Note: Although this is Book 15 in the series, it works fine as a stand alone.The book opens on a cold night with an assassin in waiting. She has a been of a clean up to do as someone saw something they weren’t suppose to while she was on a job. From this brief prologue, we jump into Richard Jury’s life, superintendent with Scotland Yard. It’s a boring Saturday, at least for Jury. He has few friends, and most of them are police such as he. So he finds himself riding a bus just to be out of the apartment and around people. But of course, he can’t turn off his brain. He notices a woman in a fur coat get on the bus. She stands out because why would someone that dressed up be on the bus? She then gets off and walks a few blocks before boarding the same bus, which had been slowed by traffic, again. But when she leaves the second time, Jury follows out of curiosity. She enters the public grounds of some palace and Jury hangs back under a street light wishing for a cigarette for a time before heading home. When he reads in the paper the next day that a body of a woman was found in the grounds, he wants to smack his head against his desk.This is my favorite Richard Jury mystery so far. It was a bit more complex than others I have read, and while I could guess certain elements of the various hidden agendas, I didn’t see how it all fit together until the very end. Richard Jury let us in a bit more than usual with this mystery, showing the reader his lonely, empty life and his attempts to fill it. His sidekick Wiggins, who suffers from some never ending cold, was at his side making small talk with those under suspicion. We also got plenty of time with Melrose, formerly lord of this and that, having given up his titles some years back.The plot twists together art appreciation, foreign travel, astrology, pet sitting, and Jury’s chance encounter on the bus with the woman in fur. Jury taps Melrose to help him with the art appreciation facet since Melrose has some passing interest in it, and the funds to pull off the interest. He in turn goes to his lady friend painter to obtain her assistance. She rents a room from the Crypts family. This family is terribly interesting, being full of small children, a harried but caring mother, and a father who skirts the law or outright breaks it. The descriptions of the various members had me chucking out loud.One thing that I appreciate about Grimes’s writing is that pets and kids are not simply stand in blanks used to fill out the scenery. Nor does she go overboard in describing them, making them scene hogs. Instead she gives them enough personality ticks to have them add to the scene/plot without being unbelievable. From the dog named Stone to the child witness who poses as the dead woman, these small scenes had me chuckling once again. While I do wish we had at least one main female character, the female side characters, for the most part, bring something to the table.The Narration: West did a good job once again, giving the male and female, old and young voices distinction. And I always enjoy his congested Wiggins. I do tend to confuse the voices for Jury and Melrose if I am not paying attention. Sure, Melrose has a talking voice laced with ennui, but when it is simply Melrose’s thoughts, the voice is rather similar to Richard Jury’s.
This series contains really good British mysteries, and features a host of repeating characters, Jury, a Scotland Yard chief inspector (so goes all over England and other places when asked), along with his rich aristocratic friend Melrose Plant, with the people (many eccentric, many real characters) surrounding both--Plant in his Northamptonshire estate and the small towns surrounding him, and Jury at his London apartment and with all the helpers and local police officials that surround him, wherever he's busy with various crimes. The books are each named for a pub with and intriguing name, usually appropriate to the main mystery. Well plotted. Jury often is involved in a romance, usually ill fated. In this one, he's involved in a really puzzling murder because he is fascinated when, by chance, he's on a bus on which a woman in a unique fur boards, then gets off for a few blocks, then boards again. Days later, he hears of a death near where the woman finally gets off the bus--of a woman in the identical fur. But is it the same woman? Quite a good puzzle.
What do You think about The Stargazey (1999)?
As always, a fun read. This time the culprit is pretty clearly revealed (unusual for a Grimes mystery), although retribution is uncertain. The supporting cast in this book, particularly Melrose Plant, plays a greater role than the detective, which suited me just fine. Murder and art, Russian aristocrats and the inimitable Cripps family are all here. One word of warning: "The Stargazey" is well worth a read, but don't start here: this book falls about halfway through the Grimes oeuvre, and you'll be a bit confused as to who is who if you don't read a few of the preceding books first.
—Dave Holcomb
Another Richard Jury novel. Interesting and a page-turner. I like books where I can get a general idea of what's going on and "whodunnit," but you don't know for sure and a lot of details aren't revealed to the very end. In this one, I knew there was something fishy about a certain character but couldn't put my finger on it until Jury himself figured it out. This one has to do with the art world. As always, Jury's sidekicks such as Melrose Plant, Marshall Trueblood and Wiggins are well-developed and a great complement to the main character. Grimes always does a bang-up job of fleshing out her secondary characters. Favorites in this novel included Simeon Pitt, the retired art critic, and Bea Slocum, the up-and-coming artist.
—Kristen
I read this book after traveling to the UK and loved it. Martha Grimes is not from London,but she describes the city well enough that if you were just there, you recognize landmarks, street names etc. This mystery is great, there are tons of twists and turns in it that keep you guessing until the very end. I love British Mysteries and have recently discovered Martha Grimes after reading The Man with a Load of Michief prior sometime last year. I loved how that novel was sets in British pubs and when I went to the UK I sought out a pub just like the book, to make sure and eat fish and chips in. I definitely think I will be reading more of her books!!
—Miranda
