Martha Grimes could write the back of a phone book and I would pay to read it. One of my all-time favourite authors.

here, she stretches her colourful ( and inimitable) cast of characters beyond London and Long Piddleton and ties in an international intrigue that is sewn so into the intricate plot.

I confess that I read Grimes for her rapier wit, sparkling humour and prose and unexpected dialogue, not to mention some of my favourite characters of all time, as well as for the mystery. In the Knowledge, we are gifted one of her finest mysteries in years.


I will never tire of reading Grimes. It is an absolute joy and my cheeks always hurt from smiling (no matter the sinister undercurrents of the book) when I turn the last page. Welcome home, her books seem to say, here are all of your friends.

To add, the moment I finish a Grimes book, I immediately want to start the series again at the beginning.

I am a long time fan of Martha Grimes and I was so looking forward to this title, but I simply did not enjoy it. I was very disappointed!

David and Rebecca Moffitt are gunned down at the entrance to the exclusive Artemis club. The killer then jumps into a black cab driven by Robbie Parsons. The killer escapes to Nairobi but is trailed by a young girl named Patty Haight. New Scotland Yard Detective Superintendent Richard Jury had met the Moffitts a few days before their murder and is shocked to read about their deaths. Jury coerces his friends Melrose Plant and Marshall Trueblood to help find the killer and infiltrate the Artemis club. The motives follow a twisty trail related to Tanzanian gem mines, another shooting at a Reno casino and obsessive love. A pub that only London’s black cabbies, those who have “the knowledge,” can find also plays a key role.

I received an eARC via Netgalley with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and provided this review.

Martha Grimes provides a splendid murder puzzle for Richard Jury to solve that involves the London taxi driver's the Knowledge to solve. Greed, family dysfunction, the art world, African connections all play into the mix. Richard Jury uses his mixed bag of friends and Scotland Yard officers to put the pieces together. Enjoy !!!!

This Martha Grimes was worth the wait. It was a wonderful cozy read. I hope that Grimes has given up on her American stories and Jane Austen “sequels”. Jury, Wiggins, Melrose, Trublood, etc. Are wonderful characters. I enjoy the humour and the plot lines. Highly recommended.

Thanks Grove Atlantic and netgalley for this ARC.

This was my first time reading the Richard Jury series but not the last. Loved the historical feel to this contemporary mystery.

There are a handful of authors whose mysteries are almost guaranteed to be wonderfully crafted, entertaining and beautifully written. Martha Grimes is one author on my list of 'auto-buys'. The Knowledge is the 24th Richard Jury novel and he returns with a cast of familiar characters and an ensemble group of new ones.

Like the previous books in the series, the title comes from the name of a pub. In this case it's a mythical pub known only to the cab drivers of London. Along with a ragtag bunch of incredibly savvy street kids, there are cab drivers, gem smugglers, and a healthy helping of murder, jealousy and corruption.

I have been with this series since the first book and look forward to each and every one. The Knowledge might suffer a bit by comparison with the others, though it's still absolutely top notch. I also wouldn't recommend this book as an entry point into the series. There are an awful lot of casual in-jokes and assumed background knowledge of the characters. I continue to adore Jury and Plant and co. Wonderful, even if it's a bit more whimsical than the usual Richard Jury mystery.

368 pages, available from Grove Atlantic in hardcover, paperback and ebook formats.

Five stars.

I've been a longtime fan of Martha Grimes, and of the Richard Jury series. "The Knowledge" is a cleverly constructed mystery with a secret pub, a band of street wise children (a blend of the Baker Street Irregulars and Fagin's urchins), and a dash of astronomy and physics.

A couple shot in front of an exclusive casino / art gallery - the shooter escapes via black cab (tailed by a clever street kid) to Nairobi. The case seems clear cut, but not everything as it's seems.

A number of recurring characters from the series feature in the story, and their backstory and quirks added flashes of humor amid the investigation - newcomers to the series will want to read the previous novels to understand their relationships with one another. The investigation switches between London (and its environs) and Nairobi, with Jury in London and his formerly-titled friend Melrose Plant in pursuit of a key witness.

I enjoyed the quirky interactions between the characters, the seemingly non-sequitur leaps in theories and the notion of an exclusive pub known only cab drivers juxtaposed with a highly exclusive casino / art gallery - to gain entry to both, one needs to go through a thorough background check. The novel (and series) is reminiscent of the Golden Age (British) mysteries set in contemporary times.

Highly recommended (along with the rest of the series)

It has been almost four years since the last Richard Jury has been published. As soon as I started reading this I was reminded just how much I enjoy this series, these characters, like catching up with
old friends. This story includes a murder of a welathy married couple in front of an exclusive gambling establishment, two people who Jury had just met a few days before. Of course he is drawni to the case, and he enlists his two friends, Melrose Plant who he send to Africa,and Trusvlood, who he establishes as a black jack dealer in the gambling venue. Without his knowledge a small group of intrepid children, including the eleven year old Patty Haigh. This young girl is unbelievable, not a person to mess with, funny, fearless and quite enchanting.

This is a series that is entertaining, has some great characters and an intirguing mystery that has ties to Africa. Some of what happens is probably unbelievable but it makes for a good story. Love the interplay between the characters,and appreciate the steady pace and the many turns this story takes.
Love this series and hope this time there is not as many years before next in series.

ARC from Netgalley.

“The Knowledge” by Martha Grimes is book twenty-four in the Richard Jury series. The story begins in London on Friday, November 1, and traverses across the city and several continents at a frantic pace. Grimes reaches out and pulls in the reader right from the first line.
“He was a dead man and he knew it.”

Robbie Parsons drives a prestigious Black Cab, but he was shocked when shots ring out and the killer jumps into his cab. A fast-paced frantic chase through London ensues with the cabbies and the assistance of unusual “extra” helpers, local street children. After a frenzied drive seemingly nowhere, the passenger, and murderer of two people, abruptly puts the gun away, pays the fare, and gets out.

Meanwhile, Detective Superintendent Richard Jury, New Scotland Yard CID, is shocked when he reads the newspaper headline: Couple Shot Outside Trendy London Club. He had met this couple a few nights earlier at a local club. As the city police and Scotland Yard scramble to find the killer, the challenging question is “Why were they killed?” Money? Revenge? Love? None of the usual motives seems to fit this bizarre murder. Even Jury is muddled. “Superintendent, you have a way of speaking in riddles.”

Jury, however, is the consummate investigator, digging for truth and answers, question and requesting everyone.
“What? I didn’t tell you everything? You think I was lyin’?”
“Not at all. But no one ever tells us ‘all he knows’ because you don’t know all you know.”

Occasionally a bit of humor is thrown in at the expense of TV. “We should have a murder board, sir. We’ve been through all of that, Wiggins. And it’s a whiteboard. Don’t talk like we’re a TV cop show.”

The story is not linear, and the action moves from one place to another, from one perspective to another, and from one time to another. As details about the couple come out, the conspiracy moves across continents from the United States to Africa. Flashbacks fill in the background and details, and each chapter is identified with the date and location.

All the characters are well developed and interesting. Everyday details and ordinary happenings are interspersed throughout the book. Casual conversations set the tone and give glimpses into their personalities. Characters are real, believable, and readers like them.


London’s black cab drivers play a key role in the resolution of the mystery, and they provide the title of the book. Since London is complicated to navigate, black cab drivers must pass a rigorous geographic test, claimed to be one of the hardest in the world. It was called “the knowledge.” That was also the name of a hidden hangout for cab drivers, and one that NEVER allowed non-drivers access. Well, maybe there will be an exception.

One especially interesting and unique character is Patty Haigh, one of the “child assistants” involved. The children “informers” do present some “social” incongruities. Patty is extremely well prepared for sleuthing, especially for a ten-year old child, and adept enough that that she traverses international airports, sneaks into foreign countries, talks her way into luxury hotels, and returns to live on the streets of London without some sort of social service intervention.

I was given a copy of “The Knowledge” from Martha Grimes, Atlantic Monthly Press, and NetGalley. I loved every word. I could not put it down. This book is every bit as engaging as the twenty-three before it. It was as easy to read and seemed as if It were reading about an old friend. Oh wait, I was!

Martha Grimes’ clever Richard Jury novels take their titles from British pubs, and there have been some doozies over the years: I Am the Only Running Footman, Help the Poor Struggler, Five Bells and Bladebone. So the 24th in the series, The Knowledge (Grove Atlantic, digital galley) seems merely another curiosity. But don’t go looking for it in London. The Knowledge, which refers to the street maps that the drivers of London’s famous black cabs know by heart, is also the name of a hidden, cabbies-only pub so secret that even Scotland Yard can’t find it. The story of the pub is one of the whimsical digressions in the murder case Jury is investigating, the shooting deaths of an American astronomer and his wife on the steps of a private casino. The shooter escapes in a black cab, but the stalwart driver alerts his network and Patty Haigh, a sassy preteen Sherlock, manages to pick up his trail at Heathrow and wrangle a first-class ticket to Kenya. Jury will eventually dispatch his pal Melrose Plant on safari to find Patty, while placing antiques dealer Marshall Trueblood inside the casino to deal cards. The complicated plot involving drugs, stolen art and greedy villains, is almost an afterthought, but who cares when the gang’s all here, plus winsome newcomers. I was totally charmed. Like lovely Vivian, I can’t make up my mind between Jury and Plant, so I’ll take both, please.

I've been reading Martha Grimes' Richard Jury series for years. Her book titles are the names of real pubs in England, but the appeal is mostly in her quirky characters. Her latest installment is titled The Knowledge, a pub known only to London cabbies. Although her previous books are based on real places, this one may not be. If there is no real pub called "The Knowledge," there should be.

My interest in this one was piqued by "the Knowledge"--"The Knowledge is a series of tests which must be passed by all black cab drivers before they can get a licence to work in the capital. Black cabbies must study some 320 routes and 25,000 streets and get to know them all by heart.

They also memorise roughly 20,000 landmarks and places of public interest, from tourist destinations to museums, parks, churches, theatres and schools.

The process typically takes between two and four years to complete and has been described as like having an atlas of London implanted into your brain.

Black cabbie hopefuls must then pass a written test and a series of oral exams before they can get their licence." (source The Sun)

Early studies have shown that the brains of London black cabdrivers had larger-than-average hippocampi. New research shows that "that London taxi drivers not only have larger-than-average memory centers in their brains, but also that their intensive training is responsible for the growth." (source The Scientific American)

OK--enough digression. This latest Richard Jury novel involves cab drivers and a rag tag bunch of kids who help solve the murder of a young couple.

from the description: Robbie Parsons is one of London’s finest, a black cab driver who knows every street, every theater, every landmark in the city by heart. In his backseat is a man with a gun in his hand—a man who brazenly committed a crime in front of the Artemis Club, a rarefied art gallery-cum-casino, then jumped in and ordered Parsons to drive.

With the murderer as a passenger, Parsons surreptitiously signals other black cab drivers and then the kids get involved in keeping track of the killer's escape. Later, Jury enlists the aid of Melrose Plant (my favorite character, although he doesn't get as much play as I'd like) and Marshall Trueblood in an attempt to solve all of the twists and turns of the case.

You must be prepared to accept a less than realistic characterization of the kids, but as usual, Grimes' latest Richard Jury novel is a whirlwind of crime-solving and fun.

Read in February; blog review scheduled for April 8.

NetGalley/Grove Atlantic

British Detectives. April 13, 2018. Print length: 662 pages. !? I can't believe it was so many pages--I sped through it!

I read all of Grimes' previous Richard Jury books over the course of last year, and so I was surprised to see that this feels more like a return to early books in the series than her last few. A puzzling crime, precocious children assistants, and an intriguing pub, along with Jury and Melrose Plant-- it feels good to be back.

The quirky cab drivers in this book were such a treat! I always like a new Richard July mystery and this one was a fun read. Early in the book a couple is killed in front of an exclusive casino/nightclub. A cabbie, Robbie Parsons, had driven the couple to the venue and a man with a gun jumped into his car and told him to drive. Robbie drove around the London and finally dropped the man at Waterloo Station.

A bunch of kids who were friends of Robbie tracked the man to Heathrow where he boarded a plane. Patty Haigh, age 10 (my favorite character in this book) actually finagled her way onto the plane to continue following the man. Richard Jury is, of course, brought in to investigate the murders and he had actually met and liked the man who was killed. The hunt is on to find the killer and some interesting information develops.

The Knowledge is a bar for Black Cab drivers only. It is a secret place and the secret is carefully kept by the cabbies. It is not on any map and many people have tried to find it.

I enjoyed this mystery and loved the quirky characters. The writing is clever and flows well. This story is a fun one because of the characters and the intricate plot.

Thanks to Martha Grimes and Grove Atlantic through Netgalley for an advance copy of this book.

For years my sister has been telling me to read Martha Grimes. I always had another book on the shelf so I put her recommendation in the back of my mind and left it there. Along comes The Knowledge, the 24th in the Richard Jury Mystery series, and I am utterly and completely hooked.

My general impression: recurring characters who are easy to identify, a murder happens, people running about, a cabby hijacked by a murderer, more cabbies following the hijacked cabby and murderer, children following a murderer, Scotland Yard’s Detective Richard Jury is following a murderer, they are all going in different directions at the same time.

If you have been lucky enough to visit London and had any experience with a cab driver you will realize that there is no other profession that requires the extent of knowledge and professionalism that is A London Cab Driver. They have The Knowledge and in more ways than the knowing of all streets, directions and locations in London.

Among the Characters are:
Richard Jury – a Scotland Yard Detective, who makes analogies to Greek tragedies. Worries about finding Patty Haigh a good home and maybe finding a murderer.

Patty Haigh, a ten year, old who haunts Heathrow, the train station and any other location where she can scent the possibility of a scam. She carries a variety of costumes in her backpack including rhinestone glasses so she can meet “any eventuality”. She can and does pinch a boarding pass and uses it to snuggle up close to a murderer. She is equally comfortable travelling with a murderer to places unknown, roaming a “godless slum”, or charming her way into a tent safari where she ultimately encounters Lord Ardry.

Lord Ardry, also known as Melrose Plant, is a peer with money, big money and a friend of Richard Jury. Plant hates people outside his circle, hates meeting new people and yet finds himself on a tent safari close up with all sorts of new people and becomes Patty Haigh’s protector.

Throw in; the victims and their relatives, Leonard Zane a suspect who is elegant, mysterious and the owner of The Artemis Club, his new croupier Marshall Trueblood, the cabbies, the rest of the kids, a few more police type people, Cyril the cat, mix with tongue-in-cheek wit, stir and you are in for several hours of enjoyable reading. And for those who require more depth, there are references to quantum physics and the uncertainty principle,

I admit to being confused much of the time I was reading this book, asking myself “What is going on here?” Never mind - it was a grand escapade. The moral is when your sister makes a recommendation listen to her advice.

Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic/Atlantic Monthly Press for a copy

Ten-fifteen years ago, if you'd asked about my favourite book series I probably would have said it was those by Martha Grimes and featuring Scotland Yard detective Richard Jury alongside the aristocratic but diffident Melrose Plant.

All named after a pub featured the in book (kicking off with The Man With A Load of Mischief in 1981), they were my comfort reads. I LOVED our main players - Jury himself and Melrose Plant of course. I'd even worked out who should play each in a TV series at one point. (And was later disappointed to see those cast in a German series based on the books - a bit like my response to the UK TV version of the Elizabeth George's Inspector Thomas Lynley series.)

I struggled a little at one point in this series. Jury seemed to constantly be falling in love with women you'd least expect and it felt as if the story, and our characters, floundered a little. Even now I'm not sure if their lives are really going anywhere. Perhaps Grimes doesn't know where she wants to take them. Indeed, I read somewhere that she'd 'slowed' time between each book in the series to avoid the characters ageing too much. 

And in reality they haven't really aged since I first met them 20-30 years ago, which IS a good thing for me. I don't want to read about them as 80yr olds, but would prefer they stay in their 30s, 40s or 50s. (Or perhaps I want them to age at a similar pace to me.... which I'd also like to be slowed down if at all possible? #Kthnxbai). 

There are many things I adore about the series. The characters, obviously. Grimes really nails the voices of her main cast, including Jury, Plant, Jury's colleague Wiggins and neighbour Carole-Anne Palutski, along with Plant's eccentric band of English aristocrats; incidentally, written incredibly well by an American author.

And... I think I've said this before, she writes kids really really well. Many of her Jury / Plant series have featured self-possessed and audacious youngsters all playing well off both main characters. (And then of course there's her Emma Graham series, centred around the series' 12yr old namesake.)

It's no different here as we're dragged from London to Kenya by Patty, a 10yr old street kid. (One needs to suspend disbelief, I must admit, in contemplating how a child could travel on two international flights, roam about Nairobi and eventually run into the one person she needs to. But, #whatevs)

I could easily have read this in a sitting and was tempted to ditch my plans to do so. My original plan involved only starting the book but I kept going, such is the warm enveloping nature of Grimes' narrative.

As always, both of our heroes get their time in the spotlight - I've wondered if she prefers one over the other - and think I was once very much in team Jury camp, but am prevaricating a bit about that (and team-Melrose) as I've gotten older.

With marvelous characters and plot (if sometimes stretching credibility .. but I never cared) the story of who killed a golden couple unravels, leisurely, but in an entertaining way. Calling in Conan Doyle devices from Sherlock holmes stories (a band of street kids with amazing skills of deception who help out, for one example), our rather cultivated detective has friends of his own who can inhabit disguises with the best of them. Taking us from Africa to the streets of London where cabbies help each other out in secret ways, chief instructor Jury looks at evidence in his own unique way, playing off more staid juniors. I whipped through to find out why they'd been killed: very satisfying all around.

It is always a delight to get a new Jury novel from Martha Grimes. With its cast of slightly wiggy, but fascinating characters, "The Knowledge” is a great entry in the series. Grimes writes police procedurals with several highly unusual policemen, supported by a large cast of helpers whose lives seem to be primarily organized around outlandish contributions to Jury’s police work. I love the chance to catch up with them, and to (once again) watch Vivian and Melrose miss an opportunity.

This was my first Richard Jury mystery. It started out well enough, a husband and wife shot dead outside a posh London casino. And it continued well enough as Robbie, an expert black cabbie, is forced at gunpoint to drive the perp across London and eventually to Heathrow. Then begins a long series of curveballs, requests for suspension of disbelief, I found increasingly difficult to summon, and digressions into minor character's backgrounds, philosophies, and… well, it went on and on.

I have to say the book is well written and there were some quips by Scotland Yard sleuth and the eponymous Richard Jury that made me chuckle, but a pre-teen girl who manages to pickpocket an Emirates boarding pass and get the name changed on it… at Heathrow? Please.

Maybe I'm a curmudgeon and like my mysteries gritty and realistic, but I think this is all too clever and it seems as though the author is asking, how far will my readers follow me? This one is #24 in her Jury series. I won't be looking for #25.

Thank you to Grove Atlantic, Atlantic Monthly Press and NetGalley for an advance e-galley of The Knowledge by Martha Grimes in exchange for an honest review. This is the 24th murder mystery in the Richard Jury series. However, since this is a first in the series for me, I can approach it on its own individual merits. This can easily be read as a standalone. Richard Jury is a Scotland Yard sleuth and The Knowledge is the name of a London pub frequented by black cab drivers only. The book begins with the murder of a married couple outside of an elite art gallery/casino. The crime is witnessed by a cab driver who, in turn, is kidnapped. The storyline takes us from London to Africa and back again, introducing new characters as it progresses. This novel reads like a cozy mystery because the characters are not always credible and sometimes confuse the story. I did enjoy The Knowledge and would like to read more of Martha Grimes' previous novels.