The Lamorna Wink

Table of Contents

 

 

 

 

 

“There's more than the normal amount of hocuspocus in Ms. Grimes's latest tale. . . .
Swift and satisfying
. . . grafts the old-fashioned ‘Golden Age' amateur-detective story to the contemporary police procedural . . .
real charm
.”

—
The Wall Street Journal

“
Fans of the Jury series will not be disappointed.
The eccentrics who populate Plant's life are back and provide wickedly funny cameos.”

—
USA Today

“Another atmospheric entry in
an elegantly styled series
. . . . Melrose Plant, the congenial aristocrat . . . picks up the slack for Richard Jury. . . . Although Plant is man enough to face the implications of this sad story,
it's good to have Jury around at the end
.”

—
New York Times Book Review

“
As consuming as its 15 predecessors
. . . . Grimes fans will be particularly intrigued as Melrose contemplates his childhood, revealing more about his complex personality than ever before.”

—
Publishers Weekly
(starred review)

“The greening of Melrose Plant . . . rampant complications, tear-away subplots, until, at virtually the last moment, Jury rides in . . .
[a] highly popular series.
”

—
Kirkus Reviews

“Fans will demand this.”

—
Library Journal

“With each novel, her characters have taken on more humanity, depth and compassion, with no diminution of the British-style wit for which she is famous. . . . This very English mystery is
a very entertaining romp
through the Cornwall countryside. . . .
The Lamorna Wink
is one more in the series of Ms. Grimes's great pub names.”

—
Dallas Morning News

“
The characters are fun and the story line a gripper.
Somebody should really grab it for a film.”

—King Features Syndicate

“Grimes's prose is
supple and witty
, and she has a way with characters.”

—
Los Angeles Times

“
A charming, delightful addition to the series.
Grimes captures the flavor of British village life. . . . She fleshes out her characters with witty dialogue. . . .
Long may she write Richard Jury mysteries
.”

—
Chicago Tribune

“
Spookily atmospheric
. . . . A richly textured series.”

—
Seattle Times

“
Entrancing
. . . . Grimes makes her own mark on du Maurier country with two murders, a double drowning, a serpentine plot and a killer as cold-blooded as a snake.
The Lamorna Wink
is . . . the latest in her
intelligent, witty
series featuring Scotland Yard's Richard Jury. This one is in atmospheric Cornwall, and its odd name proves especially appropriate for Grimes's sly sleight-of-hand.”

—
Orlando Sentinel

“Her wit sparkles, her plots intrigue, and her characters are
absolutely unforgettable.
”

—
Denver Post

“
She really has no superior in what she does
. . . .
Grimes's books are powerful comedies of nomanners,
of the assumed gap between the blueblooded
and the red-blooded people. . . . Her
people are delineated in Hogarthian outlines,
vitalized by Dickensian gusto, but characterized
by a detached humor and understanding that
make them distinctly and exclusively
Grimesian. . . . Her world is enriched by every
new novel and our admiration grows.”

—
Armchair Detective

“Martha Grimes, America's answer to the classical British detective novel, is winning the hearts of readers who long to return to the golden age of the dagger beneath the tea cozy and the butler lurking at the drawing-room door.”

—
San Francisco Chronicle

“
A class act
. . . . She writes with charm, authority, and ironic wit.”

—
Kirkus Reviews

“The spirit of Christie, Allingham, and Sayers lives on.”

—
Los Angeles Times

ALSO BY MARTHA GRIMES

 

POETRY

 

 

 

ONYX

Published by New American Library, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.

Penguin Books Ltd, 27 Wrights Lane, London W8 5TZ, England Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood, Victoria, Australia

Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2 Penguin Books (N.Z.) Ltd, 182-190 Wairau Road, Auckland 10, New Zealand

 

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England

Published by Onyx, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.

Previously published in a Viking edition.

 

First Onyx Printing, September

Copyright © Martha Grimes, 1999

All rights reserved

 

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

 

PUBLISHER'S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE AT QUANTITY DISCOUNTS WHEN USED TO PROMOTE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES. FOR INFORMATION PLEASE WRITE TO PREMIUM MARKETING DIVISION, PENGUIN PUTNAM INC., 375 HUDSON STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10014.

 

eISBN : 978-1-101-11932-7

To my cousins, Joanna and Ellen Jane
and in memory of George and Miles

—Gilbert & Sullivan,
The Sorcerer

S
till wearing his cabby's cap—he ought to put it in his act, this cap, because it looked so unlike what a magician would wear—Johnny was sitting at the gaming table palming cards. He brought the Queen of Hearts to the top of the deck again and again, as if it were marching right up there of its own volition.

It was dead simple; it always astounded him that people couldn't suss it out. Magic was kind of like murder or like a murder mystery: distract, dissuade—that was the way. Put a clue here and at the same time call attention to something quite different over there. The way a magician uses his hands. Keep looking at one hand and so will your audience. This leaves the other hand free and offstage.

He shut his eyes and leaned his elbows on the gaming table. Except for the trunk that sat in the window alcove behind him, the gaming table was the most interesting piece of furniture in the cottage. His Aunt Chris had inherited it, along with a few other pieces, from her own aunt's estate. It was fascinating; it gave the place that “Vegas look,” Chris was fond of pointing out. The table was large and round and covered in green baize. All around it were small drawers in which you could keep cards, chips, or whatever.