Download The Anodyne Necklace [ABRIDGED] ePub

This is one of those books that I could have easily read in one sitting if I didn't have anything else to do because it was just hard to put down once I got into it. But since I do have other things to do, it actually took me a couple of days. Two very pleasant days of reading.

Once again his boss sends Richard Jury off into the English countryside to solve a murder. This time it is in the tiny village of Littlebourne where a severed finger had recently been found. The finger pointed (pun intended) local constables to a boggy footpath where the corpse it had come from was found by a bird watcher out looking for a rare bird.

The murdered woman was a stranger to the village. It developed that she had probably come there for a job interview, but what was she doing on that footpath and why would anyone in the village want to kill her? Or was the deed done by some nefarious stranger?

Littlebourne, it turns out, is your typically wacky English village with eccentric denizens galore, all of whom we meet in the course of Jury's investigation. But strange things were happening in this village even before the murder. The year before had seen the theft of an extremely valuable emerald from one of the local gentry. Later, the owner of the emerald had died, leaving his widow essentially destitute and needing to sell their mansion to move on to something more manageable. The man suspected of the theft was himself killed in a road accident, but the emerald was never found.

Meanwhile, more recently, a young woman from the village had been attacked while she was in London for her violin lesson. She was left in a coma and is in the hospital, having not yet regained consciousness. Jury soon becomes convinced that all of these incidents are somehow related if he can only find the key. And if he can find that key, he can identify the murderer.

Aiding him in his search is the estimable if hypochondriacal D.S. Wiggins that we met in the first two entries in this series, as well as Jury's friend Melrose Plant who has become an amateur detective of sorts, one who enjoys assisting the police in their inquiries.

Richard Jury forms the opinion that the answer to the puzzle may actually lie in London and, returning there, he searches out a pub called the Anodyne Necklace where a game called "Wizards" is played. The game is played with a specially drawn treasure map and it seems that such a map may be instrumental in solving the murder.

But before the one murder can be solved, another one is committed in the village. It appears that a real crime wave has hit the sleepy little place and there are plenty of nasty people about who look suspicious.

As in the last book, The Old Fox Deceiv'd, Littlebourne has a charming and precocious child who figures in the plot. This time it is a nine-year-old horse-loving girl, Emily Louise Perk, and she seems to have the village pretty much under her thumb. (She actually reminded me somewhat of Alan Bradley's creation, Flavia de Luce, and I had to wonder if Bradley was possibly inspired by Grimes' child character.)

Of course, in the end, Jury, along with his "posse" of Wiggins, Plant, and Emily, manages to find the solution to the mysteries that surround Littlebourne and he wraps it all up in a neat little bow. But I'm sure his boss, who is always looking for an excuse to get him out of London, will soon find another quirky little village that is experiencing a crime wave and we've be off on another reading adventure.

This is a second read for me but this time I purchased the narration done by Steve West. Richard Jury is challenged with a murder that evolves into a more complex and convoluted crime with more murder. Jury is a cerebral Scotland Yard detective with his own personal trials with his superior. Melrose Plant, a self proclaimed no-longer-a-lord, and Jury have developed a friendship over the earlier books and this relationship continues; Plant does his part in gathering clues. Plant's bane of his existence, his Aunt Agatha, turns up once again and their interaction is humorous and sharp. Both Jury and Plant have their own style of interacting with an independent 10 year old girl who holds a secret the murderer wants to dispose of; Plant and Jury have no personal experience with children so their different matter-of-fact approaches with this unusual child are interesting and, at times, quite funny. Author Grimes uses this gimmick of a young child in practically all her Jury books that is appealing and entertaining. The "London" portion of Jury's investigation was entertaining but grew tedious and dragged so I cannot give this a 5 star rating.

I initiated this review stating I bought the narration by Steve West. Mr. West does a tremendous narration that puts this book in the 5 star category. He can boost the star rating of any Grimes' book with his narration. He captures the dialogues and the various tones of sarcasm beautifully; his portrayal of Sgt. Wiggins, Jury's hypochondriacal assistant, is spot on. Mr. West adds a lot of entertainment value.

One great thing about the Kndle is that is easy to find and go back to an author's earlier works or one you somehow missed which is what I did here. I love Richard Jury and every one of the Jury books, I love Melrose and enjoy his every interaction with his aunt, in word or thought. Whenever either of them interact with children, the scenes are terrific, also the pathos you feel when Jury deals with lonely, quiet people. Their conversations are a higher caliber in terms of writing than many other mystery writing. These books are always full of new characters, as well as the usual ones, all with descriptions and dialogue that is very well written.
This one has 2 possibly converging mysteries, high brow (to themselves..) and very lowbrow characters to most readers, some quiet & sad people, small town doings & eccentrics - the works. Have to say that I chuckled aloud when someone supercilious demeaned the caliber of Scotland Yard based on how sickly Wiggins is!
Enjoy!

I've read several of Martha Grimes' books in the past, but I am now trying to read them from the first ones through the end. Wiggins didn't seem nearly as sickly in this book -- possibly that was developed more in later books for increased humor. As usual, either Plant or Jury fell in love with every young, intelligent, unattached woman in the story. The story was good, but I was surprised that the "F" word was used several times in the story -- including by little children and by Wiggins! I don't recall ever seeing that in other books of hers. I'm not prudish about it -- just surprised. Overall, a good read and I'll continue reading the books in order.

Whoever digitalized this book should be fired. They certainly did not review their work. It is nearly impossible to read this book. Most annoying. I paid more than I normally do for a Kindle download and what a dissappointment. The font size isn't the same from page to page. Words are Missing. Just very hard to follow the story line.
Have to give the story line a 4 star. Great story just poor format though I did manage to change font formats enough times that I finally was able to read it comfortably. Shouldn't have to change font size every few pages.