Rating: 
Summary: Yeah for Martha Grimes at her usual best
Review: I was disappointed by the last couple of books in the Richard Jury series, but this one is an excellent book. Melrose Plant is front and centre and he is turning out to be quite the detective. He is one of the most appealing characters I've read about for a long time. Richard Jury's role is reduced as compared to other books, but he comes in at a very crucial time. Macalvie is a wonderful character. There is a danger that he may eventually eclipse Jury. I love Martha Grimes characterization, and her comic relief is always wonderful. She is one of the best mystery writers of today, and is in league with the Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christies of the past in my mind. No modern author can top her for eccentric characters.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Disappointed
Review: I was most disappointed in Lamorna Wink. After reading every one of her books written before 1995, I found this one to be decidedly unpleasant. The sleazy story line about killing innocent children for the thrill of a snuff movie was unnecessary. Also woven into this story was an equally sickening plot line about another child who was murdered for revenge. Come on, Martha Grimes, get out of the gutter! There are some sensationalistic topics that are just too unutterably disgusting for any but the most perverted and you have managed to touch on them all here! Bring back the characters we love and leave the seedy storylines OUT.
Rating: 
Summary: A Sad Commentary
Review: I was pleasantly surprised to see Melrose Plant take the lead in this one. Ms. Grimes unveils a passionate and impulsive nature to go along with Melrose's ready supply of charm, and helps us to understand his aversion to his foresaken title. She places at the center of the tale a charismatic and sympathetic young man in trouble, and brings back familiar favorites for cameo appearances. All the elements of a superior Martha Grimes mystery are there, but my enjoyment of this book was spoiled almost to the point of negation by the grisly and perverse child murders that drive the plot. Detailed scenes describing the central tragedy are unsettlingly juxtaposed with jokey scenes featuring the lovable pub-hoppers we've come to know from the Richard Jury series. To me, the depressing nature of this read outweighed its entertainment value.
Rating: 
Summary: Good story comes to bad end
Review: I wonder what Grimes was thinking as she finished this novel. She takes a delightful amateur detective story and spoils it with a graphic account of a sadistic child murder. In the final chapters, she mixes scenes of unbearable cruelty with local pub amusements that are not funny in the context of the tragedy we are reading about, and add nothing to the story. Richard Jury shows up only long enough to lose interest in all the plots and subplots. And after being actively involved in the entire mystery, Melrose departs the scene before it is unconvincingly resolved with one of the perpetrators in the sadistic murders going unpursued.
Rating:
Summary: Too horrific; too little outrage
Review: I'm a lover of Grimes' Jury series and had hiked extensively in Cornwall before reading the book. Naturally I was thrilled to find this book about all the fascinating little towns, such as Mousehole ("mow'zul") we had visited along the coastal paths, and couldn't wait to send it to my hiking friend. But the total callousness and horror of the crime was just too much; I never sent it to her. Of course we're inundated with disgusting, obscene real crimes these days, but I have to agree with another reader that there was not sufficient horror and outrage expressed in the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Melrose stars at last!
Review: It was nice to see Melrose Plant take the lead. So far, "Stargazey" is my favorite Jury novel, but I found this intriguing because we learned so much more about Melrose and Maccalvie. One thing which really surprised me, and I wonder what others thought, was the brief scene between Melrose and Bea. I don't recall ever seeing such a scene in a Jury book before. Does anyone else? It just seemed so out of character for Grimes to write, as did the children's deaths which were very sad and macabre. But the scene between Bea and Melrose really stopped me cold, especially since it didn't fit anywhere into the rest of the book, as far as I could tell anyway. Anyone else have any thoughts?
Rating:
Summary: She's baaaaaacckk!
Review: Martha Grimes has come back to full form with the latest 'Jury' novel, "The Lamorna Wink". After, what I considered the disasterous, "The Horse you came in on", I trembled with every new book, afraid she would never regain her full charm. Well, she has.The book focuses in on Melrose Plant to solve the crime and, though I'm a bigger Jury fan, I had no problems with this. (Richard didn't, why should I?) The mystery is great, though that is not the reason why I read her books. Nor, I suspect, do most of her loyal fans . . ., it's for the characters. And they are priceless in this one. I don't want to spoil any of the fun, but when Jury and Plant get together, in the vacant house, at night, the interplay which takes place is one of my most treasured between them. If you have never read one of her 'Jury' books, and are a Mr. Darcy fan, (and who isn't), try Richard Jury on for size. You'll find he fits exceedingly well . . ..
Rating:
Summary: She's baaaaaacckk!
Review: Martha Grimes has come back to full form with the latest 'Jury' novel, "The Lamorna Wink". After, what I considered the disasterous, "The Horse you came in on", I trembled with every new book, afraid she would never regain her full charm. Well, she has. The book focuses in on Melrose Plant to solve the crime and, though I'm a bigger Jury fan, I had no problems with this. (Richard didn't, why should I?) The mystery is great, though that is not the reason why I read her books. Nor, I suspect, do most of her loyal fans . . ., it's for the characters. And they are priceless in this one. I don't want to spoil any of the fun, but when Jury and Plant get together, in the vacant house, at night, the interplay which takes place is one of my most treasured between them. If you have never read one of her 'Jury' books, and are a Mr. Darcy fan, (and who isn't), try Richard Jury on for size. You'll find he fits exceedingly well . . ..
Rating:
Summary: BRAVO, MARTHA!!
Review: Martha Grimes has done it again with this latest novel in her Richard Jury series.A satisfying thriller with her usual cast of likeable characters, funny in parts, sad in parts (VERY sad in parts), but always intelligent, well-written and satisfying. Ms.Grimes has the gift of making her readers care about her cast of characters and wonder what they're doing when we're not invited into their world. I can't wait for her next novel!!
Rating:
Summary: Continued brilliance
Review: Martha Grimes has produced another well written novel. I liked the fact that she she wrote a Richard Jury novel without her featured detective (for the most part). Melrose Plant is once again the star of her stories. My only deduction in rating is for the Bentchley children. Still, it was a great read.
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