The Old Wine Shades (Richard Jury Novels)

The Old Wine Shades (Richard Jury Novels) THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER-NOW IN PAPERBACK


Customer Review: my first and last Martha Grimes
A colleague (who reads them in French) recommended Martha Grimes, so out of curiosity I borrowed this from the library. What a disappointment! The characters are English but use American vocabulary (lines, gotten, etc.). The plot meanders boringly on until at last a body turns up, in chapter 30-something. My interest perked at that point, but the follow-up was so unsatisfactory. Why was this woman murdered? Where had she been for the previous 9 months? why didn’t they find the chewed rope in the cellar? Why is fridge spelled frig? How come sand dollars are washed up on Brighton beach? Why does everyone say San Gimignano is near Florence when it’s closer to Siena? The only character that shows any intelligence is a dog, but why does the dog stay with Harry when he’s obviously bored out of his mind? how come there’s an epilogue when there isn’t an end? A complete waste of time.
Customer Review: Very disappointed long time MG fan
I’m a long time fan of Martha Grimes, Richard Jury, Melrose Plant and the entire crew. This book was a BIG disappointment. I hung on through the anthropomorphism of Mungo (the dog) which really tested reality. I was waiting for that surprising, clever ending that would make everything worthwhile. It didn’t come. The story just stopped. Nothing….all of a sudden an epilogue that didn’t wrap up anything either.

Very disappointed. I’m not sure what that was about. Did she just get tired and decide she’d written too many words?