JERUSALEM INN

Nothing in this new case for Scotland Yard's Supt. Richard Jury (The Dirty Duck, etc.) equals its beginning—when sensitive bachelor Jury accidentally meets unhappy Helen Minton, feels an immediate mutual attraction, but returns in a few days to find her dead by poison. After that, unfortunately, it's business-as-less-than-usual for traditionalist Grimes, whose convolutions and ornamentations are thinner here than in previous outings. Jury, seeking out Helen's painter-cousin (father of the illegitimate son she was trying to trace), arrives at a snowbound country houseparty—where old pal Melrose Plant and old flame Vivien Rivington are guests of critic Charles Sealingham and wan wife Grace. Among the other guests: novelist William MacQuade; stately Lady St. Leger, with orphaned nephew Tommy (undercover pool-table terror at a nearby pub, the Jerusalem Inn); and Charles' not-so-secret mistress, romance-writer Beatrice Sleight—who is found shot dead in the snow, wearing Grace's ermine cloak. And, after intensive sleuthing into several family histories (plus a lot of visits to the pub), Jury discovers the connection to Helen's death. . . with a tenuous motive for the killer. Too many byways, aimless chit-chat, and an unconvincing puzzle: the weakest by far of Grimes' mystery-entertainments—but stylishly written enough, certainly, to please many of her admirers.