About the author: This is #13 of 25 books featuring Richard Jury. See this Wikipedia article for biography and list of the 25 Richard Jury books. Click this Martha Grimes label to see all my reviews of this series.
Major characters:
- Angela Hope, American, who died at Old Sarum
- Mary Dark Hope, her 13-year old sister
- Helen Hawes, who died in Exeter Cathedral
- Frances "Fanny" Hamilton, who died at the Tate Gallery in the previous book (The Horse You Came In On)
- Delores "Dolly" Schell, Angela's cousin, a pharmacist
- Malcolm Corey, aspiring actor
- Nils Anders, a PhD
- Superintendent Richard Jury, of Scotland Yard
- Melrose Plant, his friend
Locale: London and New Mexico
Synopsis: The body of American tourist Angela Hope is found in the bottom of a pit at Old Sarum - an ancient Roman ruins site near Stonehenge. Then Helen Hawes dies, apparently of natural causes, while in Exeter Cathedral. While not known to each other, Commander Brian Macalvie notes both women had recently visited Santa Fe, New Mexico at the same time. He urges Superintendent Richard Jury to see if there is a connection - and there is. Jury is reminded of the death of Frances "Fanny" Hamilton at the Tate Gallery - and she had been to New Mexico as well.
Jury travels to Santa Fe to follow up. One primary contacts is 13-year old Mary Dark Hope (Angela's younger sister) who leads an introverted life in the desert with her pet coyote. The other is Malcolm Corey, painter and aspiring actor. He also finds Angela's cousin, pharmacist Delores "Dolly" Schell; and Nils Anders, a PhD at the mysterious Santa Fe Instutute.
There are several sub-plots: Jury's struggle to quit smoking, his attempts to locate his old flame Jenny Kennington; and Melrose's fascination with new arrival Miss Fludd.
Review: This book is much a sequel to The Horse You Came In On (Richard Jury #12), which should be read first; some of the characters and situations continue in this book.
This is a slow-paced book, the first half being in England, the second half in New Mexico. Although the action creeps along, I enjoyed following Melrose's methodical "investigations" on the England end as he extracts clues and tracks down Jenny Kennington.
The ending comes quite suddenly and with little lead-up, but with a satisfying conclusion.
A couple of loose ends: The meaning of the mysterious number found in a notebook is not quite explained or resolved. Melrose finds a vending machine which produces calling/business cards and spends time producing an assortment, but they are never mentioned again. I expected him to create a false identity or something along that line. His search for the elusive "Miss Fludd" is dropped also.
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