Cheryl R. (Spuddie) - , reviewed on 3/16/2011 + 412 more book reviews

#20 Chief Supt. Richard Jury mystery set in the UK. This story sucked me in right from the beginning, with a man in a pub telling Jury a story about his friend whose wife, autistic son and dog disappeared into thin air about nine months previously. They had made a trip to a small town in Surrey that had a good private school for autistic children, and where they hoped to move if things checked out well.

While she looked at one cottage she was scheduled to view, the estate agent stated she'd never come back to return the key for the second one, which was an unoccupied estate with a spooky history. "But the dog came back," Harry Johnson says, and produces a shaggy mutt called Mungo. Jury, on administrative leave from Scotland Yard, spends several pleasant evenings talking with Harry explaining about his friend Hugh, who became so distraught at his wife's disappearance that he is now in a private psychiatric facility attempting to gain his equilibrium back.

Jury quietly (and unofficially) investigates, and of course brings his friend Melrose Plant into things as well. All went relatively well until the ending, which I found to be anticlimactic and rather lame--and I did see the plot twist coming. But still, I enjoy these visits with this set of characters that I have come to know and love over the years.

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