The Dirty Duck

Rating:
Summary: Not as Good as the Others in this Wonderful Series
Review: I am puzzled by Martha Grimes' response to Americans in this novel. As an American, albeit one who is writing British mysteries, she comes up with a whole tour full of unsympathetic American tourists here--even down to what I think are supposed to be humerous names for them. I think this is unfortunate, since it weakens the book, which has a plot that could have held up just as well if the characters were less insistantly annoying.
Martha Grimes is one of my favorite writers, and I don't think this novel holds up anywhere near as well as the others in this wonderful series.

Rating:
Summary: Not as Good as the Others in this Wonderful Series
Review: I am puzzled by Martha Grimes' response to Americans in this novel. As an American, albeit one who is writing British mysteries, she comes up with a whole tour full of unsympathetic American tourists here--even down to what I think are supposed to be humerous names for them. I think this is unfortunate, since it weakens the book, which has a plot that could have held up just as well if the characters were less insistantly annoying.
Martha Grimes is one of my favorite writers, and I don't think this novel holds up anywhere near as well as the others in this wonderful series.

Rating:
Summary: Be careful what you wish for
Review: I was taking a few days off work (can you call it vacation if you mostly stay home and drive your kids and their friends around?) so I didn't want to read the stack of business books waiting for me. And I didn't feel ready to get back into Tolkien. I told my wife I wanted a mystery that I could read in a couple of days - nothing as cerebral as Holmes, but not a fluff (vacation shouldn't be a total waste). She hands me The Dirty Duck. Yes another really great Detective Superintendent Richard Jury story. A bucket full of interesting (read: quirky, but loveable) characters in a great setting (Stratford-on Avon) - only one of them has this nasty thing about using a razor in a most unconventional way - and then leaving a bit of poetry on the corpses as a signature. And just to add a twist, a little boy who is related to two of the victims is missing. I put Martha Grimes right up there with Christie for character and plot twists any day. If you haven't sampled Martha Grimes yet, you don't know what you are missing.

Rating:
Summary: Be careful what you wish for
Review: I was taking a few days off work (can you call it vacation if you mostly stay home and drive your kids and their friends around?) so I didn't want to read the stack of business books waiting for me. And I didn't feel ready to get back into Tolkien. I told my wife I wanted a mystery that I could read in a couple of days - nothing as cerebral as Holmes, but not a fluff (vacation shouldn't be a total waste). She hands me The Dirty Duck. Yes another really great Detective Superintendent Richard Jury story. A bucket full of interesting (read: quirky, but loveable) characters in a great setting (Stratford-on Avon) - only one of them has this nasty thing about using a razor in a most unconventional way - and then leaving a bit of poetry on the corpses as a signature. And just to add a twist, a little boy who is related to two of the victims is missing. I put Martha Grimes right up there with Christie for character and plot twists any day. If you haven't sampled Martha Grimes yet, you don't know what you are missing.

Rating:
Summary: Sheer witty fun!
Review: The 4th in the series of Brit Mysteries named after pubs, was the first tale I ever read of Martha Grimes and it instantly made me a devoted fan. I actually bought the audio tapes simply because Tim Curry was the narrator. He has done dozens and dozens of audio books and he is such an amazing talent. So, imagine my delight when I discovered a new author as well. Instantly, I went out and bought every Grimes Curry has recorded. I'm just sorry, they have not filled out the whole series with Curry's audio versions. Hopefully, someday...

Superintendent Richard Jury said "nothing ever happens in Stratford" - naturally, in Grimes fashion, he is forced to eat those words. Grindeline Bracegirdle an American on vacation in England was enjoying a drink at the Dirty Duck, when time is called. Her mysterious companion lures her off alone with the promise of hot sex, instead murders her. A town used to stage murders nights at the Globe Theatre, home of Shakespeare, the real murder send Jury to investigating. Right behind him is close friend and ex-peer Melrose plant, with Agatha Ardry in tow gobbling faerycakes all the way - Melrose's American aunt from hell.

Grimes is outrageously funny - in the Brit style - hard to believe she is a Yank. Curry gives perfection in the reading, right down to Bracegirdle's thrill at seeking a wild fling on her vacation only to be the victim. High camp in the land of
Will! Utterly Delightful.


Rating:
Summary: Short And Funny
Review: This is one of her shorter stories that can be enjoyed in an afternoon. The meeting of Melrose Plant and Harvey Schoenberg is hysterical! I felt I could see Melrose's brain desperately trying to decode this odd little man's obscure theory of Shakespeare and friends. And yes, some Americans in Europe can be a little overbearing, when left to their own means. I enjoyed it ever so much!

Rating:
Summary: Short And Funny
Review: This is one of her shorter stories that can be enjoyed in an afternoon. The meeting of Melrose Plant and Harvey Schoenberg is hysterical! I felt I could see Melrose's brain desperately trying to decode this odd little man's obscure theory of Shakespeare and friends. And yes, some Americans in Europe can be a little overbearing, when left to their own means. I enjoyed it ever so much!

Rating:
Summary: Witty but not well plotted
Review: This is the first book by Martha Grimes I have read, after a couple of friends recommended her. She has a witty style and is obviously well-read (references to Shakespeare and the Elizabethan world play an important role in the book). Unfotunately the denouement, contrary to a reviewer's blurb on the back cover, is not well conceived and is resolved with the help of a deus ex machina-character flown into England on a Concorde jet liner (really). The main characters, Richard Jury and Melrose Plant, are likable; this book may just be a weak entry in the series.

Rating:
Summary: Witty but not well plotted
Review: This is the first book by Martha Grimes I have read, after a couple of friends recommended her. She has a witty style and is obviously well-read (references to Shakespeare and the Elizabethan world play an important role in the book). Unfotunately the denouement, contrary to a reviewer's blurb on the back cover, is not well conceived and is resolved with the help of a deus ex machina-character flown into England on a Concorde jet liner (really). The main characters, Richard Jury and Melrose Plant, are likable; this book may just be a weak entry in the series.