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80th out of 908 books
—
857 voters
The Old Silent (Richard Jury #10)
by
Martha Grimes (Goodreads Author)
Feeling burned out, Jury takes an unplanned stopover in Yorkshire and books a room at a cozy inn called the Old Silent. Violence finds him anyway when he becomes the only witness to a murder. Though Nell Healey shot her husband in cold blood, Jury will go to any lengths to help her, including taking sick leave from Scotland Yard to investigate. Calling on his old friend Me...more
Mass Market Paperback, 396 pages
Published
August 1st 2006
by Onyx
(first published August 1st 1989)
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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 od...more
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 n...more
As I read this book, I was reminded of a high school English teacher who always talked about "show, not tell" writing. This book was a great example of writing that showed the reader what was happening through well-written descriptions and dialogue, without just telling everything up front. This can be a very effective writing style, but you have to read carefully to catch everything that's going on. The point of view changes between characters frequently (even switching to dogs at one point), s...more
Richard Jury is "on vacation", visiting Bronte country when he witnesses a murder. Despite his total lack of jurisdiction, he decides to investigate, especially since the murderer is a mysterious woman who is as silent as the namesake inn. His investigation re-opens a very cold child kidnapping/murder. Once again, we are treated to Martha Grimes' collection of colorful characters, old friends and new ones alike. Brian McElvie, the wonder lawman from the Devon Constabulary also gets involved. Ano...more
As usual Martha Grimes gives the reader an entertaining look into the machinations of DI Richard Jury and his companions as he, with their help, investigates several interrelated murders. Grimes' tale is sprinkled with eccentric characters who appear in all of her books. In real life they would probably be considered childish and petty......but in the world created by Grimes, they are entertaining and colorful. The story is somewhat convoluted and just when you think you have figured out what ha...more
The four stars here are for the mystery category only, not general. But the book does what all good novels do--introduce you to a lot of characters you never would have met. This is the heart of what Martha Grimes does best. Her books have a mystery, generally a pretty good one; but most of the book revolves around revealing the figures involved in the mystery, with a good many others that she just wanted to work into the book. Mystery: solidly above average. There are loose ends and some dicey...more
This is the best of the Grimes Jury/Plant novels. The charm of Plant (who plays a large role in this complex novel) is brought to its best in his friendship with the inimically drawn fiery child shepherdess he befriends at a country inn. This child may be the best of Grimes' transient characters. Her indomitable character and imagination, her fierce independence, and her scorn for most adults (which she lowers just barely for Plant, and later for Jury ) make us really care when circumstances pla...more
This is the weakest in the series so far. I'm hoping this is a one off and the next will be back up to par, or I may be done with this series. The little girl taking care of the animals in the barn was too reminiscent of a similar plot line a few books back (and that one was better written). Overall the plot was weak and I found the ending very hard to reconcile. It was just too much. And the few paragraphs suddenly told from the point of view of the dog was over the top. It took me too long to...more
The Jury (and Plant!) series is my reading comfort food. And Jury really is one of the great detective characters, very fully realized. I know I should love PD James and the other usual suspects more, I like them, but not as much. Is what it is. I love all the books in the series, but this is where I first met Richard Jury, Melrose Plant, Vivian, Ruthven and the whole crazy cast of characters. Holds a special place for me.
I think this (and perhaps The Old Fox Deceiv'd) is my favourite in this series. Both Abby and Charlie are good examples of Grimes's particular knack for creating strong child characters who have done the best with what life throws at them and, because of that, are objects of the reader's admiration rather than pity.
I won't say anything bad about Grimes - I love the connection between the novels, love the main recurring characters, even when things get a little familiar. Maybe I was distracted by other things - this one was hard to follow. But I still want to check in now and then on what Jury and Plant are doing.
May 15, 2013
John
added it
What I wanted was a respite from the crime novels of Michael Connelly and Harlan Coben. I expected something more along the lines of Agatha Christie. What I got was something more silly than suspenseful
with the main character so ill-defined that I have no idea what Jury is like be it his physiology or hia personality. Perhaps it was because I picked up a book in the middle of the series...but I was singularly unimpressed.
with the main character so ill-defined that I have no idea what Jury is like be it his physiology or hia personality. Perhaps it was because I picked up a book in the middle of the series...but I was singularly unimpressed.
Disorganized, confusing, pointless for much of it. Some of the characters are interesting but you can't figure out why the do what they do. And after reading all 423 pages, I still didn't really understand what happened at the end. This book was a waste of time even though she writes well.
A solid entry in the Richard Jury series. I think at some point in the middle I missed a couple of pages because I feel I ultimately didn't understand the mystery, but that didn't effect how much I enjoyed seeing all my favourite characters in action.
Mystery surrounding the kidnapping and death of a 12 year old boy.
p. 139: I believe we're witness to the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime. (Interesting, this was used as a title for another book by another author, Mark Hadden)
p. 139: I believe we're witness to the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime. (Interesting, this was used as a title for another book by another author, Mark Hadden)
Grimes' apparent knowledge of the music industry and terminology was impressive and makes me want to read more about the real thing. The standard peripheral characters were as usual very cartoonish. As a mystery it doesn't disappoint.
The sequence that stuck in my mind in the 16 years since I last read this is a suspenseful rush across a snowy moor, from the viewpoints of two herding dogs. I loved it again, so much that I left a bookmark at the spot this time through. It bears rereading on its own.
In addition to the dogs, the riveting human characters are little Abby, Ellen Taylor the American author, and Nell Healey, who refuses to explain why she shot her husband in plain view of Inspector Jury. Oh, and Charlie Raine of the...more
In addition to the dogs, the riveting human characters are little Abby, Ellen Taylor the American author, and Nell Healey, who refuses to explain why she shot her husband in plain view of Inspector Jury. Oh, and Charlie Raine of the...more
I like this series a lot! I especially like the fact that the Richard Jury books have many elements of cozy mysteries, and they have an edge to them that is like a police procedural. The ongoing secondary characters are great!
I listened to the abridged audio book. It jumped around too much, and left me wondering what had happened to bring the story to that point. It kept me busy, while I was waiting at the eye doctors.
Absolutely loved this tenth in the series. The characters are like old friends now. Again, we had some great children in the story and Melrose finally gets a lady!
Possibly the best of Martha Grimes--certainly the best characters. This is where we get the odd American woman with the motorcycle, though...and things start downhill.
This book was so horrible that I felt like destroying it, not shelving it, when I finished. The plot is poorly cobbled together. There are too many characters, and many of them are as thinly written as cartoons. This woman is a competent writer for sure; it's not that her prose was awful. But the book had no soul, tried to be clever- but was simply irritating. Awful.
Finally, I thought I'd read that the author's an American. If that's true, I'm befuddled, because she seems to have an odd grasp of...more
Finally, I thought I'd read that the author's an American. If that's true, I'm befuddled, because she seems to have an odd grasp of...more
May 29, 2011
Sharon
added it
I did not finish this book, maybe later...It got too confusing , new characters would pop up with out explaination of who they were in realation to the story...
My favorite Grimes Mystery. I really was surprised by the twist at the end and that made it a great read for me! Being set in the UK doesn't hurt either.
I keep books in my luggage so I have something to read while traveling. I liked this one better than most because is forced me to be more engaged.
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Too many characters. When the dogs told a couple of paragraphs I almost quit reading. Too many results that had very few clues to lead to that happening.
Favorite Jury novel so far. Same recipe as usual: quirky characters, tangled plot lines, set in England. My kind of book.
I love the Jury books, and this one has an even more jaded and burnt out Jury looking to do right by the situation
Martha Martha Martha. What can I say? She’s terrific!
A bit strange and fantastical for me
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Martha Grimes is an American author of detective fiction.
She was born May 2 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to D.W., a city solicitor, and to June, who owned the Mountain Lake Hotel in Western Maryland where Martha and her brother spent much of their childhood. Grimes earned her B.A. and M.A. at the University of Maryland. She has taught at the University of Iowa, Frostburg State University, and Montg...more
More about Martha Grimes...
She was born May 2 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to D.W., a city solicitor, and to June, who owned the Mountain Lake Hotel in Western Maryland where Martha and her brother spent much of their childhood. Grimes earned her B.A. and M.A. at the University of Maryland. She has taught at the University of Iowa, Frostburg State University, and Montg...more
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