enjoy them as much as the first time! The humor and her perfect timing are as fresh the 2nd time around, and I had honestly forgotten many of her subtle clues.

For anyone new to Grimes, she is an absolutely masterful mystery writer. What sets her apart is her focus on a pair of sharp, witty, handsome and ultimately vulnerable 40 year old bachelors, Jury and Plant. Jury and Plant are so endearing in their development - as opposed to a Poroit or Holmes - that you wish you actually knew them or people like them. In fact, you feel like you do know them. Their surrounding cast of characters - Lady Ardry, Vivian, Trueblood, Scroggs, Withersby, Wiggins, Fiona, Mrs. Wasserman, Racer - all heighten your appreciation of the main characters.

In this particular book, the first in the series, you get to see Grimes set the stage with all these characters. How does Jury (an inspector with the New Scotland Yard) ever hook up with Plant (a part-time professor who gave up his titles years ago)? Why is Trueblood in Long Pidd? What is Plant and Vivian's history? How do you pronounce Ruthven? What is the deal with the names of pubs in England (a central theme for Grimes)?

The basic plotline in this book is that 2 men - strangers to the small village of Long Pidd - have been strangled and left to be discovered in very odd ways. The reason for their murders is so obscure that Scotland Yard gets brought in to help out. After Jury arrives on the scene, however, the murders don't stop. What is the connection between these random people? Will the entire population of the small town be killed off before the murderer is found? Will Jury and Plant become good friends? All these questions are answered as Grimes also masterfully laces her humorous storyline with clues and names that point to solution of these mysterious murders.

Rating:
Summary: A Must For The Grimes Collector
Review: I must have read 5 or 6 Richard Jury Mysteries before I came into a copy of ...Load Of Mischief. This, being her first, is a must for fans of Martha Grimes. This is where her reoccurent characters meet! It's a wonderful, weaving mystery, filled with webs of deception and her marvelous blend of humor. This is a must mystery!

Rating:
Summary: A Must For The Grimes Collector
Review: I must have read 5 or 6 Richard Jury Mysteries before I came into a copy of ...Load Of Mischief. This, being her first, is a must for fans of Martha Grimes. This is where her reoccurent characters meet! It's a wonderful, weaving mystery, filled with webs of deception and her marvelous blend of humor. This is a must mystery!

Rating:
Summary: Satisfying Entertainment
Review: I've read most of the Richard Jury novels, and it was a real treat to read the first in the series where all the characters are introduced. A number of the characters who later become a bit frozen in their stereotype behaviour are very real in this book-- I think particularly of Vivian and Trueblood-- and it's worth reading if you're a fan just for those points alone.

When a series of grisly murders shocks the town of Long Piddleton, Richard Jury of Scotland Yard is sent to investigate. It becomes clear all-too-soon that these were not the acts of a stranger and the small town is in the grip of suspicion and fear as the death toll continues to rise.

A satisfying whodunnit that keeps the pages turning.

Rating:
Summary: MYSTERY WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR
Review: In her Richard Jury/Melrose Plant series of mysteries, Martha Grimes has developed an ensemble cast who play the same role, but with different levels of involvement from book to book. As one works his way through these mystery novels, all the members of the ensemble take on lives of their own. Another reviewer has stated that, in later novels, this being the first in the series, they become stereotypes. It is my opinion that they merely stay in character. This is not to say however that they don't show growth and appropriate change with time and circumstance. They do.

One should know that the name of this book, THE MAN WITH A LOAD OF MISCHIEF, is the name of an English pub where part of the action takes place. This approach is taken in all of the novels in this series. (18 to date covering over 20 years of writing)

Although any one of these novels can be read in any order, this one gives more character background than any of the others. (I read it after having already read 16 others and it didn't hurt my comprehension of the others a bit.) Each novel has an interesting and entertaining plot. That said, what really distinguishes Ms Grimes' writing is the humor and local color she evokes through the antics, interrelationships, and subplots involving the various members of her cast of characters. There are over a dozen of them and each is fully realized with personalities, weaknesses and strengths, likes and dislikes, and friends and enemies.

The plot here involves the murder of strangers visiting the English town of Long Piddleton. In order to solve the mystery of the murders, it is first necessary to determine whether the murders were the random work of some madman, or if they were somehow related in a way that is not apparent. That is the gist of the plot.

The ensemble consists of 12 to 18 characters whose importance tends to vary from novel to novel. In this, and most of the others, Detective Chief Inspector Richard Jury of New Scotland Yard, his assistant, the hypochondriacal Sergeant Wiggins, and his newfound friend in Long Piddleton, Melrose Plant, the former Lord Ardry are the key participants (Melrose is the former Lord Ardry because he didn't want the title of Earl and so renounced it.)

There are a great number of players at the next tier and each is important in his own right. Some provide a real touch of humor, and others contribute to the main plot, but all combine to make this book what it is.

I must digress here and give a short description of Melrose Plant's Aunt Agatha - Lady Ardry - Lady because she happened to marry Melrose's titled uncle. She is an American and is enamored of the concept of being titled. Picture, if you will, a rather rotund late middle-aged woman who wears a cape, pushing open a door with no regard as to who or what might be on the other side, wielding a silver cane, like a sword, shoving aside anyone who happens to be between her and her destination. As often as not, her destination is a tray of cakes, tarts, and other sweets which she demands as her due at her nephew's home. After eating them all, she complains because there are no more, and on her way out pilfers Melrose's late mother's diamond ring, or a precious jade carving, or some other valuable item. Later she will wear the jewelry or display the stolen object in front of Melrose with no sense of shame. How Melrose handles this with humor and a shrug of his shoulders is an example of Ms. Grimes tongue in cheek manner.

Another character we come to know and love is Cyril The Cat who loves to torment Jury's Superior (in rank only) and always outwits him.

There are more, lots more.

So if one likes mystery with a liberal sprinkling of humor THE MAN WITH A LOAD OF MISCHIEF might be just what the doctor ordered.

Rating:
Summary: MYSTERY WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR
Review: In her Richard Jury/Melrose Plant series of mysteries, Martha Grimes has developed an ensemble cast who play the same role, but with different levels of involvement from book to book. As one works his way through these mystery novels, all the members of the ensemble take on lives of their own. Another reviewer has stated that, in later novels, this being the first in the series, they become stereotypes. It is my opinion that they merely stay in character. This is not to say however that they don't show growth and appropriate change with time and circumstance. They do.

One should know that the name of this book, THE MAN WITH A LOAD OF MISCHIEF, is the name of an English pub where part of the action takes place. This approach is taken in all of the novels in this series. (18 to date covering over 20 years of writing)

Although any one of these novels can be read in any order, this one gives more character background than any of the others. (I read it after having already read 16 others and it didn't hurt my comprehension of the others a bit.) Each novel has an interesting and entertaining plot. That said, what really distinguishes Ms Grimes' writing is the humor and local color she evokes through the antics, interrelationships, and subplots involving the various members of her cast of characters. There are over a dozen of them and each is fully realized with personalities, weaknesses and strengths, likes and dislikes, and friends and enemies.

The plot here involves the murder of strangers visiting the English town of Long Piddleton. In order to solve the mystery of the murders, it is first necessary to determine whether the murders were the random work of some madman, or if they were somehow related in a way that is not apparent. That is the gist of the plot.

The ensemble consists of 12 to 18 characters whose importance tends to vary from novel to novel. In this, and most of the others, Detective Chief Inspector Richard Jury of New Scotland Yard, his assistant, the hypochondriacal Sergeant Wiggins, and his newfound friend in Long Piddleton, Melrose Plant, the former Lord Ardry are the key participants (Melrose is the former Lord Ardry because he didn't want the title of Earl and so renounced it.)

There are a great number of players at the next tier and each is important in his own right. Some provide a real touch of humor, and others contribute to the main plot, but all combine to make this book what it is.

I must digress here and give a short description of Melrose Plant's Aunt Agatha - Lady Ardry - Lady because she happened to marry Melrose's titled uncle. She is an American and is enamored of the concept of being titled. Picture, if you will, a rather rotund late middle-aged woman who wears a cape, pushing open a door with no regard as to who or what might be on the other side, wielding a silver cane, like a sword, shoving aside anyone who happens to be between her and her destination. As often as not, her destination is a tray of cakes, tarts, and other sweets which she demands as her due at her nephew's home. After eating them all, she complains because there are no more, and on her way out pilfers Melrose's late mother's diamond ring, or a precious jade carving, or some other valuable item. Later she will wear the jewelry or display the stolen object in front of Melrose with no sense of shame. How Melrose handles this with humor and a shrug of his shoulders is an example of Ms. Grimes tongue in cheek manner.

Another character we come to know and love is Cyril The Cat who loves to torment Jury's Superior (in rank only) and always outwits him.

There are more, lots more.

So if one likes mystery with a liberal sprinkling of humor THE MAN WITH A LOAD OF MISCHIEF might be just what the doctor ordered.