The Grave Maurice

All of Martha Grimes novels in her Richard Jury series are named after pubs in England. That explains the odd names for the books but doesn't quite explain the odd names England has for its pubs. My latest read is The Grave Maurice. This is the 18th in the series and it got very poor reviews. It does take a very different approach then her usual books. Primarily, it is not a murder mystery as there is no murder to solve. There is an abduction which more or less solves itself. And people do die in this book but there is no need, really, for a detective to do any investigating to solve any mysteries. I think it is a necessary read if you are following the series but the book hardly stands on its own. There are a lot of interesting non-related events involving side-kick Melrose Plant but they are not part of the central story. The central story is somewhat hard to identify, however. Basically, the book flounders. It almost makes you wonder if someone else wrote it.