Spoiler: the precocious little girl doesn't get killed. I don't really know why I keep reading this series... except, I've known Jury and Plant and Wiggins and Carol Ann so long that, even at their most annoying, they're family. They're not very annoying in this one, and there are two bonus animals - three, if you count Elf, who has no lines. Ms Grimes is very good at animals. So am I. Maybe that's why I keep coming back. First off - I am JUST getting into the genre of murder mysteries. This is the first Martha Grimes book I have read and I am newly introduced to the characters.Having said that, I found it a tad hard to follow who was who in this book as I had no history of the characters. Also, the author doesn't always outright say who is saying what - rather she goes back and forth with dialogue. The only trouble is - the dialogue is not so particular to an individual that I don't always know who is talking at any one point. This was a bit distracting to enjoying the book.Speaking of talking - the animals talk (or at least dogs and cats do - telepathically). I liked the way Patricia Cornwall did this in a few of her books (her feline character would tap into its Egyptian roots and help out with the female protagonists relationships and crime solving) - I thought that Patricia Cornwall did this better. The dog and cats in this story seemed to be on a different track than the main mystery and, although sometimes amusing - especially the part of Morris (the cat) helping Mungo (the dog) counter surf -they didn't otherwise add anything to the story.It was an okay read. I finished it. As I read some of the other reviews - I might pick up some of the earlier books in this series - as most GoodReaders seemed to enjoy these a lot more.
What do You think about The Black Cat (2010)?
The story wasn't a bad read, but I could have done without the talking dog and cats. As if...
—zikky
This is a silly little book, basically a waste of time reading.
—nate
