The Man with a Load of Mischief

A Richard Jury Novel, Book 1

By: Martha Grimes

Narrated by: Steve West

Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

At the Man with a Load of Mischief, they found the dead body stuck in a keg of beer. At the Jack and Hammer, another body was stuck out on the beam of the pub's sign, replacing the mechanical man who kept the time. Two pubs. Two murders. One Scotland Yard inspector called in to help.

Detective Chief Inspector Richard Jury arrives in Long Piddleton and finds everyone in the postcard village looking outside of town for the killer - except for one Melrose Plant. A keen observer of human nature, he points Jury in the right direction: into the darkest parts of his neighbors' hearts.

©2013 Martha Grimes (P)2013 Simon & Schuster

Favorite Author

Over many years I have read and or listened to every one of Martha Grimes - Richard Jury books more than once and am now starting over by listening to them again!

I wish I could live in this village, take my dogs to these pubs and enjoy the friendship of these characters! They work together to solve the crimes and these books are the most relaxing and entertaining murder mystery with just a bit of humor!

The narration is perfect!

I enjoy many authors books and always throw one of Grimes in the mix!

Read this amazing thing! You must!

beautifully conceived & crafted, complex and twisty, intelligently wrought & the narrator truly rises to the narrative--or did narrative speak to reader's genius. both, i'm sure.. excellent work, no spoilers :)

enjoyable cozy mystery, was looking fwd to this series, yet this narrator applies VOICE FRY, grating and unpleasant!!!

Re: enjoyable cozy mystery, was looking fwd to this series, yet this narrator applies VOICE FRY, grating and unpleasant!!!
A significant cozy mystery author with decades of story telling and many books to share
Sadly, this narrator, Steve West, applies significant VOICE FRY to his narration? His voice is unpleasantly grating and very irritating to listen to

kept my attention

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were written so that I could see the individual traits. The narrator did well at differentiating between characters. I shall have to listen again because I am sure there were points that I missed. I was totally off about who the murderer could be. I shall certainly enjoy listening to this again.

Fun story!

Enjoyed the story and the narrator. This is one I will listen to again. Getting the next in the series now!

narration spoiled it

I have fond memories of reading the Jury books years ago. if this had been my first experience with them, i should have stopped with the first book. I especially disliked the narrator's interpretation of Jury's voice and intonations. And Lady Agatha was dreadful.

Snoozer

Never got into the story. Narrator's voice is soothing. Not the best choice to listen to while driving.

Good beginning for a series

Would you consider the audio edition of The Man with a Load of Mischief to be better than the print version?

I loved the audio version, The narrator brought the characters to life.

If you’ve listened to books by Martha Grimes before, how does this one compare?

This was my first, but not last; Martha Grimes book.

Have you listened to any of Steve West’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

First as well, but going to search for others by this narrator.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I loved all the scenes with Aunt Agetha and the ones where Jury displays his dry wit.

Good characters

Starts outs well but then gets a bit bogged down. Well written. I enjoyed it overall.

Showed promise for the series to come

As is my unfortunate habit, I read this book after becoming hooked on Grimes' Jury character and books. That was just as well, because this didn't have anywhere near the character depth and entertaining mannerisms that developed in future books, so I may not have gone further with the series had I read this first. I am glad to know the origins of the characters, and how the Jury-Plant friendship formed. But having the characters become so much more entertainingly eccentric in newer books was so much better. Plant is so much more than he showed in this book, as is Agatha. And Jury is too one-dimensional here--his subtle mannerisms have not appeared yet. The plot is kind of exaggerated, as would be good for a stage play, but is still Grimes, and Grimes is generally quite good. Glad to have this one under my belt to go on reading her more recent and more entertaining tales of Jury, Plant, et al.