| The Depths of Grimes and her Jury |
April 16, 2010
The Black Cat is Martha Grimes' most recent Richard Jury mystery, the twenty-second in a marvelous run of cases involving the handsome and intelligent Richard Jury. Present, as always, are his hypochondriac (but increasingly less so -- people in Grimes' world do evolve) colleague, Alfred Wiggins; his boss Racer; long-standing murder suspect and nemesis Harry Johnson with his crime-solving dog Mungo; Jury's friends from Long Piddleton, including Melrose Plant and Vivian Rivington; and his neighbors, Carol-Anne Palutski, and Mrs. Wasserman. And of course, the book provides a slew of beautiful and enigmatic women, lost children, smart pets, misdirected lives, and pubs.
In this case, a beautiful young woman dressed in exquisite and expensive clothing is found shot to death outside The Black Cat pub in the village of Chesham. Jury is called in to handle the case, even though Chesham is outside of his jurisdiction, for reasons of discretion (never fully explained). When another and then another, beautiful and beautifully-dressed young woman is found shot to death in London, Jury must find the connection between the murders and nab the killer before more well-shod lasses are laid to rest before their time.
With tons of information on designer shoes, the requisite scenes of hilarity provided by Melrose Plant, and heart-strings tugging moments of Jury's lover deep in a coma while he waits numb and dumb by her side, The Black Cat delivers much of what I have come to expect from Grimes. But not quite enough: Grimes skates a bit this time out, relying on her readers' past experiences with Jury to fill in the blanks she leaves in her text and to provide the subtext to the stories of misunderstood children and Jury-loved women. Too many scenes seemed to have been sketched-out but never completed, and too much of the motivations and justifications on the part of the stock characters, Jury included, are left implied but not buttressed. Is Grimes getting tired of her characters? I love them all, still and always will, but even I, dedicated reader, needed some reminding as to who's who and what's what; new readers may find themselves completely lost in the maze of people, places, and pets.
The Black Cat is a must-read for Jury fans but cannot serve as an adequate or satisfying introduction to those just joining in the Grimes parade. For newcomers, go back to The Deer Leap (see below) or even better The Anodyne Necklace, The Dirty Duck, Jerusalem Inn, or Help the Poor Struggler. Help the poor struggler, indeed.
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July 20, 2009
Yesterday I read The Deer Leap by Martha Grimes. The copy I read was a wonderful signed first-edition I picked up at our local library's book sale for just eight dollars. Wonderful because of the direct connection to the author, wonderful because all of Martha Grimes' Richard Jury mysteries are wonderful, and wonderful because I thought I had read all of the Jury mysteries but this one was new to me!
After reading it, I say again: wonderful. Grimes is a deeply psychological writer, subtly probing and revealing the inner workings of her characters and always willing to show both harsh revelation of evil doers and gentle mercy for those affected by the evil. And yet even in her mercy, Grimes is not interested in happy endings: she is interested in exploring the steps that evil can take and the victims it claims along its rampage of greed, avarice, and selfishness.
Displaced, vulnerable, and wise children are always a presence in the Richard Jury novels. Jury, a Superintendent of Scotland Yard, is himself an orphan; he has a natural understanding and affection for children and people caught outside of the nets of security and safety, and he tries to bring them within the shelter of justice and understanding, sometimes successfully, sometimes not.
Grimes has created an entire world around Jury, every bit of it fascinating and every piece of it an integral part of what makes her mysteries work. Jury's friends provide both insight into his investigations and comic relief, his workplace provides Scotland Yard respectability and access, as well as more comic relief, and his neighbors provide contrast again in both comedy and tragedy. All players provide the background to the mystery at hand, and give rich context to Jury's compassion, his anger, his patience, his sex life, and his intelligence.
Grimes' mysteries stay with the reader long after devouring; they are multi-layered and rich and worthy of long digestion. But they are so good, it is impossible to read them slowly, and so I read them over and over again, with new pleasures, new clues, and new insights into human nature discovered through every reading. Grimes ranks at the very top of mystery writers, one of the few that can enter the realm of "literature" because she does not just present characters in a plot that must be untangled: she creates characters and plots that demand an exploration of what duty is owed by those of relative strength to those who are vulnerable and alone. Her mysteries are so engrossing that when the last page is reached, every single time I sigh and wish for more, then go back and re-read just for the pleasure of her writing.
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