The Stargazey (Richard Jury Mystery)

This is another novel in the Richard Jury series. The title is the name of a pub that plays a small role in the story. The novel starts out well, but then the author makes a side trip to Long Piddleton and introduces material that is unconnected to the main plot. A couple of the characters from Long Piddleton eventually have roles in the main plot. The author has a fixation on piddling, and the characters include Flash, who exposes himself in public loos, and a child who piddles here, there, and everywhere, none of which is relevant to the main plot, although the people are related to one of the characters. Various odd characters wander in and out of the story, some related to the plot, and some just extra baggage along for the ride.
The main plot is interesting as New Scotland Yard tries to get to the truth of the matter. This is not an easy task as there is a tendency to not believe people telling the truth, and to believe people who are not. There is collateral damage, and a few bodies are left lying about. There is grand larceny and murder, and connections to crimes in other countries.
If you expect the villain (a cold blooded psychopath) to be brought to justice, you will be disappointed. Who is real and who is not? People can fade into the night or, in the words of Shakespeare, "...are melted into air, into thin air..."

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.

Who cares what the mystery is, or whodunnit, I just want more-more-more of Martha Grimes' characters. I've savored all of her books, for many years, primarily because I love her quirky characters and places. Poor, bleak Richard Jury, the psychosomatically ill deputy, Cyril the cat with 99 lives, the eccentric neighbor Carol, the wicked antiques dealer, Vivian and her vampire count, the very dirty London slum family, but oh.... Melrose. Be still my beating heart. I have a serious crush on Melrose. Martha, could you, in your next installment, find it in your heart to set us up on a blind date?

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.

If you're a fan of previous Jury novels, you are going to love the Stargazey! the Creme de la Creme of the series show up and add the eccentric delight we all crave of Grimes: Vivian, Diane Demorney, Marshall Trueblood, Agatha... they're all back and in fine Long Piddletonian form.
The plot itself is intriguing enough from page 1. Dashing Richard Jury spots a lovely woman on a bus. This wouldn't usually get the ball rolling for a set of murders, but this is Grimes and ANYTHING can happen!
Another fascinating facet of this tale is the insight into London's Art scene and a particularly repulsive set of paintings by Ralph Rees called "Siberian Snow" ( Melrose Plant's initiation to these works is indeed laugh-out-loud !)
With murders to solve and Lord Ardry in tow, Jury finds himself in a pseudo-romantic/homicidal/engimatic world that never appears to be as it seems. And there are, of course,many a worthy Jury/Plant rendezvous, this time at Borings: Melrose's Gentlemen's club. As soon as the Earl of Caverness can brush the dust off of his old entitled card he is an asset to the mystery and to Jury, schmoozing it up with elderly actresses and ten year old girls, buying ice cream and treating Bea Slocum to "Steak and Chips"; all the while being as charming and magnetic as a crossword-solving earl is allowed to be !
Loved this one !
Want to read again!

Rarely are there completely amoral characters in Martha Grimes' novels. The character of "Dana," if that is what we are to call her, comes close here--a woman who has exhausted the thrill of risk for monetary gain in her life and can only get a thrill from inventing new ways to take risks. (This is mixed with a spoken longing to just lead a normal, British life, which is not completely an act, I think.)
Richrad Jury is still looking for a soulmate in this novel, and instead runs into a character who is as unable to commit as he is. In this novel Jury seems to be presented with a variety of alternatives for his life: continuing his solitary life, letting "Kate McBride" in, or letting Carole-ann in. All of these alternatives are eductive in some way.
Melrose Plant also seems to be trying out alternative lives in this book--he stays at Borings, a hilariously funny traditional men's club, and also succumbs to the dubious attractions of the Cripps' establishment. Along the way we see new aspects to Bea Slocum, a character who seems to bring out the best in Melrose, and Diane Demornay, who comes along at the right moment to save the day.
This is a good example of Grimes' later Richard Jury novels, which certainly have complex, interesting plots, but actually are more psychological studies of her main characters. I like this later work a great deal.

Great author.

With all the prior reviews, I'm not going to repeat the synopsis of the book--and certainly don't wish to include any spoilers. But, I see many parallels with the characterizations of other authors.

THE GOOD--There are many interesting characters in this book, for example, I enjoyed the relationship between Inspector Jury and Sgt. Wiggins--who's a delightful character--certainly not a Sgt. Friday! This reminds me of Margery Allingham's Albert Campion's relationship with his gentleman's gentleman Lugg. Furthermore, Ralph Rees' "Siberian Snow" art series reminds me of a cartoon of a museum with an empty frame on a white wall--with the caption, "Polar Bear in Snow Storm," and on p. 158: The artist says 'The series gets a blank look from some people." There's quite a bit of humor in this book. The Fabricants' dinner party is another case in point, with its droll discussion of art and the quotes: p. 162: "Here was beauty unsullied by a shred of intelligence" and p. 165: "Wasn't it dreadful that social convention demand they all put up with the crude, the vapid, the vulgar, and--worst of all--the boring?" But then Melrose Plant's club is appropriately called "Borings'" too. It reminds me of P. G. Wodehouse's Drones Club. No wonder Pitt can't be allowed to stay there! He's too interesting not to be out of place: p. 264: "It was so rare to find someone who didn't talk balderdash or berate your ears with inconsequential conversation." Still, IMHO the Cripps family took the cake or got the cigar or...what a riot! You wonder why one is called White Ellie and find out it's not her real name at all--that Ellie is short for elephant. You're left to observe that she's then the White Elephant! (like the flea market they sell their wares at). And finally, little Linda Pink is a trip indeed! The perfect companion for Plant. After all she knows lots about plants while he knows almost nothing about them.

In addition, there are quality psychological/sociological observations for inclusion in my Quotations Collection:
p. 40: "She began the minor gymnastics that children do to take your attention away from substance so you'll concentrate on style. A sort of sleight of hand it was.
p. 43: This was one instance when appearance and reality met like long-lost brothers.
p. 299: You want to hide a diamond, put it in a tiara.
p. 304: If you want to hide a diamond,,, put it in a tiara." [similar to Poe's "Purloined Letter"]

THE BAD--Strangely, Jury's talented amateur detective friend Plant (gee, kind of like The Avengers there) does most of the detecting. Jury's seems like Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster to Plants' Jeeves. Jury seems to be in a haze (maybe star gazing?) throughout the book--especially at the end where he confronts the culprit without any plan, backup, etc. and wonders why he isn't shot to death then. I wondered why as well. One could argue that he deserved it.

THE UGLY--I'm not the first to point out that this book really isn't much of a mystery and that it would be helpful to have read several (if not all) of the Jury series prior to starting it. I've only read "Jerusalem Inn" before this one. But, I found this book very slow reading--had lots of trouble getting into it--rather like plowing through snow drifts in Siberia. And the ending--ugh. Not only did it deny closure, but frankly, I found it difficult to swallow. Plant was pretty lucky (though clever too), but I suppose the killer didn't kill Jury because it wasn't exciting enough--which is how I felt about the whole book.

Received book on time and in good condition.

Excellent