"Depressed about his life or, more accurately, lack of one, Jury takes some time off and ends up in Bronte country. After more or less stalking an attractive woman through the Bronte Museum and the Children� s Toy Museum, ashamed of himself, Jury heads for his lodgings at The Old Silent Inn. There, he sees the woman once more, who is meeting a man she obviously knows. Before he realizes what is happening and certainly before he can prevent it, the woman shoots and kills the man; Jury is in the odd position of being a policeman who is a witness to a murder to which he is totally unconnected.[return][return]The crime occurs in Macalvie country. Macalvie fills Jury in on the background of the woman� Nell Citrine Healey� and of the bizarre kidnapping that occurred 14 years before in which Bill Healey, Nell� s stepson and his best friend Toby Holt disappeared almost underneath Nell� s eyes one afternoon. Billy was kidnapped; the kidnappers demand a ransom that Nell, listening to police advice, refused to pay. Nothing was ever heard from Billy or the kidnappers again. Toby is reported killed in London in an auto accident 5 weeks later. Her husband, Roger Healey, the boy� s father, is the man that Nell then kills 14 years later. Macalvie knows all this, since he was a Detective Sargeant on the original kidnapping case; Macalvie never forgets anything.[return][return]There is no doubt of Nell� s guilt in the murder of Roger Healey; the big question is why. Nell refuses to discuss anything. But Jury can not get Nell Healey out of his head, and starts investigating on his own; he brings in Melrose Plant to help out.[return][return]Because this is a Martha Grimes story, naturally there is a precocious child who plays a major role. In this book, it� s Abby Cable, niece of the owner of the bed and breakfast place at which Melrose stays. Abby is yet another child who has a remarkable rapport with animals, especially her sheep dog, Stranger, a border collie. When someone tries to kill Abby out on the moor, Abby deploys Stranger and another sheep dog, Tim to round up a flock of sheep scattered over a distant hill and drive them towards her, creating enough confusion that Abby escapes in the midst of the wooly confusion. The scene, told from the dogs� point of view, is superbly written in a book filled with superbly written scenes.[return][return]Melrose, whose life requires melodrama, meets an eccentric American young woman, Ellen Gray, who just happens to be a � hot� best-selling author of avant-garde (meaning no one can understand them) books. Their relationship is both predictable and hilarious.[return][return]The climax is exciting, extremely well done. Plot is excellent, one of her better ones. The book is filled with the usual panoply of Grimes one-of-a-kind characters, and the Grimes humor never falters."
This is actually 2 1/2 stars rounded up. I think I'm going to quit reading this series, at least for a while. I had high hopes for this installment of the Jury/Plant series, due to highly positive reviews I had read. I also really wanted something that would make me forget the previous book in the series that I had read (Help the Poor Struggler). Unfortunately, "The Old Silent" did not do that. The story revolves around the kidnapping of Billy Healey eight years earlier. The ransom was not paid and the boy was never found. The case had faded into obscurity until Nell Healey, Billy's stepmother, dramatically shoots her husband, Roger Healey, Billy's father, to death right in front of Richard Jury. Obviously, Roger Healey's death is linked to his son's disappearance, but how? Nell Healey isn't talking. Jury and Melrose Plant are back to investigating a modern-day crime that has links to one in the past, just like "Help the Poor Struggler."I tried, but I just could not get interested in this book. Nell Healey was totally colorless and I never got a sense of her as a person. It was mostly just descriptions of her by other people. Jury annoyed me with his mooning over Ms Healey. He's such a picture of doom and gloom that I wonder anyone wants to be around him. Melrose Plant was a relief - until he started chasing after an American motorcylist who dresses in leather and writes novels (seriously?). I won't even comment on Macalvie, who comes across like as a parody of a 1940s gumshoe. I found myself speeding through the last 1/3 of the novel just so I could get it over with. I figured out what happened, which I have never done before in a Jury/Plant novel, and I really did not care. Like "Help the Poor Struggler," this one is definitely not a keeper.
What do You think about The Old Silent (2006)?
Much has been written about this Richard Jury mystery, but Martha Grimes deserves to be complimented again and again. Grimes' development of character is wonderful; major and minor characters alike are distinct, unique and memorable. In The Odd Silent the character of Abby will remain with you long after the last page is finished. You will continue to remember the eccentricities of Melrose Plant and Jury is one of the most cleverly crafted detectives in literature.Grimes writes novels that happen to be mysteries, but it is no mystery why she is in a league with very few peers. Read her.
—Peter
In the Old Silent, a pub on the outskirts of London, a wealthy man is brutally shot to death by his wife. The witness to it all? Yep, it's Detective Richard Jury of Scotland Yard, on vay-cay and hoping to relax after his last venture. With his friends Sergeant Wiggins (still having a cold that really needs OJ STAT) and the resourceful Melrose Plant, Jury uncovers connections to family secrets, a child's obsession with Jane Eyre, and of course--rock music. Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Van Halen, etc. Someone's truly buying the Stairway to Heaven...which could lead to The Highway to Hell. Good mystery with twists you won't see comin.
—Edward Creter
I just love Ms. Grimes' Jury novels. They are compelling & entertaining. Ms. Grimes is wonderful at creating the plot, and superb at creating characters that continue through the series as true to themselves. If you are an Agatha Christie fan you will love Martha Grimes. She is so witty, I frequently laugh out loud while reading her novels. In this particular novel, there is no grisly description of the murder. I would call her books mild as compared to, for example, Patricia Cornwell, but no less dynamic and, in my humble opinion, much more entertaining because her characters are so well rounded and intricate. This book is longer than the previous Jury books, but the embellishments are well work it. Mr. Grimes builds a room descriptively before the action takes place. SHe is the door by which you, the reader, walk into the scene. Several of the non recurring characters in this book are also very well written & create a connection with the reader. I expect to hear of some of them in later books.
—Kim
