Jerusalem Inn

Rating:
Summary: Haunting story with good supporting characters
Review: Christmas is definitely not merry for Richard Jury, who is a man without family and home at the start of this book. He meets a lonely, beautiful woman in a graveyard at the beginning, but a day later she is dead ahd he is left holding questions instead and trying to tie together the pieces of the woman's life, which seem oddly unfinished.

Along the way, he meets up with Melrose Plant, Agatha, and Vivian, on a Christmas visit at a stately home with a rather conventional cast of odd upperclass guests and hangers-on.

This is a novel that is strong on atmosphere and interesting side characters--the crumbling pensioners in the equally disintegrating seaside resort are especially powerful. The plot, which deals with changelings, sometimes seems contrived, but ends up havng its own power.

Rating:
Summary: Haunting story with good supporting characters
Review: Christmas is definitely not merry for Richard Jury, who is a man without family and home at the start of this book. He meets a lonely, beautiful woman in a graveyard at the beginning, but a day later she is dead ahd he is left holding questions instead and trying to tie together the pieces of the woman's life, which seem oddly unfinished.

Along the way, he meets up with Melrose Plant, Agatha, and Vivian, on a Christmas visit at a stately home with a rather conventional cast of odd upperclass guests and hangers-on.

This is a novel that is strong on atmosphere and interesting side characters--the crumbling pensioners in the equally disintegrating seaside resort are especially powerful. The plot, which deals with changelings, sometimes seems contrived, but ends up havng its own power.

Rating:
Summary: Charm, Atmosphere, Wit, Jury & Plant = Great Grimes
Review: I have read the first nine books in the Richard jury/Melrose Plant series. I have enjoyed each very much. The Jerusalem Inn took me back to The Man with a Load of Mischief in that the snow covered landscapes are the perfect setting for the plot, twists, and curves with which Grimes fills each novel. This is a series to be savored.

Rating:
Summary: Near The Top Of Her Form
Review: I've read over a dozen of the Richard Jury books by Martha Grimes, but I only read Jerusalem Inn recently. I'd put it near the top of the list. I think The Man With A Load Of Mischief is a bit better, and The Old Silent has a much more complicated plot. Martha Grimes seems to balance the recurring elements of the Jury series much better in this book than in some others. In Jerusalem Inn, we start off with Richard Jury's angst and self-doubt, a recurring theme in the series, but it's not overly done. The mystery of the dead woman is well crafted, and the thread which connects her to the other protagonists is drawn out skillfully over the course of the book. The Long Piddleton characters - Melrose Plant, his aunt, Vivian, and butler Ruthven - add just the right humorous touch, again in better proportion to this book than in some others. There is a pub named the Jerusalem Inn, of course, peopled by a separate group of characters. And, in common with most of the Grimes books, there is an upstart little girl, although again this is more in balance with the rest of the plot than elsewhere. Having read almost all of this series, I'd suggest reading this one second, after The Man With A Load Of Mischief. If you enjoy English mysteries in the classic style, this will not disappoint.

Rating:
Summary: Good, Solid Grimes ... again
Review: Mystery and thriller series rely on repetition of character, venue and atmosphere, and Martha Grimes' Richard Jury series never disappoints. Set in the rugged Winter landscape near Newcastle, all our regular characters manage to congregate in an old manor house, near a working class pub named Jerusalem Inn. Grimes' books all take their titles from a pub, and this pub is a bit less homey and a bit more basic than some. Jerusalem Inn takes on a certain sinister atmosphere from the moment we first hear of it.

In this book, Jury becomes both personally involved as well as professionally, which leads to certain plot and character twists. As always, solving the crime - well multiple crimes - calls on the talents not only of Jury, but his well heeled friend and unofficial sidekick, Melrose Plant. The rest of the characters all arrive at the Spinneyton Manor - Vivian, Agatha, Ruthven - as well as the required appearances of Racer and Fiona ... but the Scotland yard crew is far less present in this work. Even Wiggins - Jury's faithful and always ailing assistant - plays a much more secondary role.

I liked this book more than others - I thought the pacing was a notch above many of the others. But in the end, you need to like the British Mystery genre to appreciate this - its not just about solving the crime - its about involving yourself in the characters, atmosphere, and joy of the place - that really define Grimes' books and other authors of the same. Great read. Great Grimes.

Rating:
Summary: My first Grimes, and one of my favorites still
Review: This was my first Martha Grimes book and I really enjoyed it. In the past I have not been a big fan of the British style mystery - yet this book had a lot of witty and clever dialoge. I thought the characters were well developed, which stimulated me to want to read her series from the beginning. If you like mysteries and are looking for something new, try Martha Grimes.

Rating:
Summary: [e-mail]
Review: This was my first Martha Grimes book and I really enjoyed it. In the past I have not been a big fan of the British style mystery - yet this book had a lot of witty and clever dialoge. I thought the characters were well developed, which stimulated me to want to read her series from the beginning. If you like mysteries and are looking for something new, try Martha Grimes.

Rating:
Summary: My first Grimes, and one of my favorites still
Review: This was my intro to the Richard Jury series and I liked it so much, I've read most of them in the space of 6 months (while reading plenty of other books too!) I found this particular mystery to be very well thought-out. Interesting characters, a solid plot, great dialog. It's not a bad place to start, if you don't want to start at the beginning.