Rating: 
Summary: THE WORST!!! Vapid plot, flat characters, waste of time
Review: Grimes has combined several "modern" themes such as Aids and spun a truly irresponsible and vapid plot. The characters are flat in this one too. Instead of trying to stay modern with artificial plot and character changes, Grimes should stick to what she knows best. This books is dreadful...it's going straight into the bin. THE WORST!!
Rating: 
Summary: Melrose gets his chance.
Review: Having read all of her books, liking some more than others, it was a pleasure to get to know Melrose Plant better. Melrose is a man for whom his past dictates his present. The more you learn about his past, the more layered a character he becomes. Melrose is the central character through whom you meet everyone in this book and learn of the various murders and mysteries. With help from Macalvie and much later Jury, he is involved in every aspect of solving this case. Macalvie is always intense and absorbing. I also did not like the child murder angle, but to think something like that does not exist is to live in a bubble, but I'm not sure I like it in a Martha Grimes novel. Ms. Grimes does seem to be getting more "real world" in her murders and motives. I always look forward to her Richard Jury novels. This book was definitely an improvement over the Case Has Altered and The Stargazey. I hope she continues to develop Melrose Plant and gives Richard Jury more depth in his personal life. Please either marry off Vivian or give her some character--she's such a wet blanket.
Rating: 
Summary: What a great book.
Review: HER BOOKS JUST GET BETTER AND BETTER
Rating:
Summary: it's a mistake
Review: How could a writer misattribute such a famous quotation..hint -Dover Beach was written by Matthew Arnold. The treatment of the murder of children was weird and so overshadowed the spectre of an ingenue who would be how old by now ? A gal who in former books was quite conversant with record players has now evaded the dreary weight of time and bless her teen-age heart must be stuck in this image of Barbie forever. The vampire count is more believable. What do editors do these days...I suggest read before marketing and a brush-up Eng 101.
Rating:
Summary: It¿s a mistake
Review: How could the writer make such a mistake as to misattribute the classic Dover beach by Matthew Arnold to another poet. What happened to the editor? The strange handling of the death of children was offensive. The ingénue character has somehow remained a very young woman despite the passing years and incongruously has forgotten about record players, which she used in earlier books - duh! The mystery of this book is why it was published?
Rating: 
Summary: Caution for the soft hearted or mothers.
Review: I am a great fan of Martha Grimes. Between books, I miss the characters. The Lamorna Wink was well written, no doubt about it. Her characters are so real, I've come to be quite fond of them. But as a Mom, I found the subject matter disturbing. So if you're a mom or sensitive to children in distress stories, re-think this book and wait for the next one. What I really did enjoy about this book was a closer look at Melrose Plant. He's quite delightful; however, I miss Jury. I hope she writes another one soon.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing Depths
Review: I am reading my way through Martha Grimes' Richard Jury mysteries, and it is very interesting to see her develop her characters and plots. The Lamorna Wink is a long trip away from such early books as The Dirty Duck and The Old Fox Deceiv'd. It follows a recent trend in Grimes' work to have complex supporting characters and multiple plots and also a general sense of unsettled melancholy that is probably annoying if you don't like her characters, and addictive if you do.This is definitely Melrose Plant's story, although he is spirited away back to Long Pid just as things get wrapped up. The surprise here is that we become privy to a lot more detail about the parents and early life of Melrose than ever before, and that is interesting. We find out new depths to Brian Macalvie also. A lot of people have commented on what might be called the horrifying or unsavory elements of the plot of this novel. I certainly agree that there are horrible things that happen here, but I would agree with one reviewer who says that horrible things do happen in this world. I was more concerned because the different stands of the story didn't always fit together. Motives seemed to be stretched at times. I certainly won't give up on Martha Grimes anytime soon.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing Depths
Review: I am reading my way through Martha Grimes' Richard Jury mysteries, and it is very interesting to see her develop her characters and plots. The Lamorna Wink is a long trip away from such early books as The Dirty Duck and The Old Fox Deceiv'd. It follows a recent trend in Grimes' work to have complex supporting characters and multiple plots and also a general sense of unsettled melancholy that is probably annoying if you don't like her characters, and addictive if you do. This is definitely Melrose Plant's story, although he is spirited away back to Long Pid just as things get wrapped up. The surprise here is that we become privy to a lot more detail about the parents and early life of Melrose than ever before, and that is interesting. We find out new depths to Brian Macalvie also. A lot of people have commented on what might be called the horrifying or unsavory elements of the plot of this novel. I certainly agree that there are horrible things that happen here, but I would agree with one reviewer who says that horrible things do happen in this world. I was more concerned because the different stands of the story didn't always fit together. Motives seemed to be stretched at times. I certainly won't give up on Martha Grimes anytime soon.
Rating:
Summary: Has Ms. Grimes ever actually been to England?
Review: I ask because no-one in England misspells "Provo", "Weetabix", or says "nine-fifty" when they mean ten-to-ten; there were lots more Americanisms, but those were the worst.
Those nitpicks aside, this is by far the worst book I have read this year, despite it coming fairly highly recommended. Utterly, utterly dire characterisation. These characters are so wooden they'd give Pinnochio a run for his money. And the "plot" is just laughable, despite Ms. Grimes dismal attempt to spice things up with a little snuff.
Want a good "cozy" detective story? Try any of the late great Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer series. Or if you're looking for it to be set in England, even Sarah Caudwell's far wittier Hilary Tamar series...
Rating:
Summary: Excellent new entry in Jury/Plant series
Review: I finished this book in two days. I love Martha Grimes and look forward each year to a new entry in this great series. Once again she offers a interesting mystery, great characters and amusing dialogue. Frankly I was pleased that this book concentrated on Melrose Plant and Brian Macalvie. All the brooding introspection of Richard Jury was getting a little tiresome. It was nice to get some background on these intriquing characters. One quibble: enough already with the romance between Vivian and "Count Dracula." It was amusing in the first few books, but by the 16th it is boring, boring, boring. Ms. Grimes holds out hope though that we may have seen the last of this subplot.
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