Jury Duty [Hardcover]

Laura Van Wormer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 13, 1996

The author of Riverside Drive, West End and Benedict Canyon captures the drama, insight, and profound changes that chance encounters have upon our lives. The life of a "poor little rich boy" accused of murdering a beautiful model rests in the hands of 12 strangers picked for his jury.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Judging by this page-turner, Van Wormer (Any Given Moment) has put the time she recently spent serving on the sequestered jury of a Manhattan murder trial to good use: the novel is rife with salient details that only an insider could know. Ever wittily observant and not above some goodnatured self-mockery, Van Wormer centers the action on freshman juror and formerly successful novelist Libby Winslow, who, 19 months previously, "had been thirty-two and was planning to get married; now she was thirty-four, her book was returning from bookstores in droves, and she was a single woman with cats." Libby is at first intrigued by fellow juror Alex, a renovation contractor. Despite his "Marlboro Man" looks and pointed attentions, however, there is something off-putting about him, so she eventually finds herself drawn to the unassuming William, an investment banker with a heart of gold. As the trial heats up, so does Libby and William's relationship; similarly, juror Melissa, a recovering alcoholic, begins to come to terms with her attraction to a female advertising client. Racy heterosexual episodes and a soupcon of lesbian flirtation add headiness to an already satisfying brew, and readers will stay up late to devour the novel's final pages, in which the revelation of Alex's true colors combines with the jury's final deliberations to generate more than a little suspense.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This cross between the movie Twelve Angry Men (1957) and a Danielle Steele-like novel results in a very readable tale. The thirtysomething heroine, Libby Winslow, looks forward to a break in her stalled writing career when she is summoned to jury duty. Her fellow jurors are diverse, the best and the worst of stereotypical New Yorkers-the wealthy matron, the computer nerd, the black CPA, the gay man whose lover is dying from AIDS. They are hearing the case of the murder of a beautiful model killed by a privileged but drug-addled young man. Subplots abound between Libby, handsome architect Alex, and Will, a Wall Street type. And we can't forget the dead woman's sister and husband and their story. Justice is served and love triumphs. Jury Duty offers good, light reading from the author of Any Given Moment (LJ 12/94). For popular collections.
Barbara Maslekoff, Ohioana Lib., Columbus
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Mira Books; 1St Edition edition (December 13, 1996)
• ISBN-10: 1551662507
• ISBN-13: 978-1551662503
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,610,673 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Quick Reading Order Lists:

"The Alexandra Chronicles": 1)Riverside Drive 2)West End 3)Any Given Moment 4)Talk 5)Exposé 6 )The Last Lover 7)Trouble Becomes Her 8)The Bad Witness 9)The Kill Fee 10)Mr. Murder 11)Riverside Park

"The Sally Harrington Mysteries": 1)Exposé 2)The Last Lover 3)Trouble Becomes Her 4)The Bad Witness 5)The Kill Fee 6)Mr. Murder

The "Stand Alone" Novels: 1)Benedict Canyon 2)Jury Duty 3)Just for the Summer

Best-selling author Laura Van Wormer has been a force in fiction since the publication of "Riverside Drive" in 1988. She is the author of thirteen novels. Her engrossing plots, memorable characters and insider knowledge of the media professions have won praise from the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Good Housekeeping, and People.

After graduating from Darien High School in Connecticut Laura spent a year at the University of Arizona before transferring to Syracuse University, from where she received a B.S. in Public Communications from the S.I. Newhouse School and minored in English.

Upon graduation Laura went to New York looking for a job in television but landed a job instead as secretary to the editor-in-chief of Doubleday & Company. "Every day my head was spinning," Laura says. "Everyone from Leon Uris to William F. Buckley, Jr., Victoria Holt to Phyllis Whitney, Edna O'Brien to Stephen King, Arthur and Alex Hailey to Allen Drury were all publishing with Doubleday at that time."

Laura rose through the editorial ranks somewhat specializing in celebrity and mass media-related books. Caught in a deadline crunch one year, Doubleday and 20th Century Fox flew Laura out to the West Coast to create a book based on the hit series, "Dynasty". Upon her return to New York an offer was made to create a book for the rival show, "Dallas". Laura ended up taking the assignment and leaving Doubleday to write her first novel.

The novel ended up taking four years. To keep body and soul together Laura became "The Official Dallas Historian" (!) and created a game for Lorimar based on the show. She then took on "Knots Landing", wrote copy for the back of jigsaw puzzles and created a game.

Finally she finished her first novel, "Riverside Drive", published in 1988, which is currently in its 5th edition. She has been a full time writer ever since.

Laura is a longtime member of the Authors Guild of America, and also (because of "Jury Duty" and the Sally Harrington mysteries) the Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. She lives in Connecticut, New York and Shelburne, Nova Scotia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book started it all for me., November 6, 1999

By 

Amazon Customer "[e-mail]" (North Haven, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jury Duty (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was the first Van Wormer book I read. It kept my interest from page one. The characters seem so real and this book gave an inside look at the juror experience.

Laura has a way of making you care about the characters and gets you right into the story.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good page turner!, January 3, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Jury Duty (Mass Market Paperback)

I have read all but two of Ms. Van Wormer's books, and happened to read this one right after "The Bad Witness," and "Jury Duty" was by far better. If you want to get a good view of a court trial from a juror's perspective, read this book.

Although some other reviewers didn't like the romances going on, I did like the stories that were happening outside the courtroom -- let's face it, people have lives and romance (good or troubled) is a part of it; not only that, but romance wasn't the only thing happening outside the courtroom. After reading what the jurors have to listen to day in and day out during the trial, you actually are happy that they can find some happiness despite the circumstances. This was a page turner that only took a few days for me to read!

Ms. Van Wormer seems to put out better novels where she is covering several characters' lives throughout the book (like this one, "Riverside Drive" and "West End"), rather than focusing on just one character (the current Sally Harrington series).

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, What it's like to be one of the juror's, May 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Jury Duty (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a fun book. The main characters are very likeable and the villians are downright nasty. If you like this author's other books, you won't be disappointed. This was quick and easy to read and kept my interest. She is a "friendly" author and writes a good story.