Another enjoyable Jury & Plant outing. I'm reading these totally out of order, but that doesn't seem to be a problem. The story starts off with an assault on a young busker (street musician), who is innocently playing her violin when someone hits her on the back of the head and then flees. The scene then shifts to a woman trying to shoo a dog, which promptly drops a human finger at her feet. The connection between the two crimes is not immediately apparent.

Richard Jury is called out to investigate with his friend (and ex-peer) Melrose Plant. It eventually becomes apparent that everything is tied to the theft of priceless emeralds from Lord Kennington a year earlier. The suspected thief was his secretary, who was killed in an accident. Apparently, he hid the emeralds, which have never been found. It is believed that he had an accomplice, but the person was never identified. Jury and Plant's investigation lead to a "Wizards and Warriors" group (somewhat similar to D & D) that the secretary belonged to. Does the game have anything to do with the hiding place of the emeralds?

This is one of the more humorous Jury & Plant mysteries and is full of amusing characters. For example, Polly Praed:

"A moderately successful mystery-story writer, she often, when her plots came unglued, would divert herself by practicing various modes and styles of murder on the Bodenheims, singly or together. She favored the denouement which had the entire village coming together to murder the titled family."

The Bodenheims are the odious "lords of the manor" in Littlebourne and never let anyone forget it. In most mysteries, they would be the ones to be bumped off. However, this isn't most mysteries, so they are kept around for amusement.

Then there is Emily Louise Perk:

"The next person to enter the Magic Muffin was Emily Louise Perk, ten years old with no sign she had grown since she was eight. Her small-boned frame and triangular face, mournful brown eyes, strings of yellow hair hanging about her pointed chin, shabby little hacking jacket and jeans, all proclaimed her to be quite a pitiful child."

Like the book says, "Emily Louise Perk was anything but pitiful." In fact, she is formidable and able to hold her own even with the nasty Bodenheims. Resourceful, smart, and downright scary, she is my favorite character in the book after Polly Praed. My only caveat is that she seems older than her eight years.

This mystery is good fun with humor, but also suspense. Things take a serious turn later in the book. I was very surprised by who the accomplice/killer was. Ms Grimes does an excellent job combining an amusing English village (reminiscent of [a:D.E. Stevenson|183343|D.E. Stevenson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1270770674p2/183343.jpg]) and an intriguing mystery. I have read several of her books and have never been disappointed.

Very recommended.