The first in the Inspector Jury series takes the reader to the village of Long Piddleton where a body is found in the pub The Man With a Load of Mischief. Inspector Jury and his assistant, the slightly hypochondriac Sgt. Wiggins are sent to investigate.
They find that all is not as quaint and quiet in the village and before too long more grisly murders will occur. To solve the mystery they will have to interview many of the residents and thus the reader is in for a treat as some of the characters are quite amusing, my favorite being Melrose Plant, a former Lord who prefers to try his hand at detecting skills.
Given that there are many supporting characters some are just more fleshed out than others; such as Agatha, the social climbing, meddling aunt of Melrose Plant. I was waiting for Inspector Jury to toss her in jail at any given point. I was a bit surprised at how little Inspector Jury is developed though but Grimes does give you glimpses into his character. For example, his interaction with the two children he encounters, The Jameses, is priceless.
I didn’t find the mystery too difficult to solve although I admit the mystery almost took a backseat for me in this narrative as I thoroughly enjoyed the setting, the flashes of humor and the characters.
I thought this was a very well written first novel, and I understand that the following books in the series will have many recurring characters so I look forward to reading their particular stories.
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Added 11/06