The Old Wine Shades [Audio CD]

Martha Grimes (Author), John Lee (Narrator)

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Books On Tape (2006)
• ISBN-10: 1415926107
• ISBN-13: 978-1415926109
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 5.8 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (106 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,236,612 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Martha Grimes is the bestselling author of twenty-one Richard Jury novels, as well as the novels Dakota and Foul Matter, among others. Her previous two Jury books, The Old Wine Shades and Dust, both appeared on the New York Times bestseller list.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Grave Disappointment, April 19, 2006

By 

Sue Preslar (Monroe, NC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Old Wine Shades (Hardcover)

Martha Grimes has been at the top of my list of favorite mystery writers for years. I love her Richard Jury novels and I even have many of them on tape, narrated by Tim Curry. But THE OLD WINE SHADES has me stymied. I have read her other novels and was so bored that I thought someone else must have written them, but to read a Richard Jury novel that has run amuck is unacceptable.

Is Grimes on medication, or is she just sick of writing about Richard Jury? This novel reads like the mental wanderings of someone going crazy. Her attempt at cleverness by writing from the POV of Mungo the dog was an abysmal failure. Why allow the reader to know the thoughts of Jury and a dog, but nobody else? What's the point? And that's the conclusion I reached about this novel--what was the point? The plot ran all over the place and accomplished exactly nothing.

I think I'll go read some other mystery writers for awhile and hope Grimes gets well soon.

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars In What Dimension Was This Book Written?, April 1, 2006

By 

Linda Slanker (Lake of the Ozarks, MO) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Old Wine Shades (Hardcover)

This Grimes mystery was a big disappointment. I have read all of her books and did not expect this. Please don't read this as a first Grimes book. The discussions about superstring/quantum/mechanical/M theories were okay with me--I read that stuff anyway. The dog was okay--I have several and I know they think and that they have stories to tell. But please...they have not "called time" in the afternoon in English pubs for a number of years. Also, what was the point of the bloody slipper prints? Why has our friend Jury suddenly become so gullible that he doesn't check details? The use of outdated forensic technology, or rather the lack of up-to-date technology, is disappointing. Everyone is snippy and grouchy--they have all turned into boors. In addition, there are way too many spelling and grammatical errors. Please, Martha, you can do better than this!

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars BritMysteryLover, March 28, 2006

By 

Janet Lewis (Huntingdon, PA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Old Wine Shades (Hardcover)

Dear Martha,

Frankly I am very dissapointed. You are one of the very few folks I buy hardcover, but this one is a bust. Maybe it's me though so bear with my questions.

1. The dog. Did he really have to 'think' (muse, wonder, philosophize)? What was the point of dragging the kitten all over the room? How come if he was smart enough to get into the basement and chew the kids free, he was too dumb to go get Jury and alert him to the kids in the basement?

2. Intellectual pretentiousness. How much did we really need to know about Schroedinger? Heisenberg? String Theory? Parallel universes? Quantum theory? How did the continuous references enhance the plot or further the story? How much did we need to know about wine and Trevor's snobbishness? Was he even necessary? Were they paying you by the word??????

3. Jury. By the end I began to think HE had entered a parallel universe. How come he rushes off to find Timmy and, arriving 20 minutes late, suddenly decides the kids are in no great danger after all and spends the last 10 pages of the book bantering with Wiggins and his reporter pal? What caused the loss of urgency? Did Harry (who was a pathological liar, a murderer, a diabolical calculator), kidnap the kids for kicks? Perhaps he too had entered a parallel universe (one devoid of rationality)? What was he going to do with them? Keep them in his cellar for awhile unti they got 'good and scared'?

I love you Martha, I'll keep reading your books. But I hope you'll let Jury back into this universe where dogs don't muse, Melrose gets to really play a part, and the writing is relevant and to the point.