The Stargazey

Plot

In a bleak November, a bleak Richard Jury takes an aimless ride on one of London's icons - the old double-decker bus, a number 14 traveling the Fulham Road. His attention is caught by a woman "with hair so gossamer-pale you could see the moon through it" leaving a pub called the Stargazey. Her behavior intrigues him, as she leaves, reboards, and leaves the bus again at Fulham Palace Road. Jury follows her to the gates of Fulham Palace - but only to the gates. There he stops. Later she asks, "Why didn't you come in?" He wonders if the death in the Palace's walled garden could have been averted if he had. The answer he settles for is "Fate, I guess. It wasn't in the stars." Yet, perhaps it was: perhaps in this captivating woman Richard Jury has met his match. Before Jury and Plant can solve this complex case, they move from the Crippsian depths of London's East End to the headier heights of the London art scene, bringing with them Martha Grimes' familiar band of eccentrics.