The Black Cat by Martha Grimes. Back in the 80's a friend of mine recommended a new series of mysteries featuring an English police inspector, Richard Jury, and a sort of Dr. Watson-like friend, an English lord who had decided to put aside his title in favor of being just plain Mr. Melrose Plant. These characters had been created by an American author, Martha Grimes, and she named each novel for a pub, that typical English bar where everyone knows everyone else. Since the first of the series,
The Man With a Load of Mischief, Grimes has created 22 pub-related mysteries featuring Inspector Jury, and although she has tried a few other formats, this remains her most popular. In
The Black Cat, Richard is called to the London suburbs to assist in solving the murder of a fashionably dressed young woman who turns out to be the local librarian! Grimes has a great affection for both animals and children, and they are almost always present in the books in some degree. If you are already a Richard Jury fan, you certainly will want to check out his latest case. If you're not familiar with the series, try the earlier books first-they actually have much more believable plots as far as the mysteries themselves are concerned.