Preview of The Horse You Came In On Summary:

The usual Grimes themes are present here, with changes of emphasis in part related to the American setting. In this novel she emphasizes the theme that title and social position are unrelated to character. This theme is illustrated by the Baron Baltimore mystery and a parallel, comic subplot in which the working-class, hypochondriac detective Wiggins discovers that he himself may be a baron. This theme is part of a larger one contrasting appearance and reality, a theme which is of vital importance in detective fiction but which is here meaningful in itself rather than merely serving as a plot device.

The importance of the past is a common Grimes theme, and in this novel important clues lie in the distant past.

Jury's own past, he realizes when he goes to visit Jenny Kennington in Stratford-upon-Avon, has continued to cause him problems, particularly in his relationships with women. When...