I found the Martha Grimes books to be horribly depressing. I only read two of them. The Grave Maurice, and shoot..i cant remember the other one. The other one was tha name of a tavern
Same here on the Martha Grimes books, ldk. I only got partway through one, don't remember which. I have the same reaction to PD James books. Her books are excellent but also often have a very dark depressing atmosphere.
All of Grime's early books are based on the names of English Pubs. I love old style English mysteries. Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh and Dorothy Sayers come to mind.