The Black Cat by Martha Grimes

Hello All,

I finally read my first Richard Jury mystery (and I can hear several fellow mystery fans saying "You haven't read Martha Grimes?!"), and it was the most recent in the series, The Black Cat. It was very kindly sent to me for review by Viking.

The Black Cat has several references in the book--there is the pub called The Black Cat, and no less than 3 actual black cats, one of which goes missing for awhile.

I enjoyed this book very much, and now need to go and read the rest of the series involving Richard Jury, who in this book is a Superintendent. He has a decent sense of humor, something I personally like in a main character. He is intelligent, and makes connections in quickly and in a reasonable way.

The murders that occur involve women who are escorts, dressed very well in designer clothes and shoes when they are found. Here it reads a little like Vogue magazine, with a lot of designer name-dropping, and Jury and his male co-workers learning a little about women's fashion. Jury even starts noticing women's shoes. Two of these murders occur in London, one in Thames Valley, so for awhile it is not certain if the murders could be connected. The mysteries were solved fairly and in an interesting way; again, I look forward to reading more Jury novels.

One idiosyncrasy that distracted me slightly was that there were two animals that communicated with each other--it worked with the story, but I'm not sure it worked for me.

I highly recommend The Black Cat by Martha Grimes.

Happy Reading!
Patti