The Case Has Altered by Martha Grimes, 1997

 

About the author: This is #14 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:

• Max Owen, master of Fengate
• Grace Owen, his wife
• Jack Price, their nephew; a sculptor
• Verna Dunn, Max's first wife, an actress, victim #1
• Dorcas Reese, the Owens' maid, victim #2
• Lady Jennifer Kennington, Verna;'s cousin and the prime suspect in her death 
• Annie Suggins, the Owens' cook
• Burt Suggins, the Owen's handyman, husband of Annie
• Major Linus Parker, the Owens' neighbor
• Peter Emery, Parker's groundskeeper
• Zel, Emery;s 10-year old niece
• Inspector Arthur Bannen, Lincolnshire police
• Superintendent Richard Jury, of Scotland Yard
• Melrose Plant, his friend

Locale: the Lincolnshire Fens

Synopsis: Inspector Arthur Bannen of the Lincolnshire police has two murders on his hands. The first was Verna Dunn, actress, who was shot while visiting her ex-husband Max Owen. She was last seen alive arguing with her cousin, Lady Jennifer Kennington. The second was the Owen's maid and cook's assistant, young Dorcas Reese; found floating in the waters of the nearby visitor's center for the Lincolnshire fens. 

Superintendent Richard Jury is interested as widowed Lady Kennington is a friend of his (and possible love interest). Lady Kennington is the prime suspect in Verna's death. Jury gets friend Melrose Plant to visit the Owens in the guise of an antiques appraiser, of which Plant knows nothing - but is coached by antique dealer Marshall Trueblood. 

Melrose circulates among the locals, and his most promising lead is Zel, a 10-year old girl who seems to know more than she reveals. She is the niece of Peter Emery, the blind groundskeeper for the Owen's neighbor, Major Linus Parker.

Review: This is one of the best Jury novels thus far. The two deaths have occurred just prior to the story, and the tension builds throughout. The murderer was a complete mystery to me - although Grimes plays strictly fair with the reader. The actual reveal only occurs in the final pages which left me wondering how could I not have seen it?

The characters are quite believable, and as usual, there is a young girl (Zel) who has a starring role. The only dud character is Lady Jenny Kennington herself, who has minimal involvement and is usually offstage. She is a cardboard cutout propped up here and there when needed. 

There is a lot of comic relief in two subplots:

1. Aunt Agatha taking local Ada Crisp to court over a chamber pot incident. We get to see two parallel court cases progress in alternating chapters: Lady Kennington for murder (serious), and Ada Crisp for leaving a chamber pot on the sidewalk where Aunt Agatha would step in it (amusing). We get to see flamboyant Marshall Trueblood in a new role, as an amateur defense attorney.

2. Melrose Plant gets talked into pretending to be an antiques appraiser in order to infiltrate the Owen household. He gets a crash course in antiques from Marshall Trueblood, and the fun begins when he enters the house and finds his knowledge quite inadequate.

As usual, reading the series in order is recommended, as various past incidents, like victims, are always floating to the surface.