LemonSky reviewed The dirty duck by Martha Grimes
Review of 'The dirty duck' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
When a tourist is brutally murdered while touring Stratford-on-Avon, Richard Jury and Melrose Plant are called in to investigate. The victim, Gwendolyn Bracegirdle, was a wealthy American, like the other members of her tour group, and there is a lot of pressure on Jury to solve the crime. Two more members of the tour group also ended up slashed to death and a fourth person is beaten and slashed to death. On each body is found a slip of paper with lines from the same poem. To complicate matters, a 9-year-old boy, James Carlton Farraday, a member of the same tour group, has been missing for two days - but his father and stepmother haven't reported his disappearance to the police. Apparently, he has run off before, but always returned. However, this time is different - Jimmy has been kidnapped and the precocious boy is doing all he can …
When a tourist is brutally murdered while touring Stratford-on-Avon, Richard Jury and Melrose Plant are called in to investigate. The victim, Gwendolyn Bracegirdle, was a wealthy American, like the other members of her tour group, and there is a lot of pressure on Jury to solve the crime. Two more members of the tour group also ended up slashed to death and a fourth person is beaten and slashed to death. On each body is found a slip of paper with lines from the same poem. To complicate matters, a 9-year-old boy, James Carlton Farraday, a member of the same tour group, has been missing for two days - but his father and stepmother haven't reported his disappearance to the police. Apparently, he has run off before, but always returned. However, this time is different - Jimmy has been kidnapped and the precocious boy is doing all he can to free himself.
I really enjoyed this Jury/Plant outing. I like Jury and Plant and their friendly, easygoing partnership. They're not so much opposites as they are different sides of the same coin. The secondary characters like Wiggins, the hypochondriac officer, young Jimmy Farraday, and the delightfully wicked old Lady Dew. The motive behind the crime is pretty far-fetched, but it's still a fun ride and one I recommend to fans of British mysteries.
Interesting note considering the importance of drama in general and Shakespeare in particular in this book: Anne Bracegirdle (1671-1748) was a noted English actress who played several Shakespearean roles such as Lady Anne in "Richard III" and Desdemona in "Othello."
