- Hardcover: 336 pages
- Publisher: Viking Adult (April 6 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0670021601
- ISBN-13: 978-0670021604
- Product Dimensions: 24.4 x 16.3 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 581 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #134,687 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
Book Description
Three months have passed since Richard Jury was left bereft and guilt- ridden after his lover's tragic auto accident, and he is now more wary than ever. He is deeply suspicious when requested on a case far out of his jurisdiction in an outlying village where a young woman has been murdered behind the local pub. The only witness is the establishment's black cat, who gives neither crook nor clue as to the girl's identity or her killer's.
Identifying the girl becomes tricky when she's recognized as both the shy local librarian and a posh city escort, and Jury must use all his wits and intuition to determine the connection to subsequent escort murders. Meanwhile, Jury's nemesis, Harry Johnson, continues to goad Jury down a dangerous path. And Johnson, along with the imperturbable dog Mungo, just may be the key to it all.
Written with Martha Grimes's trademark insight and grace, The Black Cat signals the thrilling return of her greatest character. The superintendent is a man possessed of prodigious analytical gifts and charm, yet vulnerable in the most perplexing ways.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing,
By
This review is from: The Black Cat: A Richard Jury Mystery (Hardcover)
I found this book disappointing. Had the feeling Grimes is tiring. The chapters done from the perspective of a dog and cat were neither interesting nor clever. They also made progress of the plot dubious. And the involvement of the baddie from the two previous Jury books was pointless except to keep the character going. I certainly won't buy the next one in hardbound and may not bother with the eventual paperback.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Definitely not the cat's meow,
By
This review is from: The Black Cat: A Richard Jury Mystery (Hardcover)
Other reviewers have already touched on some of the serious flaws in this latest in the series of Richard Jury novels. First among the absurdities are the chapters - yes, more than one - where the dialogue is among dogs and cats and which do nothing to advance the story at all. Second, the plot base is stolen from a Hitchcock movie based on a Patricia Highsmith novel. Raymond Chandler wrote the first draft of the sceenplay even though he thought the plot was wildly improbable - he was right.Third the novel is rife with pointless vignettes and subplots inserted simply to keep certain characters "active" and ready to turn on in future works. There are other plot premises such as an aunt failing even to recognise her dead niece which stretch credibility beyond reasonable limits. If you want to be able to namedrop famous and expensive shoe designers, or read scant references to other Hitchcock films which permeate this work, then good on you and tally ho. If however, you are looking for the tightly woven intricate material so characteristic of Martha Grimes' earlier work in this series, then, like me, you might be quite disappointed. Another reviewer alludes to the death of Ms. Grimes cat; still another to a decline in her writing quality. It remains to be seen, but I too will wait for a library version of her next novel as this one isn't worth the price of admission, even on discounted theatre Tuesdays.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
My first "Richard Jury"...,
By
This review is from: The Black Cat: A Richard Jury Mystery (Hardcover)
I'm late to Martha Grimes' Richard Jury series; this is the first one I've read. I love British crime novels, and this one is a rather nice combination of police procedural and "cozy". Jury, a superintendent with the London Metropolitan police, is called in to help out with a murder committed in a small village outside London. A woman's body is found with no identification, murdered in the parking lot of a local pub called, "The Black Cat". But the pub is not the only "black cat" in the story. Three others pop up during the story, as well as a couple of dogs. Grimes writes some of the story in the animals' voices, which I liked but other reviewers seem not to.Three women, all beautiful "escorts" and favoring really, really expensive shoes, turn up dead in the story. Jury eventually figures out the murderer but not without help from old friends, and one "enemy", Harry Johnson. Evidently, Johnson has figured in to previous Jury stories, as have the old friends. With any on-going series, jumping-in in the middle is slightly daunting to the new reader, but Grimes has a good way of identifying who's who. It's a good read and I'll look for other, earlier Jury novels.
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