"Prose seems to be falling off just a bit," said Jury..."Definitely fallen off," said Jury, yawning.Yes, even Superintendent Richard Jury seems to acknowledge it in this Martha Grimes cozy mystery. The prose has definitely fallen off. Fallen off a cliff, in fact.When I commit to reading a book, I stick with it to the very end. Even when I find myself skimming rapidly over sections of it because the writing is so bad. That certainly happened with this book. Frankly, it was one of those times when I seriously considered breaking my rule and quitting the book halfway or three-quarters of the way through, but I did persevere and managed to make it through to the bitter end. I deserve a medal for that.What was Grimes thinking? What was she hoping to accomplish with this convoluted story? It has so many plots and counterplots that it is impossible to keep them all straight. Indeed, they are all so uninteresting that there is no incentive for trying to keep them all straight. I write this as one who has pretty much enjoyed the Inspector/Superintendent Richard Justice series up until now - some books more than others certainly - but it pains me to say that this one is a real stinker. The book starts in England, with Justice growing increasingly restive in his position and considering a move out of London, possibly to one of the provinces. He's considering where there are job openings, where he might like to work, and who he might like to work with. Macalvie, maybe?But then the story moves off on a tangent. The nephew of a titled lady has been killed in Philadelphia and Justice is persuaded to cross the ocean and liaise with the Philadelphia police to investigate. Since he is currently on leave, he is able to accomplish this, but he also decides to take Sgt. Wiggins along with him "on holiday" because, after all, who is Justice without Wiggins?And who is Justice without Melrose Plant? Fortuitously, Melrose receives a call from an American friend, living in Baltimore, teaching at Johns Hopkins. A student of hers has recently been murdered on January 19, Edgar Allen Poe's birthday, near Poe's grave. The student had recently "found" a previously unknown manuscript in a trunk that was allegedly written by Poe. For some reason, this professor needs Melrose Plant's support, so, of course, he decides to hop on the plane with Justice and Wiggins and travel to America.Most of the action takes place in Baltimore and it involves a lot of talk about spurious documents, Poe, plagiarism, genealogy and the transmission of peerage titles down through the generations, and whether or not Baltimore will get a new football franchise since the Colts have absconded. (This book was published in 1993.) Camden Yards, the beautiful and at that time new, baseball park also comes in for a fair amount of discussion and a visit by Justice.Most agonizingly, much of our heroes' time in Baltimore is spent reading aloud from the "Poe manuscript" and more from the plagiarized writings of Melrose's friend. It is all truly awful. Do you get the feeling that this is all just a hopeless mish-mash, a word soup with very little spice or flavoring? Well, that about sums it up, I think. Very disappointing.I have the next two Richard Justice mysteries still in my reading queue on my Kindle and I guess I will read them - because that's what I do. But I'm going to give myself a break from Grimes for a while and hope that she had returned to her earlier, crisper writing with the next one.
Martha Grimes does not really end her books in cliff hangers, but the endings usually make you want to pick up her next book, which is exactly what I did. In this installment of the series, Jury, Wiggins and Plant go across the ocean to the old colony in order to continue an investigation started back home at the insistence of Lady Cray. As with all Martha Grimes books, I was highly entertained throughout the entire book. The blurb on the back of the book says: "Accompanied by his aristocratic friend Melrose Plant and by sergeant Wiggins, Jury arrives in Baltimore, Maryland, home of zealous Orioles fans, mouth-watering crabs, and Edgar Allan Poe. Amid a puzzling scenario of literary larceny, dubious descendants, football franchises, and monstrous murder, Jury bends elbows with a delicious and suspicious cast of characters who introduce him to the delights of the city." The cast of characters is again so well done, that I could almost see them as in a movie. We have the successful author/teacher whose book won a literary prize but neither Jury nor Plant nor anybody else could figure out what's about. Not only is her student murdered--and her murder is somehow linked with the death that Lady Cray wants him to look into, as well as with the death of a homeless guy--but now she is in the throes of writing her second book, and this book is going so badly that she has to chain herself to her desk for two hours a day to try to write it. And then we have the rest of the cast: three other quirky professors at John Hopkins with whom the student either worked for, or was involved with, the cabbie that drives Plant all over Baltimore and keeps insisting on the sites that he has to visit, an interestingly suspicious shop owner, a blind and deaf homeless person who is a very uncooperative witness, and Jury and Wiggins. Another good one from Ms. Grimes.
What do You think about The Horse You Came In On (1994)?
You are not a true mystery aficionado until you have read a Martha Grimes book.Reading a Martha Grimes novel is an always entertaining and pleasing departure from the humdrum of real life, even when the deliciously unruffled superintendent Richard Jury is not always a major player on the case."The Horse You Came in On," the twelfth Richard Jury novel, may not be one of the strongest entries in Grimes' ever popular British mystery series, but the story is still a mystifying puzzle of the highest order. In fact, the book is riveting enough to keep you turning pages and reading until the very last page.That said, the low ratings for this book are a real head-scratcher. The fact that Richard Jury may not be on every page, in every chapter, should not deter readers from curling up with this wonderfully intriguing plot about an Edgar Allan Poe rip-off manuscript, plagiarism, and a litany of baffling murders to solve.In chapter eight, the interaction with Jury, Wiggins and Melrose on the airplane is rich characterization at Grimes' best. Through the witty dialogue and lyrical prose, readers are treated to a perfect example at how a writer should tell a good story.Many readers may find it a tad upsetting when an author strays from her usual writing routine towards unfamiliar territory (different locales; character involvement). In the case with this book, Grimes tries something new. There is less Jury, more locales. "The Horse You Came in On" incudes all the usual cast of characters that Grimes' fans have come to enjoy since her 1981's "The Man with a Load of Mischief," and Richard Jury is his customary self.A fun, high-spirited feast.
—Thomas Bruso
A convoluted story within several minor stories and several characters. The setting is in England initially and then moves to Baltimore, MD. Three murders have occurred there which are seemingly unrelated. Several of the characters are writers, one of who has lots of writer’s block and has a competitor who is stealing the content of her novels. Some small romances are ongoing. The conversations are misleading as so much of the time, no one wants to really say what they are thinking. There are secrets between them, which have little to do with the crimes. English blood lines are discussed in detail and the way in which titles are passed down the family tree. I found it hard to follow the plot and did not enjoy it, but finished it. It kept putting me to sleep.
—Alice Harbin
Really, it's not a very good book. I picked it up at a book sale because the title struck me as funny and it had some credentials on the cover. I still have it as a sort of joke.... when people browse my bookshelves, they get this little poke in the eye. It's a murder mystery, which isn't largely my cup of tea. It sells itself as "unique" in many respects, but the only one that really sells is the main character, Richard Jury (I gather he's in others of the author's books) is an English police superintendent trying to solve a case in America. The fish-out-of-water gag works OK, but you've seen it before on TV and in the movies. I guess if you really like paperback murder mysteries, you'd like this one.
—Mark Woodland
