The Old Success by Martha Grimes: A review

I had thought that Martha Grimes was finished with her Richard Jury mysteries. Then I ran across a note in one of the book review sections that I read about this book that was published this year. It is the twenty-fifth in a series that has been running since 1981. Since I had read all the previous twenty-four, it seemed incumbent on me to read this one, too.

The thing about Richard Jury and all his posse of fellow characters that readers have come to know over the years is that they never age. When the series started way back in the prehistorical days of the '80s, Jury and his sidekick and best friend Lord Ardry, aka Melrose Plant, were dashing, devastatingly attractive, upper class, 40ish Englishmen. Now, almost forty years later, they still appear to be dashing, devastatingly attractive, upper class, 40ish Englishmen. If only I knew where to find their fountain of youth!

All of Grimes' well-loved characters appear in this tale. It starts when the murdered body of a Frenchwoman is washed up on the wild Cornish coast and Brian Macalvie, divisional commander of the Devon-Cornwall police is called to the scene. Macalvie, who is famous for his implacable pursuit of malevolent perpetrators and never giving up on a case, finds the scene perplexing and calls on his friend, Richard Jury, now apparently a superintendent with New Scotland Yard, for assistance. His call interrupts Jury having a drink with a retired legendary CID detective, Tom Brownell, who had a 100% clearance rate for his cases.

Jury goes to Cornwall to assist Macalvie, but in the days following the discovery of the first body, two more murders occur. The events are widely separated and appear to have no connection and yet superdetective Brownell intuits that there is a connection. And that there may also be a further connection to an earlier supposed suicide - that of Brownell's own daughter.

There are, of course, Grimes' iconic characters of cute and precocious children and animals involved, and, as always, Jury calls on his friend, Melrose Plant, who he deems a children/animal whisperer, to help him out in extracting information from the kids.

Frankly, the plot here grows a bit confused and hard to follow. I suppose it wasn't helped by the fact that I was distracted by preparations for Thanksgiving while I was reading. The book would probably best be read by sitting down with it, concentrating fully, and finishing it in one sitting. That never happens to me.

In addition to the regular characters mentioned here, there are many, many others in this book that mostly play cameo roles, but they serve only to increase the confusion rather than illuminating the plot. So, on the whole, this was not one of the stronger entries in this long-running series, but for her truly avid fans, I'm sure it feels like the gift of a visit from an old friend.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

The Nature of Things

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