Dust

By Martha Grimes

'Grimes's love of the offbeat, the whimsical and the absurd makes [the Richard Jury series] utterly unlike anyone else's detective novels.' (Washington Post)

Billy Maples, former patron of London's finest art galleries and current tenant of Lamb House in Rye - the late Henry James's residence - is found murdered in an upmarket hotel in London. Richard Jury, Scotland Yard's finest, finds himself faced with yet another perplexing investigation.

As Jury delves deeper into the fragments of the life Maples left behind, he finds himself entangled in a web of conflicting stories and false leads. Having enlisted the help of his faithful friend Melrose Plant, Jury must contend with both the case's lead detective, Lu Aguilar, and the surprise appearance of Maples's mysterious young nephew in order to crack the case.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Atlantic Books
• Release date: Aug 9, 2018
• ISBN: 9781611859232

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.

Reviews for Dust

[lorielibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

maybe I'm just getting tired of Jury et al.

[brochettes_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

First of all, I don't like books that end in cliffhangers. To me, it smacks of desperation on the author's part; as if they feel that their writing isn't good enough to make the reader come back for more after a self-contained story. What little resolution there was in this book was vague and not particularly gripping, and I'm not sure whether it was my general lack of interest that made me skip parts or whether there were some giant plot holes in the story. All in all, not a book I would recommend when introducing anyone to the Richard Jury series, but somehow it still managed to hold my interest just enough for me to want to know the outcome of this. The comfortable familiarity with the characters means that if there is a sequel to this, I will probably read it, albeit reluctantly. Al least this one had no superhero dog.

[picardyrose · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Confusing timeline -- was it the 1980s? -- but the ending is great. I had to go back nearly a third into the book to find the killer's motivation.

[krsball · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another good mystery by Martha Grimes. Jury never disappoints!

[kathy89_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Snobby, boring mystery. Read early Richard Jury mysteries in the 80's after vacationing in England and enjoyed them. Now I find them really tiresome. I think the author tried to update it by adding a sexually aggressive female police inspector. Plot involved murder of a young wealthy patron of the arts.

[jetangen4571 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

law-enforcement, murder-investigation, British-detective -----There may be only one murder investigation, but it's still as convoluted as ever. Plant gets to emulate Henry James in order to investigate part of the victim's life, Jury is ambushed by a barracuda, and World War 2 history invades the present. A very busy book which needs a second reading to catch up with the nuances hiding clues. A good read.

[whyteb_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Tiresome and without substance.

[chazzifrazz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Richard Jury is called in to help solve the murder by a young boy he has befriended in the past on another case. He finds that he also knows the grandfather of the murdered man from working with him on another case. He now has two people expecting him to come up with the murderer. The problem is the lack of clues, or the subtlety of them. He is also paired with a beautiful detective whose presence sparks an animal attraction between the two of them that just adds distraction to the whole case.

Characters from previous cases appear in this tale. Some providing help and others distraction. Jury is a bit of a somber character who sometimes seems to over analyze to the point that he can't see the forest for the trees.

For me, I enjoy Melrose Plant as he tends to add a nice touch of humour and levity. He is useful to Jury in his investigating behind the scenes. He can go where Jury can't as people won't always tell the truth to the police.

I enjoy Martha Grimes' mysteries as they can be read at a leisurely pace and don't reveal everything all at once. Gives you something to ruminate about.

[whimsicalkitten · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It saddens me to read Martha Grimes these days - she's completely discarded the notion of plotting or character development. But her ability to evoke an atmosphere still charms.

[cameling_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Oh no.. she's done it again...another Inspector Jury with the cliff hanger for an ending. Really, these should come with a warning that a) they should be read in sequence, and b) you're not going to find out who did the dastardly deed until you get hold of the next in the series.So in 'Dust' Inspector Jury is trying to tie up the loose ends from a previous case, referenced sporadically in this book, when he's called into the scene of a murdered man in a hotel. All evidence seem to point to the killer interrupting him during his dinner and killing him. But the killer inconveniently leaves no fingerprints or clues as to his identity behind. Inspector Jury also finds himself in unfamiliar territory with the delectable Detective Inspector Lu Aguilar. There's more attention given to sex in this book rather than laying out paths to solving the murder. The way the various links to the murdered man unfolds keeps this a very engaging book though, which makes it all the more frustrating to get to the end of the book only to find not just that you still don't know who did it, but that there now seems to be a new mystery to solve... in the next book.

[reannon_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Martha Grimes is still writing well her long-running Richard Drury series. This book concerns the murder of a likeable young man who supported artists and liked Henry James.

[phoenixcomet · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The first in the series that I truly detested, mostly because suddenly Richard Jury is cheating on his girlfriend, Phyllis Nancy with detective Lu Aguilar, a force of nature, ignoring Carol Anne and in general being a prig. Melrose Plant is as delightful as always, and I hate when Grimes doesn't wrap up the story but leaves you guessing as to the ending - it's clear as mud to me. This doesn't change the fact that I'll be reading the next book in the series, just that I'm irritated by this entry. Oh well. Oh, about the story - Benny Keegan and Sparky go to deliver room service to Billy Maples, a youngish playboy (aged 32) and finds him shot through the heart. He calls Jury to get him on the case. The case is entwined with the seavacs and the kindertrains from WWII. One of the issues for me is that it is no longer clear to me when the modern stories are supposed to be set - early 1990s, 2000s? By now Richard should be retired.This blog entry explores what the ending meant or didn't mean. http://maebookblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/dust-by-martha-grimes_14.html