Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Although it's all been said before me, I would like to add my vote to the "What are they complaining about?" opinions already voiced. This is an excellent novel. The characters are well (if subtly) developed and the pacing of the action is swift but not overwhelming. Admittedly the interaction between Russell and Holmes is pretty minimal, but this seems a natural extension of the development of their relationship into the sphere of married couple of some time.
Well worth the read!
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable entry in the series
Review: I think it's a wonderful book, and I also think it's great that Russell gets a chance to "spread her wings" and do more on her own. This is a "Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes" ("Mary Russell" is the center focus here, remember, folks?) series, so I can understand the "lack of Holmes," and Mary does pretty well on her own. Also, I love all of the business about the descriptions of Justice Hall itself--it has a life of its own, and becomes a character, just as the folks do.A good read, and another winner for the series!
Rating: 
Summary: A Disappointing Entry in a Great Series
Review: Since I have read all books of both series by Laurie R. King, I consider myself a fan. I looked forward to another intriguing Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes mystery with the Holmesian intrigue, logic and devices and Mary Russell as both a hero and equal partner to Holmes. Holmes and Russell were rarely in scenes of this book together so there was little interplay or repartee; Holmes was not in many scenes period. Instead about half of the book focused on "background" issues such as discussion of the architecture used in Justice Hall (which is a castle), peerage, bloodlines and family history of the Duke who occupies it. About halfway through, the plot gets going and my interest picked up. The story involves two characters from O Jerusalem, Mahlmoud and Ali. Mahlmoud's brother died and he, now answering to the English name Marsh, assumes the responsibility as the 7th Duke. Holmes and Russell find him uneasy in this role which he feels is his duty. There are several plot lines--a more minor one about a child who is purported to be Mahlmoud's nephew and thus an heir to title (this plot line doesnt get tied up properly in the end) and the main story line about Mahlmoud's and Iris's son Gabrielle who is executed in WW I. The mystery involved unearthing what happened to Gabrielle and if it was a murder. Even though the second half was much better than the first, I still found that I could guess ahead of time some of the major plot developments and the Holmes/Russell interaction time did not improve. The one saving grace in the second half was the prominence of the character Iris--an artist nominally married to Mahlmoud who lives in Paris with her lesbian lover. Iris was portrayed in a warm, sensitive and interesting way and I hope she returns to the series. So my rating is 2 stars--an average of one star for the first half and three stars for the second half. If you are a Laurie King fan, you may do well to skim the first half and concentrate on the more interesting second half. Also you can hope that Ms. King returns to her winning formula with Holmes and Russell in book seven.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Mystery, Bad Interplay
Review: Like others, I think this book ultimately is less than satisfying because there is not enough Holmes/Russell interplay. King made a conscious decision to marry these two, rather than simply make them partners ala Holmes and Watson. Since she did that, I at least think she ought to have them act like they are married. They seem to have far less affection between them than Sherlock and the Doc did. I always thought, when reading all of the canon, that Holmes really had a great deal of fire and passion beneath his veneer, as demonstrated by his feelings for Irene Adler. I think King owes it to her fascinating Russell character to start writing some of that into the series. I will say, however, that, otherwise, the mystery in this book was very good, as were the secondary characters.
Rating: 
Summary: less about homes, more about holmes
Review: Overall, this book's strong points outweighed its weak points and made it an enjoyable read. The mystery is intruiguing, the growing sense of outrage at the injustice underlying the mystery is strongly developed, the secondary characters, as often with King, are beguiling. So I'd give it a thumbs up. But having said that, I have to agree with some of the negative points customers have raised. Had I not liked other books in the series so much, I wouldn't bother, since overall I did like the book; but it is kind of a disappointment to see a series you've liked very much fall short of its potential. Problem here, as with parts of The Moor and O Jerusalem, is that King forgets that characters and action need to be in the foreground and locale and history in the background. It's not that the last two aren't important; they contributed a lot to King's first two novels in the series. But Holmes and Russell were always in the foreground in those two books. Holmes is a fascinating, brilliant, unique eccentric. Russell is fully his match. So why do English country manors become the main characters in the book? Too much touring through these manors becomes like watching the slides of somebody else's vacation. It just doesn't work as entertainment. There are many interesting themes about Holmes and Russell that could be explored in a book like this: how does Holmes,the Victorian who on some level would like to believe in traditional verities, react to the disillusionment in this story? How does Russell, from another generation, deal with it, or with his reeaction? Does it cause tensions between them? HOw do they resolve those? Are there tensions that could carry over from events in O Jerusalem? That's just to throw out a few ideas. The point is, that with a continuing series about the same characters, and particularly characters as intriguing as Holmes and russell, the focus needs to be on the characters and their adventures. Although I ended up enjoying the book, it could have been much stronger with more focus on the characters and on moving the action along.
Rating:
Summary: what happened to Russell/Holmes?
Review: I love this series, but I missed some things in Justice Hall I had been hoping for: Holmes and Russell don't seem as connected as they were, and Holmes himself doesn't seem as sharp, as witty, as insufferable. The flame has been turned down. Darn.
Rating:
Summary: Is King preparing us for Holmes death?
Review: As a fan of the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series of books written by Laurie King, I found myself anxiously awaiting Justice Hall. I was not crazy about her previous work, Oh,Jerusalem because it displaced Holmes from his usual comfort of England. I agree with the reviewers who say there is too little Holmes. I have noticed this progressively during the previous books. Perhaps Ms. King is preparing the reader for Holmes eventual demise from old age and Russell to continue solving mysteries. He disappeared in A Letter of Mary for a length of time, as well as the same in The Moor. I read the books for the interaction between Holmes and Russell. That is what made The Beekeeper's Apprentice so wonderful and full of life. The sparks that flew between them in the earlier books were sadly lacking in this volume of the series. I know the Russell/Holmes relationship is unusual and very restrained, but I don't think they even acted like they cared for each other in hte book. There was a lot of talk from Mary about "if I weren't so tired, I would have thrown my arms around him." But of course, she did not and in all honesty it WOULD be out of character for Russell to do that. I know Ms. King is trying to concentrate on the mystery and not romance, but judging from her fan websites and reviews, readers want a little more from Holmes and Russell. Not necessarily a bodice-ripping love scene (Heavens No!), but maybe some verbal assurances that Holmes and Russell are actually still married and not in name only. The mystery is far better than A Letter of Mary or The Moor. And a return to British soil after trudging through Palestine in Oh, Jerusalem, was a welcome relief. I thought to myself that Holmes should be more at home in England. But he was hardly in the story, failed to come up with evidence while Mary discovered many clues. I would still recommend this book if you are a fan of the series and enjoy Mary Russell. If you are a fan of Holmes, go back to the canon; his appearance in this book is far too brief.
Rating:
Summary: Actually should be 2.5
Review: First of all, I'll say that I LIVE for the Mary Russell series. I love the complexity of the characters, the original situations, all of it. And I hate having to say that Ms King has missed her mark.
Justice Hall does have some good points--the development of Ali and Mahmoud (although a bit more background would be helpful), the setting, one or two fascinating new characters--which I thorougly enjoyed. However, it lacks a center, a point around which the story revolves. In BEEK, this was..well, a number of things, including Russell's apprenticeship and the development of her friendship with Holmes; in MREG, it was the change in their relationship; et cetera. While reading Justice Hall, I was never sure what the conflict was. Added to this were a number of small problems, such as the occasional phrase coming out of Russell's mouth that sounded like Kate Martinelli (another King character). My guess is that King was writing two books at once, and this one had to be finished in a hurry for a deadline.
By far, however, my biggest problem with the book is that neither Russell or Holmes is really present. Russ puts up with all sorts of things she never would have in the other books--and occasionally talks like a 2002 American. Her theological interests are a side note at best. The oft-absent Holmes is not himself either. I can't list all the evidence; there's too much.
My advice is that if you follow the Russell series, read the book for continuity, for Ali and Mahmoud, and for Iris Sutherland, who is a jewel. The story is interesting enough to keep you reading, though quite convoluted and at times dull. If you need lots of excitement to keep you interested but still want a King book, I'd recommend checking out Night Work, the latest in the Kate Martinelli series.
Rating: 
Summary: Disjusted
Review: Laurie King has written another book about....well, it's hard to know what this book IS about. Much time is spent on uninteresting genealogical speculation and travelogues and nearly no time on the Holmes/Russell releationship, the only reason why I was reading this book in the first place. In fact, it is not clear why Holmes is included in this volume at all. He has little to do. As usual in this sort of pastiche, he receives a knock upon the head that removes him from the action for the greater part of the story. Some of King's other character descriptions are risible-- yet none of them come to life at any time. At times it would seem that her glimpse of life in the '20s' on an aristocratic estate comes more from movies than from actual research. This is a tired pastiche. Read a PG Wodehouse story instead if you want to know about aristocrats in the '20s'. I won't be wasting my time on any other books in this series.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful return to form for Laurie King
Review: I have read all of the Mary Russell series, but have to admit that I was liking them a bit less with each one. Justice Hall made me remember why I fell in love with them when I read Beekeeper's Apprentice. It combines wonderful characters, both new ones and old favorites, with a satisfying plot (which was a weak point in King's last Russell book, O Jerusalem). Some people have complained that there's "not enough Holmes" in Justice Hall; my response to that is, Russell and Holmes are full partners by now, and she doesn't need him hovering over her shoulder while she works. It makes sense that they would split up to work on different aspects of the investigation (and it was nice to see Russell get the better end of the deal this time!). What impressed me most in Justice Hall was the way King took 2 characters who wouldn't seem to belong in 1920s England (Mahmoud and Ali Hazr) and made them completely believable in that setting. From the ending of the book, I doubt we're going to see any more of these 2 characters, but I for one would welcome them back.
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