I Am the Only Running Footman

Martha Grimes

May 2013 · Richard Jury Mysteries Book 8 · Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

The Scotland Yard detective investigates an elusive pair of murders in this “intriguing, appealing” entry in the New York Times–bestselling series (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

In a rainy ditch in a Devon wood, a hitchhiker is found dead. Almost a year later, on another rainy night, another murder; this time, however, the victim is found just outside a pub called I Am the Only Running Footman, near Berkeley Square in London’s fashionable Mayfair District. Devon policeman Brian Macalvie believes the two murders are connected. And thus, detective Richard Jury is drawn into the so-called Porphyria killings.

From the streets of London to the village of Somers Abbas, Jury and Macalvie are joined by the stolid if hypochondriac Sergeant Wiggins and the reluctant Melrose Plant. They meet in another pub, the Mortal Man, and, amidst the clatter and cry of the Warboys family, they ponder a labyrinthine set of clues.

Ratings and reviews

Overall, I liked it, but I think I'm getting burnt out on Jury right now. I think I'll have to take a break, read something different next. Another novel with Macalvie, though in not as big a part. Melrose didn't seem to have a real big part either, but was rather funny in what he was in. It was somewhat different in structure (I think Grimes likes to play around with the structure of her novels from one to the next) in that we follow the killer for parts, as well as what seems like an unrelated sided story of two sisters that doesn't get tied in until the final pages. Carole-Anne and Mrs. Wasserman make a very brief appearance near the end, but we do get little glimpse at Jury's girlfriend. Jury certainly didn't seem to be melancholy in this novel. The killer's motive wasn't clear until the end, which made guessing who it was more difficult. Though there were a very limited number of suspects to begin with. The pacing seemed a little slower than some prior novels as well.

About the author

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.