The ending is open for interpretation and I'm not thrilled with that. Feels different from her other books; she has definitely steered away from the light-hearted quirky cozys with which I am familiar. It also felt as though Jury was acting out of character with a witness. ( )

Such a grab bag of the good, the functional and the awkward. I admire the fluency of the writing. Interesting to think of an American (who lived in Santa Fe at least for a while) writing British detective novels. Here's a good interview with MG about the series http://www.the-line-up.com/martha-grimes-interview/ . ( )

Mystery writer, Polly Praed is in Ashdown Dean, trying to find an idea or motivation for the book her editor thinks she is working on and is on deadline for. What she finds is a phone booth with a dead lady who falls out when Polly opens the door.

Polly is friends with Melrose Plant and Richard Jury, so winds up calling Melrose about the dead woman. In turn, Melrose calls Jury about it and both men come to Polly’s rescue.

What they find, besides the dead woman, is a mystery of pet deaths and an aging dowager whose ward lives with her. The ward, Carrie Fleet, is an independent sort with a passion for animals. She also seems to know nothing of her past as a small child. Neither, does the dowager.

There is a lab nearby that uses animals for experiments — a practice that goes against Carries beliefs. Carrie wants to somehow shut down the facility.

As Jury is trying to help solve the murder of the lady in the phone box, he is finding possible ties between the pet deaths and also possible links to Carrie’s past history.

The ending was a stunner for me, but nevertheless, I enjoyed reading the book. ( )

Melrose Plant and Richard Jury meet Carrie Fleet, a 15-year-old animal rescuer as villagers in Ashdown Dean die mysteriously. Carrie aids Plant and Jury in the search for the village killer. Polly Praed, a noted mystery writer, convinces Plant and Jury to come to the village when she finds the first corpse. What prompts these killings and why is Carrie in the middle of everything? Grimes inserts her view on animal testing within the confine of a lab and on animal cruelty. New characters jump into the circle, such as the Baroness, Sebastian Grimsdale, and the Brindles. The plight of Carrie Fleet reminds me of Victor Hugo’s, Les Misérables. Grimes, like Louise Penny, describes wonderful characters and stunning setting. ( )

mystery girl leads to mystery murder, Jury solves too late