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    The Black Cat: A Richard Jury Mystery
    Unavailable
    The Black Cat: A Richard Jury Mystery
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    The Black Cat: A Richard Jury Mystery
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Black Cat: A Richard Jury Mystery

    Written by Martha Grimes

    Narrated by John Lee

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    The inimitable Richard Jury returns in a thrilling tale of mystery, madness, and mistaken identity

    Three months have passed since Richard Jury was left bereft and guilt- ridden after his lover's tragic auto accident, and he is now more wary than ever. He is deeply suspicious when requested on a case far out of his jurisdiction in an outlying village where a young woman has been murdered behind the local pub. The only witness is the establishment's black cat, who gives neither crook nor clue as to the girl's identity or her killer's.

    Identifying the girl becomes tricky when she's recognized as both the shy local librarian and a posh city escort, and Jury must use all his wits and intuition to determine the connection to subse­quent escort murders. Meanwhile, Jury's nemesis, Harry Johnson, continues to goad Jury down a dangerous path. And Johnson, along with the imperturbable dog Mungo, just may be the key to it all.

    Written with Martha Grimes's trademark insight and grace, The Black Cat signals the thrilling return of her greatest character. The superintendent is a man possessed of prodigious analytical gifts and charm, yet vulnerable in the most perplexing ways.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateApr 6, 2010
    ISBN9781101154830
    Unavailable
    The Black Cat: A Richard Jury Mystery
    Author

    Martha Grimes

    Bestselling author Martha Grimes is the author of more than thirty books, including twenty-two Richard Jury mysteries. She is also the author of Double Double, a dual memoir of alcoholism written with her son. The winner of the 2012 Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Award, Grimes lives in Bethesda, Maryland.

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    Reviews for The Black Cat

    3.5/5

    18 ratings15 reviews

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    • 2/5
      I gave up around page 65 ... it just wasn't holding my attention. No hard feelings, Martha Grimes.
    • 3/5
      When a murdered woman is discovered at a Chesham pub called The Black Cat, the case is assigned to Richard Jury of Scotland Yard. The difficulties encountered while attempting to identify the dead woman uncovered some surprising secrets. In order to solve the case, Jury enlists the help of his friend, Melrose Plant, in investigating the world of escort services.The murder plot itself is unoriginal, but rather borrowed from well-known books and films. The book has ties to at least one of Grimes' previous Jury novels, The Old Wine Shades, which I hadn't read, unfortunately, since this book contains some major plot spoilers for it. While the mystery plot alone isn't enough to recommend the book, designer shoes and a cat and dog that talk with each other add an element of whimsey that might attract animal lovers or readers with a passion for shoes.
    • 2/5
      I did not like this book. It is my first (and probably my last) Martha Grimes novel. I guess you have to read the previous books to fully appreciate this one beacase of all the continuing threads and characters, but it is still a poor excuse. What I didn't like:- the characters: there are many of them and very thin. You don't feel you know them by the end of the book (if you can keep track of all of them)- the main plot is buried among a lot of other stories (who cares about the cats, dogs, Harry Johnson and Carole-anne? What is the point of them?)- animals talking
    • 3/5
      OK, but not as good as earlier books by Martha Grimes.
    • 3/5
      This is a Richard Jury mystery series set in England. Grimes does a wonderful job bringing other writers/authors into the story. Shakespeare plays and Alfred Hitchcock movies play center stage with the mention of Vertigo and Strangers on a Train and Hamlet. Grimes also brings into the story dogs and cats who assist in the mystery, and even talk and think. I am a little leery of the Harry Johnson character; his presence and story line are too abstract. With three dead escort women, Jury has his hands full as he attempts to find a motive. Grimes does well with setting, but some of the characters seem a little weak. An enjoyable journey into the criminal mind.
    • 3/5
      This was a fun read as all of Grimes mysteries are. The characters were confusing to keep straight. I liked the literary references.
    • 3/5
      Martha Martha Martha! I'm still a fan but your latest Richard Jury entry (The Black Cat) was a disappointment for me. I love designer shoes as much as the next girl - but that's my only memory of your story: Jimmy Choo and Louboutin. Who WAS the killer anyway? (...And does it matter?)
    • 4/5
      But it's still Martha Grimes, so I am a fan anyway. This book is quite a bit different from her others as we have certain things in it from the animals' viewpoints. I thought Rita Mae Brown found her way into the book for a time. The book is well-written as are all of Ms. Grimes' books. And it's quite funny with the plethora of black cats that seem to be all over the countryside. And of course Melrose Plant is in the book and that's a good thing. He's my favourite character (and I do mean character). Jury is going through a lot of angst when the book opens due to the tragic car accident of his special friend, Lu Aguilar, and he's thrown into two seemingly unrelated murders that seem to have a common thread - that of expensive designer shoes. But he prevails in the end and life goes on for him anyway. The fate of Lu Aguilar is still up in the air at the end of the book. I am a long-time reader of Martha Grimes' Richard Jury series, and I look forward to each new book. They never seem to come often enough to suit me though.
    • 5/5
      Loved this book. I have read all her books and she keeps getting better with each one.5 stars plus.
    • 3/5
      Still waiting for Mungo's revenge.
    • 4/5
      W.C. Fields once said "Anyone who hates children and dogs can't be all bad..." However, Detective Superintendent Richard Jury doesn't subscribe to that philosophy. In every one of Martha Grimes', Richard Jury mysteries, there are children and animals and The Black Cat is no exception.Also, as in all her Jury novels, the title is taken from the name of an English pub. In this book, a beautiful woman, dressed to the nines, wearing Jimmy Choo shoes, is found dead on the patio outside the Black Cat. Spt. Jury is called in to assist the local police, Detective Cummins, in the investigation. He soon learns from Dora, the eight year old ward of bartendress at the Black Cat, that Morris, the pub's black cat mascot has been 'murdered or kidnapped'. Now Jury must investigate two mysteries.As you read, two more fashionably dressed dead bodies appear and Jury and his Sargent Wiggins get a lesson in designer clothes. Martha Grimes is a stalwart of the 'cozy' mystery. Her books are peopled with interesting characters. The plot takes various turns, arriving at a satisfying, albeit unforeseen, conclusion.While most of her books can be read independently, I heartily suggest that you read the two previous books, The Old Wine Shades and Dust before reading The Black Cat. A main character of the current book is introduced in The Old Wine Shades and the evolution of that character will help in the understanding of the subsequent books.If you're in the mood for a relaxing afternoon of mystery reading, Martha Grimes is a top choice. And you can quote me..."Anyone who loves children and dogs, can't be all bad..."
    • 4/5
      I haven't enjoyed the last few books in this series nearly as much as I enjoyed the earlier ones, but I keep reading because I've grown rather fond of certain characters and a new installment always raises hopes that I'll get to spend some more time in their entertaining company. The Black Cat delivers on this promise better than some recent others, but I still would prefer to spend more time in Long Piddleton with Melrose Plant and his eccentric friends and less time moping around London with Richard Jury, whose life needs to get unstuck soon if readers are going to be asked to continue to care about him. The central mystery is straightforwardly plotted (somewhat unusually for Grimes), thus rendering the book accessible to readers new to the series despite the presence of recurring characters and references to previous events. Be forewarned: some of the narration is from the point of view of a terribly clever dog (much smarter than the humans he consorts with, of course!).
    • 5/5
      Three years for us and only three months in his life and Richard Jury still hasn't figured out exactly what he is looking for, and maybe never will. But with the help of Melrose Plant, Sergeant Wiggins and the usual cast of colorful characters he gets the job done. I've always enjoyed the ironic humor and subtleties between the protagonists and Grime's wit is as sharp as ever. I hope we don't have such a long wait until the next one.
    • 5/5
      Fantastic! But need to have read books that came before it to understand some of the references.
    • 4/5
      Clever take on a famous movie murder theme. Loved the animal view of events.