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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Connecting the dots, January 4, 2004
This review is from: Help the Poor Struggler (Paperback)
The tiny hamlet of Clerihew Marsh is the site of the murder of Rose Mulvanney. Her five year old daughter calls the operator to summon assistance. Wiggins and Richard Jury are interested in another matter years later in Dorchester. The victim is Simon Riley, son of a butcher. It is wondered if Davey White in Wynchcoombe is somehow connected to the incident of Simon Riley. The second boy has been placed in a church. His grandfather and guardian is vicar there. Help the Poor Struggler is, not surprisingly in a book from the Richard Jury series, a pub. Molly Singer wears off the rack Oxfam clothes. She will not speak to the police. The latest victim is Angela Thorne. She is wrapped in a cape belonging to Molly Singer. It seems that Molly Singer is Mary Mulvanney, a daughter of the years-ago murder victim. It is pleasant to read a Richard Jury mystery because he appears complete with ensemble players. Half-way through this book Melrose Plant turns up at the Jack and Hammer along with the Long Piddleton antiques dealer, Marshall Trueblood. Jessica Ashcroft, a child and Jury's candidate for next victim, is all ready to service Plant's Rolls Royce which fails just outside the wall of the Ashcroft manor house. She claims to know about cars and welcomes him into the premises which is the plan as conceived by Plant and Jury. Chief Superintendent Racer is concerned over the nonsolution of the cases. As Jury continues his investigation he surmises that the cases are connected since the sites, Princeton, Clerihew Marsh, and Wynchcoombe are equidistant from each other and from Ascroft Manor. Simon's stepmother has an Ashcroft connection it is ascertained. The vicar of Wynchcoombe is related too. The story is well-plotted. This is a lovely book. The character of the child, Jessica Ashcroft, is just right.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love, money, and revenge, June 3, 2005
This is an Onyx 2005 reprint of a 1985 novel. It is a little on the dark side, and a change of pace from the author's early novels in the Jury/Plant series. No side excursions into Long Piddleton, or side issues about flashers. Perhaps the author was developing a more serious side. You do need to read some of the earlier novels to understand the Jury and Plant characters.
The story starts with a prelude about a murder where the wrong man is convicted. The only witness, the victim's 5-year old daughter, is left catatonic and unable to point out the killer. The wrong man is convicted of the crime and sent off to prison, simply because he was infatuated with the victim.
Now it is 20 years later. A serial killer is murdering children in the same geographic area as the earlier murder. It appears to be the work of a psychopath. The police are attempting to link the killings and various suspects show up on the scene - the man, just released from prison, who was convicted of the earlier murder; an agoraphobic photographer who seems a bit mysterious; and various relatives who might inherit money if Lady Jessica, a 10-year old heiress, should happen to die.
Events and police work bring the story to some surprising conclusions. The novel is split into 28 chapters.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Macalvie joins Jury and Melrose, July 2, 2007
Help the Poor Struggler, by Martha Grimes, is the 6th book in this excellent series. The book introduces us to the moody and blunt Brian Macalvie. Macalvie will become a recurring character in the series, appearing in some of the books to follow. This novel features a mystery involving a serial killer of children in the mysterious Dartmoor (famous for the Sherlock Holmes adventure The Hound of Baskervilles). This is a very strong entry in this compelling series. Macalvie, a local constable, is haunted by a previous case that seems to be related to this series of killings. Jury enlists the aid of Melrose Plant and soon the sleuthing is underway. A really solid read and an important book in the series.
For those of you new to the series, I would recommend reading them in order for the best reading experience; however, they are also fun as stand alone novels.
Here is the series in order:
The Man with a Load of Mischief
The Old Fox Deceived
The Anodyne Necklace
The Dirty Duck
Jerusalem Inn
Help the Poor Struggler
The Deer Leap
I am the only Running Footman
The Five Bells and Bladebone
The Old Silent
The Old Contemptibles
The Horse You Came In on
Rainbow's End
The Case has Altered
The Stargazey
The Lamorna Wink
The Blue Last
The Grave Maurice
The Winds of Change
The Old Wine Shades
Dust
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