The Winds of Change [Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Martha Grimes (Author), John Lee (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2004

10 CDs. Synopsis: In this addition to the long-running Richard Jury series, the New Scotland Yard detective follows a tangled trail of missing, sexually abused, and murdered children. The death of a five-year-old girl is linked to a pedophile ring controlled by unsavory businessman Viktor Bauman, whose own young daughter Flora vanished during a contentious custody battle with his ex-wife.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Books On Tape (2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1415903018
• ISBN-13: 978-1415903018
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 5.5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,964,242 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

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the best in the series, November 2, 2004

By 

A. Christie "bibliofiend508" (Plano, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Winds Of Change: A Richard Jury Mystery (Hardcover)

Martha Grimes is back with another entry in the Richard Jury series. This book revolves around three murders, a little girl shot found shot the in the head, the death of Jury's cousin, his last living relative, and the death of a strange woman found in the garden of house named Angel Gate. The owner of the Angel Gate's young stepdaughter vanished three years ago, but is not the little girl who was found shot.

Much of this story is introspective for Richard Jury as he examines his feelings about the death of his cousin who he had really never liked in life. That part of the book was very slow moving for me and ultimately did not work. Melrose Plant, a fixture in many prior Jury books was brought into this story, but seemed to be so extraneous that it seemed ridiculous. If you a fan of Richard Jury, then I would recommend reading it, but for others the prior Jury novels are much better. This one was a bit of a chore to get through.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It seems too long between Richard Jury novels., September 20, 2004

By 

S. Schwartz "romonko" (alberta canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Winds Of Change: A Richard Jury Mystery (Hardcover)

I am a HUGE fan of Martha Grimes, and I eagerly await each new addition to her long-running Richard Jury series. I really enjoyed this newest book in the series. Jury has matured and developed into a wonderful character, and there are still the wonderful eccentric secondary characters in this book (although we don't see too much of the Jack and Hammer crowd this time round). But we do see Melrose Plant, and he is as usual a wonderful foil for Jury's broodiness and solitariness. Ms. Grimes also does such a wonderful job with children in her stories, and this book is no exception. The indomitable Lulu is a treat! But the story behind the mystery is not so agreeable. Ms. Grimes has tread where angels fear to go with this book. She enters the seedy world of the up-scale pedophile. As usual she handles this odious subject with her usual painter's hand, and it puts us right there with Jury and Macalvie as they try to solve a number of cases that all seem connected - the disappearance of a small girl three years ago, the death of a woman on a country estate in Cornwall and a pedophile ring that has escaped the law for far too long. Nothing is as it seems (as is usual in a Richard Jury mystery), but boy do we have a lot of fun getting there in the end. Martha Grimes is a wonderful author.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A dark, brooding entry into the Jury Series, August 27, 2004

By 

crazyforgems (Wellesley, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Winds Of Change: A Richard Jury Mystery (Hardcover)

I am a huge fan of the Richard Jury series. I found this entry darker and deeper than most and ultimately quite satisfying.

In many ways, the book is a series of meditations on childhood. Not happy childhoods, of course (this is Martha Grimes)--but ones that are troubled, have undercurrents, or end suddenly and violently.

The book opens with the murder of a five year old child. In the early part of the book, Jury links the murder to a home of pedophilia near the site. In an interesting twist, the alleged backer of the pedophiliac brothel has also lost his daughter through a suspected kidnapping several years before. Jury begins connecting the dots and his journey takes him to some seamy and sordid venues. In addition, Jury himself has recently lost his last relative, a cousin, who had challenged his memories of his sad, orphaned childhood in the near past.

Jury's circle of eccentric friends--Melrose Plant, Aunt Agatha et al.--make all too brief appearances. The book is a bit too dark to have too much of their lighthearted banter.

I definitely enjoyed this installment of the Jury series. At times, I felt Grimes could have linked the plots and the sub-plots better; however, overall, it is a very satisfying read.