The Grave Maurice
In this, the 18th outing in Martha Grimes'spopular seriesfeaturing  Scotland Yard Superintendent Richard Jury and his aristocrat pal Melrose Plant,  Jury, recuperating from a near-fatal shooting (The Blue Last) hears about the  two-year-old abduction of his doctor's talented young daughter, Nell Ryder, who  disappeared from her grandfather's stud farm, along with a champion thoroughbred  horse. Pursuing the stalled investigation when he's released from the hospital,  Jury stumbles on a complicated scheme involving murder, insurance fraud, and a  scheme to replicate a popular menopause drug derived from the urine of pregnant  mares. As readers of this popular series know, while there's a mystery at the  heart of every Jury novel, the real payoff is in Grimes's lucent prose, wit, and  complex characterizations. Fans of British mystery writerDick Francis, who's made the  world of thoroughbreds his own turf, will find this a delightful diversion,  particularly since Francis recently announced his retirement from the genre.--Jane Adams--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.