Rating: 
Summary: Not her best
Review: I have read all her books. Obviously, I love her writing. But I have real problems with this one. Two incredible plot contrivances and a horrific ending really spoiled this brew for me.
Still, it's Martha Grimes, one of the best, most erudite mystery writers of our time. I guess everybody has to throw in a stinker from time to time.
Rating: 
Summary: The Grave Mistake
Review: A well meaning friend bought me The Grave Maurice in anticipation of my wanting a good read for a summer holiday. It was a grave mistake, not on the part of my friend, but on the part of Miss Grimes. Like one reviewer, I was tempted to lay fault on the editors, but throwing it back over the transom for a complete rewrite (or outright rejection) was probably not an option.
Not being a Martha Grimes fan coming into this read, my beak was well wetted for a good, fast paced, and satisfing read that hinted at topics interesting to me: race horses and the market. The Grave Maurice reads more like a bundle of "notes for future novels" than the final *well crafted* novel I expected. There are a few moments of close focus, but unfortunately these are rewarded with banal conversations, usually about food. What is worse, aside from the over-frequent references to Little Chefs, a debateable but established pinnacle of roadside Englishness, there is nothing quintessentially English about the dialogues and interactions. The characters are intrusive, explain themselves or their actions uninvited, and in short, reflect little reserve and even less depth of personality. For the sake of brevity, I'll forgo comment on the thick handed treatment of the market related bits. Finally, as to the story itself, by page 207 (paperback), I'm still not quite sure which crime will be the one warranting the skills of a Scotland Yard detective. Not a good sign. And not a good sign when I notice myself speed reading just to finish the book "on principle". I'm not worried at all that I'll miss something in this scatter-brained mess.
As an aside, I wouldn't hold the author's American origins at fault, as Deborah Crombie, a mystery writer with Texas origins, more than amply demonstrates authorial skill, refined attentiveness to anglophile atmosphere, and most importantly, editorial craft, in her "English mysteries". If you haven't read Miss Crombie's books, do yourself, or your vacationing friends, a grave favor and head over there instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Grimes continues a-pace!
Review: As much as anything else, "The Grave Maurice" answers the question so loudly issued in
"The Blue Last," the previous Richard Jury mystery. In that exciting and well-written episode, the
final pages closed with a bang and the readers could only wonder: will our hero survive? And now
we know, thankfully--and with really not much of a surprise--that Superintendent Jury does live and
he's on to No. l8 in Grimes' immensely popular police procedural mystery series. He's still in
hospital, but a mystery opens up to him (as Grimes says, ala Josephine Tey and "The Daughter of
Time") and he sets out to solve it, bandages, headache, scars, and all.
A 15-year-old daughter of his physician has been missing for two years and presumed dead.
Of course, the doctor and the family have not given up hope and this is where Jury, ably assisted by
Melrose Plant and the Long Pid gang, comes in. Taking all the known facts, they begin to splice,
glue, cut, and paste the parts extraordinaire into a viable, working case. The girl, Nell Ryder, was
abducted, along with a famous race horse she was attending. No clues and no ransom note either.
The scenario is intrigue for his soul (and mind) and Jury, with his Dr. Watson (Melrose) wanders
into the very lucrative business of horse racing and breeding. He is mesmerized by the personality
of Nell, who was described by one of the trainers as "a filly dressed up in a girl costume," so
complete was her love for horses. As the local police have virtually given up on the case (after all,
there were no active clues for past two years!), it appears that the effort would be futile; yet, as Jury
acknowledges, there are a few elements that don't add up.
And, of course, Grimes, through the efforts of Jury, Plant, et al., races on, heading for the
final furlong and then, finally, at breakneck speed. With the author's usual style, grace, and
timing, the book is more than a photo finish--it's a clear winner, another "winners circle"
appearance for Grimes. That said, however, "The Grave Maurice" is clearly intended for the
legions of Grimes fans. Without having read previous Jury books, treaders will quickly find
themselves somewhat confused over references to previous episodes. Grimes must know this, of
course, but this book is not a "dead cert." New readers will not find it so captivating and they can
only be urged to start at the beginning ("The Man with a Load of Mischief" and "The Old Fox
Deceived" and the best of the early Grimes "Jerusalem Inn"). Small price to pay, of course, as
Grimes is quite an odyssey--if nothing else just to see which actual pub she uses as the title of each of
these books!) "The Grave Maurice" may not be win-show-or-place, but it goes the full length. Tally
ho! ...
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Better get a copy at your local library first before investing on this book. I'm a Martha Grimes fan, but this book is boring. Several things turned me off. First, the story revolved around another smart, ethereal, mature, poised, etc. teenage girl whose presence alone took everyone's breath away. Second, Richard Jury is still chasing and fantazing about his beautiful women friends/neighbor/acquaintance who happened to be all single and could be in love with him. Every men in this book is mature, yet they all seem to go gaga in regards to the teenage girl. I also did not like the sexual innuendos (very irritating and over used). Martha Grimes needs fresh materials. I hope her next book is not going to include anymore precocious kids, or older men in love with these kids...
Rating:
Summary: Quit Horsin' Around, Martha
Review: Dan Ryder is supposedly a jockey comparable in stature to the great Lester Piggott. That being the case, the story of his race in France is totally absurd to anyone even vaguely familiar with jockeys, race horses and/or the racing world. Based on truly nonsensical assumptions,it destroys the author's credibility.As do many other equine howlers, such as the scene in which an untrained rider like Melrose easily mounts a champion race horse and simply jogs along. C'mon Martha,do your homework!
Rating:
Summary: Where was her editor?
Review: First let me say that I am a huge fan of Martha Grimes--both the Richard Jury mysteries and her other novels. I love the characters she has constructed in the Jury series. But this was just plain awful. The writing style could almost be described as meandering and disjointed--not good in a mystery with a complicated plot. There are passages that I have read over and over again, and about the meaning of which I still remain confused. I agree with other reviewers that while certain elements of the story --investments, horse racing, premarin production, etc.--were intriguing, they involved too many events that defied credibility. I also found it disturbing and incredible that every male in this novel seemed to be obsessed, sexually, with a seventeen year old female. All but one of these male characters was old enough to be her father or grandfather. It almost seems as if this was a first draft that needed re-working and polishing. Disappointing!
Rating:
Summary: Where was her editor?
Review: First let me say that I am a huge fan of Martha Grimes--both the Richard Jury mysteries and her other novels. I love the characters she has constructed in the Jury series. But this was just plain awful. The writing style could almost be described as meandering and disjointed--not good in a mystery with a complicated plot. There are passages that I have read over and over again, and about the meaning of which I still remain confused. I agree with other reviewers that while certain elements of the story --investments, horse racing, premarin production, etc.--were intriguing, they involved too many events that defied credibility. I also found it disturbing and incredible that every male in this novel seemed to be obsessed, sexually, with a seventeen year old female. All but one of these male characters was old enough to be her father or grandfather. It almost seems as if this was a first draft that needed re-working and polishing. Disappointing!
Rating: 
Summary: Unable to stop reading
Review: From the moment I started reading The Grave Maurice
I was unable to put it down unless outside circumstances
forced me to. Martha Grimes has a way of writing about characters that
always makes me care about them. I understand the
adults because there is always some aspect of me
in each one of them. And when she writes about
children, it is a delight.
It was wonderful to revisit with Jury and his friends.
If I were a going to be a writer, I would study
all of Martha Grimes books. She has a way of
making all the things she describes a part of the
story. Not all details advance the story, but in
her hands, the detail is always a part of the story.
It is so easy to visualize what she is writing about.
I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Grimes is brilliant
Review: Grimes's poignant prose is not for every slovely plebeian. You have to be somewhat intelligent to appreciate the message behind Grimes's novel. Unfortuanately old, haggard, miserly hags have become offended that anyone such a mystery writer may have taken them out of the realm of the trivial and superfical. Grimes reveals the harrowing issue of animal mistreatment that rivals Anne Brote's Agnes Grey. I applaud her wholeheartedly.
Rating:
Summary: PLOTLESS
Review: I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT MS. GRIMES EVEN WROTE THIS BOOK! THERE IS
NOTHING HERE THAT SOUNDS LIKE HER OR READS LIKE HER EAR;IER GGOD
MYSTERIES. A VERY POOR BOOK----- SHE SHOULD REFUND EVERYONE'S MPNEY!
|
