Richard Jury
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Richard Jury is a fictional character in a series of
mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...
novels written by
Martha Grimes Martha Grimes (born May 2, 1931) is an American writer of detective fiction. She is best known for a series featuring Richard Jury, a Scotland Yard inspector, and Melrose Plant, an aristocrat turned amateur sleuth. Biography Grimes was born in ...
. Initially a
chief inspector Chief inspector (Ch Insp) is a rank used in police forces which follow the British model. In countries outside Britain, it is sometimes referred to as chief inspector of police (CIP). Usage by country Australia The rank of chief inspector is use ...
, later a
superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...
, Jury is invariably assisted in his cases by
Melrose Plant Melrose Plant is a fictional character in Martha Grimes' series of Richard Jury mystery novels. Superintendent Richard Jury is a Scotland Yard detective who frequently calls on Plant to assist him, unofficially, in his cases. Character biography ...
, a British aristocrat who has given up his titles, and by his hypochondriacal but dependable sergeant, Alfred Wiggins. Many of the novels include Divisional Commander Brian Macalvie of the
Devon and Cornwall Constabulary Devon and Cornwall Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial counties of Devon and Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly) in England. The force serves approximately 1.8 million people over an area of . Hi ...
. In addition, there is a recurring ensemble of background characters.


Description

Jury is melancholic and moody. He was orphaned as a young child in the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
(his father, an
RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
pilot, was lost in combat, his mother died in the German bombing of
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
); he lived briefly with his uncle's family but the uncle also died and Jury spent most of his childhood in an unpleasant group home. Although he is handsome, kind, and attractive to women, he is unlucky in love (spectacularly so — one of the novels involves the death of a woman with whom he has a sudden, passionate affair). His good looks - including an attractive smile and chestnut hair - and the ease with which he wins the hearts of women and children arouse envy in his wealthy and cultured friend, Plant, but neither man is successful in romantic relationships.


Age

Jury was five years old when his mother died in "the last German bombing of London". The heaviest bombardment of London occurred during
the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...
, 1941–1942, but the Germans targeted London with V1s and V2s as late as March, 1945. The books are set in the present day, and Jury gives his age as 43 in ''The Dirty Duck'', which was published in 1984, so he must have been born in 1940 or 1941. In "Dust" (published in 2007), he was not 62, however, as Ms. Grimes long ago opted to keep him (and Plant) under 50 by slowing down the fictional time between cases.


Recurring characters

Recurring characters in the series include his neighbors in his
Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...
flat, personnel at his New Scotland Yard office, and friends of Plant in the
Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
village of Long Piddleton.


Islington neighbors

* Mrs. Wassermann, resident of the "garden" (basement) flat, a Holocaust survivor who depends on Jury to reassure her that she is safe. (Jury lives in the flat above Mrs. Wasserman.) * Stan Keeler, a jazz/blues guitarist living in the flat above Jury, often away from home. * Carole-anne Palutski, a very attractive young woman with copper-colored hair. Carole-Anne lives in the top flat, above Stan, and looks after both Stan's and Jury's flats when they are absent, as well as Stan's dog, Stone. Jury's feelings for her are paternal, but occasionally conflicted, as evidenced by a rather long and warm Christmas kiss. Carole-anne has humorously proprietary romantic feelings for Jury. * Stone, Stan Keeler's good-natured caramel-colored Labrador. Carol-anne takes care of Stone most of the time when Stan Keeler is away from home


New Scotland Yard

* Detective Sergeant Alfred Wiggins. *
Chief Superintendent Chief superintendent is a senior rank in police forces, especially in those organised on the United Kingdom, British model. Rank insignia of chief superintendent File:Sa-police-chief-superintendent.png, South Australia Police File:RCMP Chief Su ...
Racer, Jury's pompous and irascible superior. * Cyril, a highly intelligent cat who haunts Racer's office. * Fiona Clingmore, Racer's secretary and Jury's ally, along with Cyril, in irritating Racer.


Long Piddleton

*
Melrose Plant Melrose Plant is a fictional character in Martha Grimes' series of Richard Jury mystery novels. Superintendent Richard Jury is a Scotland Yard detective who frequently calls on Plant to assist him, unofficially, in his cases. Character biography ...
, once Lord Ardry, the Earl of Caverness. His ancestral home is called Ardry End. * Ruthven and Martha, husband and wife, manservant and housekeeper, respectively, at Ardry End for many years. * "Lady" Agatha Ardry, Plant's intrusive aunt and bane of his existence. * Marshall Trueblood, an antiques dealer, of flamboyant dress and manner, but possibly that is an affectation for customers who "expect" that behavior. * Diane DeMorney, single, wealthy, and attractive, but only a friend to Jury and Plant. She knows nothing about astrology, but writes a column on the topic for the local paper. She has porcelain skin and black hair, and is always perfectly coiffed and dressed in combinations of black and white. * Vivian Rivington, a love interest for Jury, but she is (somewhat secretly) in love with Plant. She was for years engaged to an Italian count. * Joanna Lewes, the best-selling author of potboiler romances. Her nickname is Joanna the Mad (“Maddy” to Marshall Trueblood) because her dead husband's name was Philip. * Dick Scroggs, publican, owner of the Jack and Hammer, where Plant and other denizens of Long Piddleton gather. * Mrs. Withersby, charwoman at the Jack and Hammer, who spends most of her time sleeping by the fire and cadging drinks from the regulars. * Trevor Sly, owner of the Blue Parrot, a less-frequented pub. * Theo Wrenn Browne, pompous owner of the local bookstore, disliked by Plant, frequent ally of Agatha. * Ada Crisp, a mild local shopkeeper, frequent adversary to Browne's hopes of expanding his store.


Elsewhere

* Polly Praed, a mystery writer with violet eyes. Melrose Plant has a long-standing crush on her, and she, in turn, is infatuated with Jury. * Sarah Malloy, Jury's cousin. At one point she was his only living relative, but she is deceased in later titles. She lived in
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
with her husband, Brendan, and four children. * Ashley and "White Ellie" Cripps, an unconventional London family with many children. White Ellie is so named because she is as large (and, her husband thinks, as useless) as the proverbial white elephant. * Bea Slocum, lives with the Crippses and is Melrose Plant's elusive love interest. Helped Jury and Plant solve the mystery of a stolen painting. Bea is a talented painter and her portrait of Melrose showcases both her talent and his elusiveness. * Ellen Taylor, a New York writer who lives in Baltimore, and another elusive love interest of Melrose Plant. Jury, Plant, and Wiggins travel to Baltimore to solve the mysterious death of a young woman. *Jenny Kennington, Jury's elusive love interest, and later, Plant's. Jury helped her recover a stolen necklace and later helped clear her of a murder she didn't commit.


Adaptations

''The Man With a Load of Mischief'', ''Help the Poor Struggler'' and ''The Deer Leap'' were filmed for German and Austrian television under the titles ''Der Tote im Pub (The Dead Man in the Pub'') (2013), ''Mord im Nebel (Murder in the Fog'') (2015), ''Inspektor Jury spielt Katz und Maus (Inspector Jury Plays Cat-and-mouse'') (2017), and ''Inspektor Jury: Der Tod des Harlekins (The Death of the Harlequin'') (2018).
Fritz Karl Fritz Karl (born 21 December 1967) is an Austrian film, television and stage actor born in Gmunden, Upper Austria. He is one of the busiest Austrian actors. Private life Karl lives in both Munich and Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code ...
starred as Jury, with Götz Schubert as Plant and
Katharina Thalbach Katharina Thalbach (; actually ''Katharina Joachim genannt Thalbach''; born 19 January 1954) is a German actress and stage director. She played theatre at the Berliner Ensemble and at the Volksbühne Berlin, and was actress in the film ''The T ...
as "Lady" Agatha Ardry.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jury, Richard Fictional male detectives Jury, Richard Literary characters introduced in 1981 Characters in British novels of the 20th century