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Martha Grimes

The Case Has Altered Paperback – 31 December 1997

by Grimes Martha (Author)

116 ratings

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Language

English
Publisher

Oynx
Publication date

31 December 1997
Dimensions

10.97 x 2.79 x 17.17 cm
ISBN-10

0451408683
ISBN-13

978-0451408686
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B001PIHRYS
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oynx (31 December 1997)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0451408683
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0451408686
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 10.97 x 2.79 x 17.17 cm

Customer Reviews:
116 ratings

About the author

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Martha Grimes

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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.

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5 star		73%
4 star		16%
3 star		9%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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Ulla Loberg

Condition of book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 June 2020

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The condition is ok as promised, and it arrived more or less at the estimated time, so all is Well ☺️

Larry Pearson

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on 11 October 2016

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First Class !!!

Pat Culham

I love it

Reviewed in Canada on 9 September 2014

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Excellent read. As usual, good character development and just enough twists to keep you wondering.

PlantBirdWoman

The Case Has Altered by Martha Grimes: A review

Reviewed in the United States on 15 August 2015

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When it comes to light summer reading, perfect for sweltering days spent in air-conditioned comfort in one's favorite chair, it's hard to beat one of Martha Grimes' Richard Jury mysteries. She's up to her usual standard in The Case Has Altered although there were one or two things that annoyed me. But I'll get to those in a moment.

In this fourteenth entry in the series, the mystery involves the murder of two women. One was a guest at a country home of local gentry in the isolated fens. She was the ex-wife of the owner of the estate and a thoroughly self-centered and evil person who was disliked by everyone who knew her. Plenty of possible suspects for her murder.

The second victim, killed a few days after the first, was a barmaid at the pub called "The Case Has Altered" who also worked part time in the kitchen and as a sometimes maid at the estate. She seemed to be a thoroughly inoffensive person, one who would go unnoticed in a crowd, and there doesn't seem to be any obvious motive for her to have been killed.

It turns out that another guest at the estate at the time that the ex-wife was killed was Lady Jennifer Kennington, whom Richard Jury has long carried a torch for, but, being Richard Jury, he's never mentioned it to the object of his affection. Through a convoluted set of circumstances, Lady Kennington becomes the prime suspect in the murders. Superintendent Jury and his friend Melrose Plant begin their independent investigation to try to clear her.

Things do not go well with the investigation. They are unable to come up with any other plausible suspects and eventually Jenny is arrested for the murders. Her situation is not enhanced by the fact that she withholds information from the police. She keeps secrets even when it isn't necessary. However, the evidence against her is purely circumstantial and at the hearing, the judge decides there is not enough reason to hold her.

The investigation continues.

Meanwhile, back in Long Piddleton, Melrose's obnoxious Aunt Agatha is pursuing her own case against a local shop owner. She claims to have been attacked by the owner's tiny dog, causing her to trip over the shop's sidewalk display and injure her ankle. She is suing the owner who has no money and who will be bankrupted if she loses.

Since she has no money for a solicitor, the flamboyant local antiques dealer, Marshall Trueblood, takes on her case and represents her at the trial. The trial itself is a hoot and it turns out exactly as any reader in her right mind - and heart - would want it to.

The murder case, too, is eventually resolved, although it is never really clear why Jenny is so secretive. She could have saved herself and everyone else an awful lot of trouble if she had just told the whole truth to begin with. In fact, I find Jenny to be an extremely unlikable character. I think it's time Jury moved on from his infatuation with her.

The character of Lady Jenny Kennington was one of the things that annoyed me about this story. The other was the author's description of the second murder victim - the barmaid/cook's assistant/maid. Every time her name is mentioned, Grimes goes into excruciating detail about how the woman was ugly. She was not attractive to men and so the only way she could ever get one was by falling into bed with them. Which she did. Because she was unattractive and tried to make up for it by being willing. Willing to do anything.

Over and over the author drives home just how plain the woman was. Her plainness did, it is true, have something to do with the resolution of the case, but she didn't have to beat her readers over the head with it in every chapter. Once or twice would have been more than enough. P.D. James would have made the point in one.

5 people found this helpful

CHSDCA

I love Melrose, Jury

Reviewed in the United States on 2 September 2014

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I love Melrose, Jury, Carol-Anne, Trueblood, and tether characters added prior to this novel. However, either Grimes editor was asleep at the job or Grimes herself didn't have enough time to finish this book without thorough revision. First off there were so many areas that were brought up and really implausible. For example, Plant shows up at the Owen estate in a van with the table. But he leaves there in his Rolls. what??!!?? Why question Zell's name and never follow through?

Lady Jennifer hasn't been visible in ten years and Jury all of a sudden loves her unquestionably trusting her character. Her story to him was full of holes and he felt empathy for her??? Who in their right mind invites a man (Plant) to stay in their home based on a phone conversation with Trueblood?? How stupid were these people when Plant is questioning them about the murders? None of this was believable in the least!

I do love Plants experiences with dogs and little children though especially the ways dogs react to him. The line about him asking if the dog thought he was his dentist was clever. One more thing Plant including Bea on his list of women was ridiculous. Perhaps a refresher on who Miss Fludd was to him would have helped

I also figured out the murders half way through But I will continence reading the other novels.

2 people found this helpful

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The Case Has Altered Paperback – 31 December 1997

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Martha Grimes

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