Richard Jury Books in Order

How to Read the Richard Jury Series

For Martha Grimes' acclaimed Richard Jury series, the path is direct: publication order and chronological order are identical. Because character relationships, recurring subplots, and personal histories evolve chronologically across the novels, starting at the beginning and reading in the order of release is the most rewarding way to experience the series.

While the mysteries in each book are self-contained, the personal arcs of Inspector Richard Jury, his aristocratic friend Melrose Plant, and the hypochondriac Sergeant Alfred Wiggins build upon each other. Skipping around will spoil character developments, departures, and the shifting dynamics of the recurring cast in the fictional village of Long Piddleton and beyond.

The Complete Publication Order

Here is the complete list of all 25 Richard Jury novels in their recommended reading order:

1. The Man With a Load of Mischief (1981) - The classic debut introducing Jury and Melrose Plant in the village of Long Piddleton.
2. The Old Fox Deceiv'd (1982) - A stabbing in a foggy Yorkshire village leads Jury into a web of hidden identities.
3. The Anodyne Necklace (1983) - Winner of the Nero Wolfe Award, this mystery links a spinster's death to a London pub.
4. The Dirty Duck (1984) - Set in Stratford-upon-Avon, featuring the murders of wealthy tourists.
5. Jerusalem Inn (1984) - Jury meets a woman at a graveyard shortly before she is murdered.
6. Help the Poor Struggler (1985) - A dark investigation involving historical child murders on the moors.
7. The Deer Leap (1985) - Set in a Hampshire village, focusing on strange animal deaths and human murder.
8. I Am the Only Running Footman (1986) - Jury investigates a strangling in London that mirrors a case in Brighton.
9. The Five Bells and Bladebone (1987) - Melrose Plant finds a body inside a roll of carpet in Long Piddleton.
10. The Old Silent (1989) - Jury witnesses a murder in a hotel lobby, setting off a complex investigation.
11. The Old Contemptibles (1991) - A highly personal case where Jury becomes a suspect after a widow's death.
12. The Horse You Came In On (1993) - The characters travel across the Atlantic to Baltimore, Maryland, in a rare US-based mystery.
13. Rainbow's End (1995) - Jury investigates the seemingly natural deaths of wealthy women.
14. The Case Has Altered (1997) - Set in the Lincolnshire fens, involving two murders at an actress's estate.
15. The Stargazey (1998) - Jury becomes obsessed with a beautiful woman he sees on a London bus.
16. The Lamorna Wink (1999) - Melrose Plant takes the lead in Cornwall while renting a house near the sea.
17. The Blue Last (2001) - A deeply emotional book unearthing secrets from the London Blitz.
18. The Grave Maurice (2002) - Jury recovers from a near-fatal wound while Melrose searches for a missing girl.
19. The Winds of Change (2004) - Jury deals with a case involving a mute girl and a high-profile London shooting.
20. The Old Wine Shades (2006) - A psychologist shares a bizarre story with Jury at a pub, leading to a missing family.
21. Dust (2007) - A murder in a London park leads Jury to investigate a wealthy family's secrets.
22. The Black Cat (2010) - The murder of glamorous women in pubs pulls Jury back to London's high-stakes social circles.
23. Vertigo 42 (2014) - Jury investigates a woman's fatal fall from decades earlier at a London skyscraper bar.
24. The Knowledge (2018) - A double homicide outside an art gallery sends Jury into the hidden world of London cabbies.
25. The Old Success (2019) - A French woman's body on a remote Cornish island links three separate murders.
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What to Know Before You Start

American author Martha Grimes wrote the Richard Jury series as a tribute to classic British Golden Age detective fiction. She famously named each book in the series after a real or fictional pub, capturing a quintessential British atmosphere. Despite this cozy frame, the series transitions from lighthearted village mysteries in the early 1980s to significantly darker, more introspective psychological dramas in the 2000s.

Key Characters to Watch

• Superintendent Richard Jury: A melancholy, empathetic Scotland Yard detective who carries his own personal grief, yet remains highly intuitive and relentless in pursuit of the truth.
• Melrose Plant: An aristocratic, wealthy amateur sleuth who voluntarily relinquished his titles. He acts as Jury's closest friend and sidekick, offering sharp wit, dry humor, and an insider's view of upper-class English society.
• Sergeant Alfred Wiggins: Jury's loyal assistant at Scotland Yard, famous for his constant stream of psychosomatic illnesses, cough drops, and herbal teas.
• Marshall Trueblood: Long Piddleton's flamboyant, colorful antiques dealer, whose bantering friendship with Melrose Plant provides much of the series' comic relief.

Are There Spin-Offs or Crossovers?

There are no direct spin-off series or character crossovers within the Richard Jury universe. Martha Grimes has written other popular series—such as the Emma Graham series (set in a Maryland lake resort starting with Hotel Paradise) and the Andi Oliver series—but they are entirely distinct. The Richard Jury books remain a self-contained, linear sequence. The only major departure is The Horse You Came In On, which takes Jury and Melrose to Baltimore, Maryland, serving as a unique American interlude in an otherwise thoroughly British series.