Share for friends:

The Man With A Load Of Mischief (2003)

The Man With a Load of Mischief (2003)

Book Info

Author
Genre
Series
Rating
4 of 5 Votes: 2
Your rating
ISBN
0451410815 (ISBN13: 9780451410818)
Language
English
Publisher
nal

About book The Man With A Load Of Mischief (2003)

This is the first novel in Martha Grimes’ long-running British police procedural series featuring Richard Jury and Melrose Plant. The book was originally published in 1981 so the reader must realize from the outset that there will be no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no pocket-sized personal cameras to aid in solving the murder. It will be an eyes, ears, brain and door-to-door investigation.And, the author makes more than the identity of the murderer a mystery.First, she gives us a day and date on which our story begins, but she does not provide us with the year. Based on the structure of the dialog in the first few chapters, this story could be taking place anytime since the turn into the twentieth century. However, she does give us clues to narrow it down and a not-so-quick trip or two through Google helped me out there, a trick that readers back in 1981 could not execute. But, then again, those clues would have been far more familiar to a reader of that time anyway.Secondly, the author describes all the suspects and secondary characters in fine detail but fails to provide us with much of anything in the way of a physical description for our two protagonists. It took the entirety of the first three chapters just to glean that Plant wears gold-rimmed spectacles on a fine nose, is in his early 40’s, has green eyes, is single and is “not terribly handsome, but handsome enough, not terribly tall but tall enough.” And as far as Jury, our main protagonist, is concerned, there is nothing beyond the fact that he is in his early 40’s, single and childless – no hair color, no eye color, no body build, nothing. Thirdly, the author gives us very little backstory for either Plant or Jury. We seem to encounter them in the 40th year of their lives, fully made, with just the barest hints of painful events in each of their pasts. The intimations are presented just often enough to make the reader believe that more will be revealed as the series needs it to be revealed.And fourthly – and most importantly – the author provides our story in the form of dual first person POV’s, those of our two main protagonists, Jury and Plant. If they don’t see it, hear it, read it or think it, we don’t know it. Therefore, we must pay close attention to not only find the clues but to attach them to a suspect.The author’s writing style is descriptive and full but not overly wordy. And, yes, an American reader may need a dictionary at times. The dialog is tailored to fit each character’s implied personality and ranges from witty to serious to sarcastic to tongue-in-cheek. The internal monologues of Plant are often hilarious and full of double entendre, but fully illustrate his intelligence and comprehension. And Jury’s internal monologues are filled not only with logic but perception and compassion. The author has created DCI Richard Jury as an honest, hard-working CID detective with good insight into the machinations of human nature, work place politics, and command dynamics. She has created a believable character who should be a delight to follow into further mysteries, particularly as she adds Melrose Plant in again as his unofficial investigative partner.

This is the first book in a series of detective stories featuring Scotland Yard detective Richard Jury and wealthy nobleman Melrose Plant. It is set in the quintessential village of Long Piddleton, which is the sort of idyllic setting used by Agatha Christie and other writers of classic English mysteries. The village is populated by vicars, pub owners, local gentry, maids, rural police officers and the like. Everyone fits comfortably into their assigned roles. While this could have been a cold, unoriginal story by an novelist guilty of authorial dream walking, it isn’t. Martha Grimes makes it all interesting and adds surprising dimension to her repertory of stock characters. Some of them are very learned, thoughtful and perceptive; others are almost cartoonishly awful. Many reveal unexpected self-awareness or admirable character traits at decisive moments. As we would expect of people who live in a small community, they have known each other for many years and have a shared history which is revealed during the investigation. Grimes is a very accomplished writer, who offers many details that bring both her setting and characters to life. She works hard to supply necessary exposition in very graceful ways, never slowing down the novel with long stretches of background. This is a solidly-constructed mystery with protagonists who are instantly likeable. It’s easy to see how it led to long-running series.

Do You like book The Man With A Load Of Mischief (2003)?

Look, I am not going to apologize for loving Martha Grimes, especially the Richard Jury novels. I am fully willing to admit these are light reading, but that doesn't mean they aren't good. I find that while Grimes continues writing for this series and pumps out a book a year, the cast of characters is still just damned entertaining. Grimes is good at capturing the same wit that I see in British comedy even though she's an American.However, and this is a big caveat, don't look for realism here. Although each novel may seem to take place within current events, it's clear that Grimes' England is not meant to be true to the times. Richard Jury has also lived remarkably long and is still quite well preserved considering his age if you do the math. I urge you not to do the math.The charm in these novels is the characters, the more tangential to the actual mystery the better. There's Marshall Trueblood, a bisexual antiques dealer; Vivian Rivington, who is constantly ribbed about her Italian fiance, who is referred to as a vampire; Carole Palutski, a red-headed smoking hot babe who constantly tries to seduce Jury, acts up a storm and works as a fortuneteller in Covent Garden; Wiggins, a police man addicted to natural remedies and always convinced he is ill; Melrose Plant, an earl who has renounced his earlship, but picks it up again constantly to help in investigations; and his horrible aunt Agatha who constantly badgers him, steals his things, and tags along after him like a child left out of the fun. This is only to name a few of the colourful cast.Certainly, they are Dickensian, as I saw one reviewer mention scathingly on Amazon, but that's deliberate. They aren't real people, just as Dickens' casts of characters are a bit over the top, but they're entertaining and it's possible to overlook the fact that Grimes' stories can become somewhat formulaic, especially because in her mystery victims, suspects, witnesses, etc. she is attracted to certain types of characters (clever young children, eccentric animals, beautiful women who Jury is drawn to or who are drawn to him).In short, the flavour of these novels is irresistable, but if you go picking them apart you won't enjoy them at all.
—Mary-Beth

The first in the Richard Jury mystery series, beloved by my niece and her Mom. And I see why! Everything I love in a mystery: A quirky/interesting protagonist (Inspector, Detective, Commissario, amateur sleuth, etc.), an assistant or two, a civilian side-kick who helps solve the mysteries, a superior who is superfluous/annoying, a wonderful cast of characters who add to the dynamics, humor, romantic/sexual tension, a place that is equally a character, crazy names (places and people) etc. This one takes place in Long Piddleton (Long Pid, say the natives) in the shires. Jury is called out for two murders, but the bodies keep piling up! The story just happens to take place over Christmas - a coincidence, but given the time of year it added to the enjoyment.These, like a few other series I read, are of the lighter, more genteel sort, which provide nice break from the more grim/gruesome mysteries that are so prevalent these days. I also read those, but they can be exhausting!There was a lot of description of the village, the people, etc. that was hard to keep track of - too much detail! I'm assuming this is designed to set up the series and hope the detailed descriptions will diminish with time. I understand that most of the cast are recurring throughout the series which I am excited to read. Better get cracking - there are 23 Richard Jury books! I listened to this and at first was put off by the narrator, Steve West, but eventually decided he was brilliant at setting the tone and voicing the characters.
—Suzy

I read a Martha Grimes mystery years ago and loved it. My father-in-law gave me another recently, and I loved it, which resparked my interest in her books. She's an American, but Grimes writes an excellent classic British mystery. This is the first in the series of Richard Jury mysteries. We are introduced to all the main characters that will reappear in the further books - Melrose Plant, his aristocratic sidekick; Wiggins, his hypochondriacal sergeant; Marshall Trueblood, the gay antiques dealer; Vivian Rivington, the woman both Jury and Plant are interested in; Chief Racer, Jury's horrible boss; Mrs. Wasserman, his paranoid downstairs neighbor; Fiona Clingmore, Racer's beautiful but aging secretary; Cyril, the obtuse cat; and Melrose's obnoxious Aunt Agatha.Two bizarre and public murders calls Richard Jury of Scotland Yard to Northhamptonshire (Northants), where he meets Melrose and Marshall. Long Piddleton, the town in question, will continue to be a player in all future books.I won't get into details of plot; suffice to say that the Jury mysteries rank right up there with P.D. James and Agatha Christie. Why are all these fabulous mystery writers women???
—Kristen

download or read online

Read Online

Write Review

(Review will shown on site after approval)

Other books by author Martha Grimes

Other books in series Richard Jury

Other books in category Humor