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

Good but not great......

Even though this novel is over 30 years old, it's the first time I've sampled any of Martha Grimes' books and so far I think they're good - but there's not much in this one that will make me rush to listen to the rest of the series. I've found I like the character-rich British mysteries more than American ones, and I guess I should have realized that even though these mysteries are set in small-town Britain, they're still written by an American and that will seep through. Too many of the players here seemed almost to be caricatures of themselves, or of a type. Not really my cup of tea, I guess.

great detective begins

lots of characters developed for future works. performance is very strong. complex plot which ties pieces together well.

Love Richard Jury Mysteries!!

This is my second book from this series. I do realize this book happens to be the first book of Richard Jury Mysteries by Martha Grimes but by accident listened to book 10 first. No matter I love Martha Grimes writing of these mysteries. They remind me of when I was a kid watching PBS Mysteries. The stories are set in the 1980s in England which make sense since it was in the early 1980s these books were published. They have great plots humor and a bit of romance. Richard Jury of New Scotland Yard is described as 6’2 handsome and in his 40s. The collection of books are narrated by Steve West. I’m so happy about that due to his beautiful deep voice and his ability to do any kind of accent from American and all kinds of regional accents. If you love British mysteries you are going to love these books!

Where has Martha Grimes been all my life?

After 2 books I am a confirmed MG addict. Her writing is so smart and funny; her characters and story-telling, superb.

I'm Liking Inspector Jury

This makes me think of the stories in the Midsomer Murder series on TV.

Thats all I have to say.

Good Mystery

The mystery was interesting and well-fleshed out with interesting characters. However the narrator was dull! 😩I reread this 3 times before the 8th chapter!🙇🏾‍♀️. Glad I stuck with it though!

jury encounters, mischief

Best part of a Jury mystery is the marvelous group of characters.
This one has four murders and
familiar residents.
this book is particularly well done by the reader – bringing the characters
To life.

A new series to follow!!!

I don't even know where to start, Im so excited about this series! Have to say the first 2 hours were rough.. Im not sure why. There was a lot to follow at the beginning and I think I was afraid it was going to be full of descriptions of characters I didn't know if I should be caring about or not. Somewhere right after the 2 hour mark the action picked up and I was hooked from there. I think also the narration took some getting use to. Steve west is awesome performing really unique voices for each character, and there are a ton, but his regular voice when narrating felt a bit stiff and flat for the first half of the book. I don't know if he got more in to his groove or I just got use to him, but it all came together rather well by that point!

Martha Grimes is now one of my new favorites and Im so excited to have a new series to follow. The story was incredibly detailed and creative without being boring. I was hanging on every word instead of trying to force myself to follow along. Also, I loved the mystery being solved about an hour before the book was over, which left time to explain things and follow up with some of the main characters. I hate stories where everything is thrown at you the last 10 minutes and you're then left stunned with your mouth open in confusion.

For me, this is the most well written mystery I've come across yet, even in comparison to Agatha Christie, who is brilliant but tends to wrap her stories up rather quickly at the end. I urge you to give this a try if you're considering. Its a great mystery with more wit than cheekiness, an incredibly talented narrator, and a genuinely good hearted detective who you'll quickly grow fond of... dare I say even crush by the end.

Hmmm. I'm not running to get the next book!

I DID finish this cozy, but it left me cold. Nothing here to encourage me to rush off to purchase the next book. The characters were luke-warm and one or two I found to be downright annoying. I didn't find any humor here, either. The only redeeming factor was the narrator. No objectionable language or sexual situations.

Good British mystery

Martha Grimes writes enjoyable British mysteries and this series is no exception. The narrator did a good job, and made Aunt Agatha appropriately annoying. Looking forward to the next in the series.