The Man with a Load of Mischief

From bestselling author Martha Grimes, comes the first novel featuring Scotland Yard's Detective Chief Inspector Richard Jury—a witty, atmospheric start to this beloved mystery series set in an English village. Long Piddleton had always been wary of newcomers. But the quiet town was stunned when the first stranger was found dead, upended in a butt of ale in the cellar of the Men with a Load of Mischief. Then the second body appeared, swinging in place of the mechanical man above the door of the Jack and Hammer. Suddenly Long Piddleton had good reason to be wary of everyone! Its cozy pubs and inns with their polished pewter and blazing hearths had become scenes of the most bizarre crimes. Who were the victims? And who was the murderer? A stranger? A maniac? Or the disarmingly friendly man next door?

Martha Grimes is the bestselling author of more than thirty books, twenty-five of them featuring Richard Jury. The recipient of the 2012 Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award, Grimes lives in Bethesda, Maryland.