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The Horse You Came in On
The Horse You Came in On
The Horse You Came in On
Audiobook12 hours

The Horse You Came in On

Written by Martha Grimes

Narrated by Steve West

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

About this audiobook

The murder is in America, but the call goes out to Scotland Yard superintendent Richard Jury. Accompanied by his aristocratic friend Melrose Plant and by Sargeant Wiggins, Jury arrives in Baltimore, Maryland, home of zealous Orioles fans, mouth-watering crabs, and Edgar Allen Poe. In his efforts to solve the case, Jury rubs elbows with a delicious and suspicious cast of characters, embarking on a trail that leads to a unique tavern called “The Horse You Came In On”…
LanguageEnglish
Release dateFeb 25, 2014
ISBN9781442363212
Author

Martha Grimes

Bestselling author Martha Grimes is the author of more than thirty books, including twenty-two Richard Jury mysteries. She is also the author of Double Double, a dual memoir of alcoholism written with her son. The winner of the 2012 Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Award, Grimes lives in Bethesda, Maryland.

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Reviews for The Horse You Came in On

Rating: 3.5927835546391758 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

194 ratings7 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It was one week after having suffered a series of strokes when I learned of Robert Jordan’s death from a small TV hanging over my hospital bed. Of course I had heard of him and his Wheel of Time series many times before, but I had never read any of his work. Something about the timing of his death and my own recent experiences made me want to get to know this man better. I felt sorrow for all of his fans, how his story would never be completed. A couple months later I heard refreshing news; the news that another writer would pick up the mantle and write Jordan's last volume. I remember thinking to myself how generous of Robert to allow someone else to finish his tale - how selfless an act to prepare for another artist to add the final touches. I was blown away and I rushed to catch up in time for the final battle.I found myself falling into RJ's universe as I listened to The Eye of the World. I became engrossed in the struggles between the shadow and light so much that I searched for ways to spend time alone so I could "read" more. I listened to the novels as I ran miles around my town preparing for my first marathon. I listened to them as I tore my house down to the studs and rebuilt it for my wife and new baby daughter. I listened to them as I flew back and forth across the country for work. A lot of good memories float to the surface every time I think of this series and I give partial credit to them for my recovery. To take a word from Thom Merrilin, the last battle was "exquisite". A Memory of Light delivered on all of its promises. It is packed with action. It tied up all the many loose ends. It brought about an ending. Robert Jordan can now rest as his tale has been told. His memory has become legend. A Memory of Light has so many plots! On the surface it might seem a daunting task to read and keep track of them all, but Brandon Sanderson groups them together so you're not following too much at once. The world is in utter chaos and all the main characters have crucial roles to play. No one of them has a task more important than another, save maybe Rand himself. As Rand prepares for the final battle, he uses all the assets at his disposal. After setting them in play he leaves them to their own successes and failures as he finally sets out to confront the dark one.You begin to wonder as the shadow pushes back, how can the light prevail? The world is being torn apart by the dark one as he attempts to break the great wheel. Cracks that fall away into the void of nothingness, bubbles of evil erupting across the lands, and forsaken permanently burning souls from the pattern with balefire all plague the armies of the light. Slowly the pieces slide together as all the many loose ends from the previous thirteen books are gathered together into one final weave. Heroes fight, friends are lost and forsaken are left behind as the third age comes to a close.Brandon's writing mimics Robert Jordan's very well, though he writes with a youthful flourish that adds new life into an aging story. I hadn't known of Brandon prior to this venture of wearing the dragon pin so proudly. Since then I have read almost all of his work and wholeheartedly recommend him. A Memory of Light does not fall short of his standard.Throughout the three final volumes, the characters have all remained true to Robert Jordan's telling. Our farm-boy heroes have all grown up over the course of their adventures, yet they remain themselves. Matrim Cauthon is still the same gambler he has always been, though he is much more calculating now. Perrin remains the most level headed of the three ta'veren and Rand's insanity has given way to a clear head that is needed for the final battle. If you don't already know, the magic system within the Wheel of Time series is one of the best known in the fantasy genre. It is defined almost scientifically with advantages and dangers to its use and with opposite forces for every action. Not only is it soundly structured, it is also artful in its casting and the descriptions of its outcomes are both beautiful and ferocious. Aside from the primary magic system within the world, the pattern of existence itself grants new mystical abilities to heroes and villains to add balance and uncertainty to the stories.The world within the Wheel of Time is one of opposites. Villains are almost always evil and heroes are good. There are some minor exceptions, but this is not your gritty fantasy filled with anti-heroes. At its heart, this is your “farm-boy grows up and saves the world” fantasy story.I don't know how "original" A Memory of Light was. I certainly haven't read many books with such a wide scope, but most of the elements within the story were previously seen. There were a few new bits and pieces, but this story was more about concluding the legacy than about surprising us with new notions.I truly enjoyed A Memory of Light. It was a fitting end to one of the greatest epic fantasy series to date. I'd probably have liked it even more if it hadn't been so long, but the length served the purpose of wrapping up loose ends. It truly was unavoidable – there were so many. I also felt the ending would have been more powerful if a few more heroes hadn't survived into the fourth age. That isn't to say I didn't tear up at their survivals. How could I not? The Wheel of Time has come to an ending.I "read" this entire series via audiobook, the final volume being no exception. Kate Reading and Michael Kramer have practically become two of my best friends now, though I've never met or even talked with either of them. I'm torn between four and five stars. I think the telling by Brandon definitely deserves the full five rating, but the “farm-boy saves the world” story has been done quite a bit. This is a really good story though and one that has earned its place in history.Thank you Robert Jordan for this epic series and for having the humility to allow another to finish your tale. Thank you Brandon Sanderson for completing this work with the grace only few have. Thank you Harriet for having the will to see your husband's work completed - you made an excellent choice.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The closest witness to the crime is a blind and deaf man who seems constantly angry. He is the one who finds the body.By Special request by Lady Cray, Richard Jury is sent to Baltimore, Maryland to look into the murder. The victim is the nephew of a friend of hers. Melrose Plant travels with Jury, as he has been invited by authoress friend Helen Taylor. Sergeant Wiggins and his personal pharmacopeia also accompanies Jury. While in Baltimore, all three find themselves introduced to rabid Orioles fans, delicious crabs and Edgar Allan Poe, along with the other charms Baltimore has to offer.Besides murder, there is also a manuscript by Edgar Allen Poe that comes to light. It is real or is it a forgery? When another murder takes place involving the woman who discovered the document, Jury finds he really has his hands full. Plant and Wiggins become extra eyes and ears in solving the murders.Once again, the story line moves smoothly, with twists and left turns, as the three friends unravel and discover if there are connections between the various events.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Let me start with this: I have really enjoyed everything I have read (and collected) by Martha Grimes, but I couldn't get through this one. After several attempts ("Start over, I must be missing something..."), I find it is still much more dialogue than the story will support. Too many irrelevant side trips, far too confusing.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    snarky, murder-investigation, Baltimore, law-enforcement, situational-humor, verbal-humor, EAPoeMore overtly funny than most of the series, Jury and Wiggins head to the US for a few days at the behest and expense of an eccentric and marvelous character from one previous book while Plant heads to Baltimore at the frantic call from a friend. They all wind up pooling information at a bar named The Horse You Came In On. The story itself involves academia, Poe, several murders, and possible plagiarism. Steve West actually gets to snigger on occasion during his narration!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Richard Jury and Melrose Plant cross the pond to handle a case in Baltimore involving an alleged new story by Edgar Allan Poe, a wealthy football fan, Patrick Muldare, and a dead derelict, John-Joy. Melrose wandering through Baltimore with cabbie Hugh and making friends with the homeless was fairly funny. Some open-endedness of the case when Jip gives Richard a photo of herself at age 6 and asks him to find "it", the place she was living. Melrose embarks on his career as a writer. Fun read.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The first Martha Grimes to disappoint me. A total change from the author's usual writing. Much darker, very confusing. Mainly set in the United States as opposed to Britain. I understand the author wanting to change her style, but rather than do so within an already established series, start a new one. This was sadly the last Grimes I ever finished. Tried to read the next in the series but was again disappointed and could not get through it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    No. 12 in the Richard Jury series.Jury is on sick leave but when have such trivialities ever deterred Chief Superintendent Racer from his pathetic attempts to harass Jury? As a result, it is from Racer that Jury learns that Lady Cray, whom he met on a recent case, has asked for him specifically to investigate a strange murder in the US, that of Philip Calvert. Along with Melrose Plant (who has his own personal reasons for visiting the US) and that martyr to health, the long-suffering Sgt. Wiggins, Jury arrives in Baltimore, where the three are greeted by Ellen Taylor, Melrose’s “personal reason”. Ellen gives Melrose a guide to Baltimore that provides a fair amount of humor throughout the book, as Melrose, in between detecting tasks, sight-sees the city with one of the city’s finest—no, not a police officer or fireman, but a cab driver, the redoubtable Hughie, who is a tourist attraction in and of himself. Hughie the Cab Driver compensates brilliantly for the extended absence of Aunt Agatha and the rest of the Long Piddleton crew. Apart from Travels With Hughie, one of the better scenes in the book is Melrose’s introduction to American football in the pub of the book’s name.The investigation into Philip’s murder leading nowhere, Ellen involves Jury in the case of the murder of a graduate student, Beverly Brown, who claimed to have found a previously-unknown manuscript by Edgar Allan Poe. Intrigued by the possibility that Brown and Calvert’s murders may somehow be connected, Jury, Wiggins and Melrose start tracking down answers to the “why” of Brown’s murder.The plot is workmanlike with a somewhat bizarre denouement that strains credulity a bit; the story, however, is really just a vehicle and matrix for a fond tour of Baltimore . Grimes, who has taught at Johns Hopkins, through Ellen gives us a glimpse into an academia replete with the usual vain professors and somewhat absent-minded scholars. There’s also a look at the problem of plagiarism faced by successful authors that provides interest to the book. Although in the end irrelevant to the main plot, the subplot of the alleged Poe manuscript is extremely well-done and provides at least a superficial exploration of how such claims are authenticated.While not one of the better mysteries, the book is well worth reading if only to share Grimes’ obvious affection for Baltimore and its denizens. Highly recommended.