The Old Wine Shades (Richard Jury Series #20) » (~)

Martha Grimes is one of the few authors left carrying on the British detective mystery tradition, and doing it well. Scotland Yard Superintendent Richard Jury and sidekick Melrose Plant continue to enthrall readers with their clever, darkly humorous crime-solving careers.

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER-NOW IN PAPERBACK

The New York Times - Marilyn Stasio

Once the story darkens, as it does when the missing woman turns up dead, Jury goes off to interview the cagey country folk and preternaturally wise children who invariably show up in this series, along with the indispensable Melrose Plant and Jury's other eccentric friends. But this time, Grimes doesn't let these colorful cronies run away with the narrative, which delivers on its mysterious premise while celebrating the power of storytelling. Jury even suggests that stories are "what we live for, why we go on." When pressed on the point by Melrose ("Are you saying we live for stories?"), he responds, "Children do, don't they?" We do indeed.