Chief Inspector Richard Jury is surrounded by colorful characters - from the idle rich Melrose Plant (who gave up his hereditary title of Lord) who assists him on cases, to his assistant Sergeant Alfred Wiggins (a hypochondriac of the highest order), to the copper-haired fortune teller Carole Anne (is Jury her father figure or a "person of interest") who lives two floors above him, and the residents of Long Piddington, his frequent stop from London to the scene of the crime.
Drury is intuitive and methodical and always "gets his man" - but doesn't fare as well in love. We can assume from descriptions and responses that he is handsome and attractive, but the melancholy of a war orphan sabotages relationships at every turn. Unrequited love is always a wonderful plot device!
The plots are both humorous and dark - and occasionally get a bit too charmingly convoluted. But if you like your murder mysteries laced and paced with psychological reflection, Richard Jury is your man.
By the way, if you shake your head when you see individual book titles - The Dirty Duck, The Stargazey, The Horse You Came In On - Grimes names most books after an English pub.
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