The Grave Maurice

Table of Contents

 

 

 

 

 

“Grimes's writing has rarely been more lovely, especially when describing horses racing over fences at night or mares running for sheer joy.”

—
Chicago Tribune

 

“Beguiling characters . . . [a] blissful setting.”

—
The New York Times

 

“This satisfyingly old-fashioned detective tale pays homage to Josephine Tey's famous historical mystery
The Daughter of Time
. . . vintage Grimes.”

—
Booklist

 

“[Grimes is] a reigning queen in the realm of mysteries. . . . Delightful details and complex characterizations.”

—
Hartford Courant

 

“Another ‘veddy British' effort from Grimes's wickedly clever pen. And fans will rejoice that Jury is eventually once more back in action.”

—
Chattanooga Times-Free Press

 

“Grimes's considerable narrative skills are evident in this compelling story. . . . Beneath the charming innocence are deeper psychological undercurrents. Obsession, greed, revenge, and loneliness are recurring themes and Grimes always manages to present believable villains.”

—
The Tennessean

 

“A satisfying tale that should delight mystery fans.”

—
Publishers Weekly

 

“Quintessential Grimes, with a rich canvas and suspicion bouncing from one quirky character to another like a pumped-up pinball.”

—
Kirkus Reviews

 

 

“[Grimes] excels at creating a haunting atmosphere and characters both poignant and preposterous.”

—
USA Today

 

“A diverting, chilling mystery of the past. . . . [Grimes] is at the top of her form. . . . Profoundly affecting and hauntingly sad . . . [an] explosive cliffhanger ending.”

—
Richmond Times-Dispatch

 

“[Grimes's] gift for evoking mood and emotion is as keen as her talent for inventing a demanding puzzle and solving it.”

—
The Wall Street Journal

 

 

“Atmospheric . . . an elegantly styled series.”

—
The New York Times Book Review

 

“Swift and satisfying . . . grafts the old-fashioned ‘Golden Age' amateur detective story to the contemporary police procedural . . . real charm.”

—
The Wall Street Journal

 

“Charming, delightful. . . . Grimes fleshes out her characters with witty dialogue. Long may she write Richard Jury mysteries.”

—
Chicago Tribune

 

 

“Wondrously eccentric characters. . . . The details are divine.”

—
The New York Times Book Review

 

“The literary equivalent of a box of Godiva truffles . . . wonderful.”

—
Los Angeles Times

 

 

“Richly textured.”—
The New York Times Book Review

 

“Grimes is dazzling in this deftly plotted Richard Jury mystery.”

—
Publishers Weekly

 

 

“Grimes at her best . . . more than mere suspense.”

—
The New Yorker

 

“Literate, witty, and stylishly crafted.”

—
The Washington Post

 

 

“[Grimes's] best . . . as moving as it is entertaining.”

—
USA Today

 

 

“A good puzzle . . . unusually well written.”

—
The Boston Globe

 

 

“For readers who value wit, atmosphere, and charm in their mysteries.”

—
The Washington Post Book World

ALSO BY MARTHA GRIMES

RICHARD JURY NOVELS

 

The Man with a Load of Mischief
The Old Fox Deceiv'd
The Anodyne Necklace
The Dirty Duck
Jerusalem Inn
Help the Poor Struggler
The Deer Leap
I Am the Only Running Footman
The Five Bells and Bladebone
The Old Silent
The Old Contemptibles
The Horse You Came In On
Rainbow's End
The Case Has Altered
The Stargazey
The Lamorna Wink
The Blue Last

 

 

OTHER WORKS

 

The End of the Pier
Hotel Paradise
Biting the Moon
The Train Now Departing
Cold Flat Junction
Foul Matter

 

 

POETRY

 

Send Bygraves

ONYX
Published by New American Library, a division of
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand,
London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 250 Camberwell Road,
Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia
Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2
Penguin Books (N.Z.) Ltd, Cnr Rosedale and Airborne Roads,
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Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices:
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

 

Published by Onyx, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin
Group (USA) Inc. Previously published in a Viking edition.

 

First Onyx Printing, September 2003

Copyright © Martha Grimes, 2002

All rights reserved

“At Grass” by Philip Larkin is reprinted from
The Less Deceived
by permission of The Marvell Press, England and Australia.

REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

eISBN : 978-1-101-09896-7

 

 

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

 

PUBLISHER'S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

 

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To little Will Holland,
nearly a year,
and his grandparents,
Virginia and Scott

 

 

Do memories plague their ears like flies?
They shake their heads. Dusk brims the shadows.
Summer by summer all stole away,
The starting gates, the crowds and cries—
All but the unmolesting meadows,
Almanacked, their names live; they

Have slipped their names, and stand at ease,
Or gallop for what must be joy,
And not a fieldglass sees them home,
Or curious stop-watch prophesies:
Only the groom, and the groom's boy,
With bridles in the evening come.

—PHILIP LARKIN, “AT GRASS”