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After reading this book I recalled a Martha Grimes book I had read 15 years ago, THE DEER LEAP, and I found some notes I had made at the time: "Det Supt Richard Jury and his ill assortment of co-crime solvers get involved in a small village murder, where a teenage girl tries to save animals. Improbable characters, but decent and interesting plot." DUST still has the improbable characters, although not so many of what seemed like the 'regulars.' In fact, only Melrose Plant, the highly eccentric lord who doesn't want to be a lord, seems to have survived. He's used to good advantage here, but much of the time I find him boring. Sexy Detective Inspector Lu Aguilar is an interesting new character, who is in charge of investigating the murder of wealthy playboy Billy Maples. Aguilar can't wait to jump in bed with Jury, so she strips off her clothing as soon as they enter her flat or his, and amid passionate entwinings they break or knock over all the living room furnishings en route to the bedroom. How Jury gets on the case is beyond me. He seems to just invite himself in without any prior assignment. He tells Aguilar's Detective Sergeant Chilten that "You know you need me" and belatedly he's assigned to it by his superiors because Aguilar specifically asks for him, even though when Jury tells her also that she needs him, she responds, "'Yes, but this way.' She slid on top of him and it was like slipping into the sea." The language, especially in the early chapters, is out of this world, or off the wall, or something else super breezy, or flippant, or otherwise not standing up to word/phrase analysis. Jury shows himself worthy of his rank when Chilten tells him: "Remember your Sherlock Holmes," and Jury answers "He's never far from my mind." This is the kind of remark that I would ordinarily take to be facetious, but in view of the rest of the dialogue I'm inclined to think Jury really means it. Jury brings his otherwise idle friend, Melrose Plant, into the case without pay or status, which I find to be a travesty on police procedures. The chronology also seems divorced from reality. On the other hand, I'd agree with Jury's assessment of language when the following dialogue takes place: Sergeant Wiggins: "You mean Osmond's been fucking the lady in question." Jury: "Very funny. Do you know why James didn't use language like that? Do you? Not because it's vulgar, not because he was prissy, but because it doesn't mean anything." It was the way Grimes brought Henry James into her story that made me appreciate the whole plot up to that point. Grimes knows her Henry James, and she makes ample use of this knowledge for a good part of the middle of the book. Even Melrose Plant helps the story along here by discussions of James's books. But suddenly the plot thickens with an overdose of Nazi Germany, and at this point my good feelings about the plot disappeared. I know there are Martha Grimes fans who love the Inspector Jury series, and they – wisely – will not be swayed by my review in any way, but will take it as an indication of my poor judgment rather than Grimes's writing. And who knows? There may be readers who are intrigued enough by my words above to try the book and, what's more, may enjoy it. For myself, I'd rather read Henry James.
Reviewed by Eugene Aubrey Stratton, March 2007
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