Rating: 
Summary: Strictly for Fans
Review: All the other opinions are entirely accurate. As a new reader in the Jury series I was quite disappointed. No more. You have to know all about the characters before you read page one, which is too much for a novice. By the end I could not figure out who did what and why. Grimes is certainly clever but draws attention to herself. Many, too many, unresolved issues and plot holes that a creative writing teacher would delete. How can our hero drink constantly without ending up in a detox ward? Too cute, too much, too long.
Rating: 
Summary: Must be funny; my wife couldn't stop laughing
Review: And I haven't been able to get my hands on it, because after spending parts of two days listening to my wife laugh she passed the damn thing on to one of her friends. I'm next in line. I think.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Book for Richard Jury Fans
Review: As I am certainly a fan of any of Martha Grimes' books featuring Jury, Plant, and the other characters that make these mysteries so addictive, I gave this one five stars, and eagarly await any others that may be coming next. It was like a visit with a group of old friends, and a good mystery to boot. But it did have some faults--the family Fabricant needed a family tree to keep all the relationships in line. How could Olivia and Sebastion be half-brother-sister, with different mothers and fathers? Also, I can't believe Jury could once again be so gullible and fall (or almost fall) for the wrong woman. Hasn't he learned his lesson? And he should by now be professional enough not to talk of police matters, especially to the main suspect! This part of the story definitely didn't fit into character. And, too, some of the questions about the plot were rather hastily explained away at the end. But I am glad to see both Melrose and Jury took the advice in their horoscopes (wouldn't it be nice if someone were to write a real horoscope column like that one!)and they did get more of a life in this book--a welcome change in that, anyway. Now, hopefully, in the next book, we may finally find out what's up with Vivian. After all, none of us are getting any younger.
Rating:
Summary: Colorful Characters, Intriguing Plot Twists
Review: Detective Inspector Richard Jury is off duty and riding one of London's double decker buses, eavesdropping on two American women behind him, when a beautiful blonde wearing a sable coat boards the bus, then leaves, then re-boards and gets off at Fulham Palace Road. He is so fascinated with her that he gets off too and follows her to the gates of Fulham Palace. Then he leaves when she goes inside.The next morning, a woman in a sable coat with no identification is found dead in the palace's herb garden. Jury volunteers the information about the woman on the bus, but when he looks at the body in the morgue and declares it's not the same person, no one at New Scotland Yard believes him. He sets out on his own to investigate the sable coat, which leads him to an astrologer, artists, art dealers, an art critic, actors, children, travelers, a barmaid, a family of thieves, and aging members of aristocratic friend Melrose Plant's London club in his quest for answers. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Ms. Grimes' prose is outstanding, her colorful characters and plot twists are intriguing and the pub that gives this book its odd title made me want to stop by for a pint or two.
Rating:
Summary: The Stargazey by Martha Grimes
Review: Do you like classic writing, British style, and a compelling story? Read "The Stargazey: A Richard Jury Mystery," which was my introduction to both "Jury" and Martha Grimes. Do you quickly tire of repetitive foul language, indiscriminate sex, and gore as a substitute for high quality reading? Then this is for you. Grimes creates believeable modern-day characters with all the humor, angst, and variable emotions that we all carry, then writes with a quality reminiscent of Wilke Collin's "Woman In White." A mystery that respects the reader's intelligence, Grimes plays no "mind games" with the reader. A mysterious incident in modern-day St. Petersburg, Russia, culminating in murder, launches a mystery that is not fully resolved until the end. You get to piece it all together with Jury and his cohort Lord Ardry as they explore various leads in the world of art, with cagey suspects of uppercrust, lowercrust, and even "sassy-girl-child" variety, all to solve the mystery of a woman on a bus--one who closely resembles a second murder victim found in one of London's best-kept secret gardens. The strands are woven, twisted, and pulled, until finally the delicate tapestry of a serial murderer is spun. Don't miss this ride through local pubs, a high class British "Men's Club", avant gard art studios and their avant gard family-ownerships, clues from Russia, Paris, Brussels, and points far-removed, to uncover more than one family secret.
Rating:
Summary: Fans of Jury Read now!!Newcomers: Read Earlier Books 1st!
Review: Grimes' Inspector Jury series gets better and better by the book! Not only are Inspector Jury and "Mr.". Melrose Plant (the main protagonists, are becoming more complex and more human as Grimes adds layers of depth but the characters development is tied to the effect of their experiences in previous books. This is wonderful for a fan of the series. However, a newcomer to the series may be confused by references to names and events from prior stories. This adds to the character continuity and depth, but makes it necessary for a new reader to go back and start with earlier books. (I don't think this is a chore...I'd be delighted if the whole series were new to me again!) Jury fans will be pleased, but to repeat: If you are not familiar with Martha Grimes, you will probably enjoy this well written mystery only if you don't mind seeing references to people you haven't "met" yet. This may be the book to inspire you to read the series.
Rating: 
Summary: No previous descriptions make it difficult to visualize
Review: Having just recently started reading these Jury mysteries I found relating to the charactors difficult because there is no discriptions of any of the charactors so that you have absolutely no picture of them. I also found it to be very slow in starting, continuing and finishing. There seems to be no ending to any storylines. Things are just all of sudden found out and ended. The charactors never have closures.
Rating:
Summary: delightful mystery
Review: I always enjoy the Richard Jury mysteries because the cast of characters are such an enjoyable lot. She does such a wonderful job of describing these characters and making them into such unique and yet real lifelike characters. The mystery keeps you interested all the way to the end trying to sort out the clues. Richard Jury takes the bus and observes a passenger, a blond woman in a fur coat, get on the bus and then get off and then later get on again, and it spikes his curiosity. When she gets off the second time, his curiosity aroused, he gets off too and follows her to the gates of the Fulham Palace and then he quits. The next day he finds out that a blond woman wearing a sable coat is found murdered in the herb garden of the Fulham Palace and fears it is the woman he followed. When he sees the woman in the morgue, he discovers that although it looks like the same woman it isn't, so the mystery grows. He gets his friend, Melrose Plant, to help him out in his investigation. There is suspicious actions of an art gallery and it owners, assassinations, and the murder of an acquaintance that Melrose has made during the course of his investigation. The man, Mr. Pitt, a retired art critic, has been murdered in an flagrant manner right in public view and no one sees it happen. Melrose is angry and sad because he had grown to really like the man. I really enjoyed the book, but I gave it only four stars because although we discover the murderer the ending does not have the closure that I would like. I have found that Grimes leaves us wanting to know more, maybe it will lead to another book. I hope so.
Rating:
Summary: delightful mystery
Review: I always enjoy the Richard Jury mysteries because the cast of characters are such an enjoyable lot. She does such a wonderful job of describing these characters and making them into such unique and yet real lifelike characters. The mystery keeps you interested all the way to the end trying to sort out the clues. Richard Jury takes the bus and observes a passenger, a blond woman in a fur coat, get on the bus and then get off and then later get on again, and it spikes his curiosity. When she gets off the second time, his curiosity aroused, he gets off too and follows her to the gates of the Fulham Palace and then he quits. The next day he finds out that a blond woman wearing a sable coat is found murdered in the herb garden of the Fulham Palace and fears it is the woman he followed. When he sees the woman in the morgue, he discovers that although it looks like the same woman it isn't, so the mystery grows. He gets his friend, Melrose Plant, to help him out in his investigation. There is suspicious actions of an art gallery and it owners, assassinations, and the murder of an acquaintance that Melrose has made during the course of his investigation. The man, Mr. Pitt, a retired art critic, has been murdered in an flagrant manner right in public view and no one sees it happen. Melrose is angry and sad because he had grown to really like the man. I really enjoyed the book, but I gave it only four stars because although we discover the murderer the ending does not have the closure that I would like. I have found that Grimes leaves us wanting to know more, maybe it will lead to another book. I hope so.
Rating:
Summary: Dreadful
Review: I bought this for a plane ride and was disappointed to say the least. Ms. Grimes obviously doesn't understand the protocol of clubs such as "Boring's" where money never changes hands between member and servant. Charges for drinks, etc. are simply recorded and billed later. Also Fortnum & Mason, one of the finest shops in the world, is always abbreviated "Fortnum's", never "Fortnum". Aside from this kind of trivia, the book is a complete waste of time -- absurd plot and equally absurd characters.
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