It Had to Be You : A Grace & Favor Mystery

Rating:
Summary: Historically Delightful....
Review: "It Had to Be You" is Jill Churchill's 5th book in the "Grace & Favor Mystery Series," which chronicles siblings, Lily and Robert Brewster's life in a small town during the Depression. We continue to view how they are coping with the terms of their Uncle's will, which stipulates that they must live and work in Voorburg for 10 years before they can inherit the wealthy estate.

To earn money, the siblings temporarily work at a private nursing home. When an overbearing old man is smothered, they work with Police Chief Howard to help solve the mystery.

I LOVE these characters and this book is no exception. I was reading another book when this arrived from Amazon and I could hardly wait to start reading it.

"It Had to Be You" transports the reader back to the early 1930's and immerses one in the jargon, names, and historical data of the time period. I was AMAZED at how this book was so well researched and the attention to historic detail that it showed. We learn of Roosevelt's inauguration; of his imposed restrictions on the banking industry and his fireside radio chats. We also meet traveling salesmen with the latest novelties: "samples" - small products of new items such as "Bisquick" that allow the consumer to try them before buying.

I especially enjoyed reading about Robert's suggestion of the dumb waiter. Churchill is an absolute MASTER at realism.

More than any other "Grace and Favor" book, "It Had to Be You" focuses more on the daily life of Lily and Robert Brewster rather than the mystery itself per se. If you seek a mystery that leaves your heart pounding and wondering who the culprit is, "It Had to Be You," is probably not the best choice. And to be honest, if you are seeking a great romance - these two are as celibate in thought and deed as it gets....

But if you seek an historic delve into the lives of two great characters (even if they both need a little romance in their lives!) - you can't go wrong. It is especially interesting how the Brewsters do a variety of odd jobs, and I look forward to the next book to learn what they will be involved in next!

Churchill is a wonderfully gifted writer and the series is great.

Rating:
Summary: Trying hard, but falling short
Review: After reading the last entry in the Jane Jeffry mystery series and being less than impressed, I was hoping for more from the latest in the Grace & Favor series. Unfortunately, I was disappointed again. While the book does do a wonderful job of transporting the reader to a small town in New York during the Depression, it does a less than masterful job of solving the mystery in the book.

If you have not read the book, you may wish to skip the rest of my review as it will not tell you whodunnit, but will give away some of the plot.

The story opens with Lily and Robert having gotten yet another part-time job - this one at the nursing home up the road. The first day that both of them are working there, a crochety patient is suffocated to death in his bed. The odd thing is that the patient had slipped into a coma and according to Miss Twibell, the proprietor of the home, would have probably passed away that day regardless. While this detail is constantly mentioned throughout the book, the resolution does not explain the need for the patient to be murdered when he would have died anyway. There are many unresolved details in the book that are probably there as red herrings, however instead of being neatly explained later, they are just left hanging at the end of the book. I don't know if Ms. Churchill originally intended for another character to be the murderer or not, but I feel the book could have been much more entertaining from a mystery perspective had she chosen another character for the villain.

If you are looking for a entertaining and diverting read with a secondary mystery, this book would be fine. However, if you are expecting a rollicking mystery with a twist, skip it. Not Ms. Churchill's best - not even close.

Rating:
Summary: Lily and Robert help solve who killed Sean Conner
Review: It's 1933. Lily and her brother Robert not only take in boarders at Grace and Favor, but they also take on jobs now and then. Miss Twibell who runs a local nursing home has hired them while her assistant nurse is out sick.

There are many colorful characters in the home. One old man, Sean Connor, is the only seriously ill patient. He is also very hard to deal with. He slips into a coma and passes away. No one was surprised by his death as he was very ill. That is, until it is discovered he was murdered. Why would anyone murder him when he only had hours left? He wasn't well liked, even by his family. So, there are lots of suspects. He had several visits the morning he was killed.

Then a body surfaces when the spring arrives and melts the ice. Could this be the young mad who had disappeared last winter? Or has a third crime been committed?

Lily and Robert become involved in helping to solve these crimes. Plus Robert makes some great suggested to Miss Twibell to upgrade her home and assists with those upgrades.

Motives for Mr. Connor's death are not as abundant as suspects, so it takes a lot of detecting and interviewing for it to be discovered and the guilty party caught.

I love this series. Lily and Robert are terrific. This is one of the few series set back in time that I enjoy so thoroughly. Jill Churchill has done a wonderful job creating these characters and the setting. The other people in town are also great characters in this series. They are all so well crafted. I feel like I'm there when I read a book in this series. Her books are so easy to read, and you don't want to put them down.

I highly recommend this book. The Grace and Favor series is not to be missed.


Rating:
Summary: An exciting, light-hearted amateur sleuth novel
Review: Once they were society's darlings, rich enough to live for today and not care about tomorrow; then the stock market crash of 1929 left them destitute, forced to live in a cold water tenement in New York City. When a relative dies, he makes provisions for Robert and Lily Brewster to live in the Grace and Favor Cottage in Voorburg on the Hudson and has his attorney control the money to make sure they have enough to keep the mansion running smoothly.

If they want to buy some luxuries, they have to get a job because the cottage and money meant for them is held in a trust and administered by an attorney. The brother and sister team are asked to work in a nursing home until the two people who are out sick return. While there, a patient Sean Connor dies and everyone soon learns that he was suffocated. What makes this so puzzling is that the homicide victim only had hours to live and when Lily and Robert learn of this; they start snooping, hoping to find a clue that will lead them to a murderer.

IT HAD TO BE YOU is an exciting, light-hearted amateur sleuth novel that takes place just days after President Roosevelt takes office. Readers get a sense of how the Great Depression affected people, especially the upper class many of whom lost their fortunes. It is rare for a mystery too have two equally well developed protagonists but creative writer Jill Churchill manages it. This series is so delightful that readers will find themselves eagerly awaiting the next installment.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Cozy and Entertaining Mystery
Review: Robert and Lily work hard in order to keep their guesthouse, Grace & Favor, during the Great Depression. The siblings take on temporary jobs at a nearby nursing home, but they are soon trying to help police solve a murder. A crabby old patient in the home is smothered, even though he would have died naturally within days. To add to this puzzling event, the body of a young man is found as the ice melts in a lake at a nearby town. How can the two murders possibly be connected?

It Had To Be You is a cozy portrayal of village life during the Great Depression with a mystery thrown in the mix. The characters are interesting and believable, and author Jill Churchill has obviously done her research on the era. The book has a genteel feel that seems very appropriate to the time. Don't expect blazing guns and madcap action, but do enjoy the delightfully depicted period details.

This is the fifth Grace & Favor novel, but it stands well on its own. Churchill does an excellent job of introducing characters and providing hints of their pasts without having readers wade through explanations of what happened in previous books.

Rating:
Summary: Cozy and Entertaining Mystery
Review: Robert and Lily work hard in order to keep their guesthouse, Grace & Favor, during the Great Depression. The siblings take on temporary jobs at a nearby nursing home, but they are soon trying to help police solve a murder. A crabby old patient in the home is smothered, even though he would have died naturally within days. To add to this puzzling event, the body of a young man is found as the ice melts in a lake at a nearby town. How can the two murders possibly be connected?

It Had To Be You is a cozy portrayal of village life during the Great Depression with a mystery thrown in the mix. The characters are interesting and believable, and author Jill Churchill has obviously done her research on the era. The book has a genteel feel that seems very appropriate to the time. Don't expect blazing guns and madcap action, but do enjoy the delightfully depicted period details.

This is the fifth Grace & Favor novel, but it stands well on its own. Churchill does an excellent job of introducing characters and providing hints of their pasts without having readers wade through explanations of what happened in previous books.

Rating:
Summary: Another Entry into the Grace and Favor Series
Review: The year is 1933 and Franklin Delano Roosevelt has just been inaugurated as President of the United States and the country continues to suffer from the effects of Great Depression. On the banks of the Hudson River, Lily and Robert Brewster, sister and brother left paupers at the outset of the Depression continue to live in the white elephant house they inherited from their great uncle Horatio. But they haven't inherited the house quite yet. The house is known as a Grace and Favor home according to a custom once practiced in great Britain which requires that the inheritors live in the house and work in the area for 10 years to sustain themselves before they really inherit the house.

This is the backdrop for It Had to Be You by Jill Churchill the fifth book in the author's Grace and Favor series featuring amateur sleuths Lily and Robert Brewster. As they have done in the previous cozy mysteries in this series, they are once again called upon to help solve a murder. This time the murder takes place in a local nursing home when an elderly patient is smothered and where Lily and Robert are working while the home is severely understaffed.  With an interesting cast of characters the author has fashioned another charming book about the Brewsters, their unusual living arrangements and some of the other local residents chief among them the Chiefs of Police of two towns, a journalist for the local newspaper and the woman who owns the nursing home. The story does become even more interesting when a second body is found in a pond and readers wonder if the two murders are somehow related. And who could have done these deadly deeds as the finger points to several suspects.

While I enjoyed this book and would suggest it to others who enjoy cozy mysteries, I do recommend beginning the series with the first book Anything Goes which remains my favorite titles of this series. I would also suggest reading another series written by this author which features a housewife turned sleuth named Jane Jeffrey.

In my opinion Jill Churchill always provides her readers with a nicely spun mystery which is good reading and at times even amusing. Once again I look forward to a new book in either of her "must read" series for me.

Rating:
Summary: Another Entry into the Grace and Favor Series
Review: The year is 1933 and Franklin Delano Roosevelt has just been inaugurated as President of the United States and the country continues to suffer from the effects of Great Depression. On the banks of the Hudson River, Lily and Robert Brewster, sister and brother left paupers at the outset of the Depression continue to live in the white elephant house they inherited from their great uncle Horatio. But they haven't inherited the house quite yet. The house is known as a Grace and Favor home according to a custom once practiced in great Britain which requires that the inheritors live in the house and work in the area for 10 years to sustain themselves before they really inherit the house.

This is the backdrop for It Had to Be You by Jill Churchill the fifth book in the author's Grace and Favor series featuring amateur sleuths Lily and Robert Brewster. As they have done in the previous cozy mysteries in this series, they are once again called upon to help solve a murder. This time the murder takes place in a local nursing home when an elderly patient is smothered and where Lily and Robert are working while the home is severely understaffed.  With an interesting cast of characters the author has fashioned another charming book about the Brewsters, their unusual living arrangements and some of the other local residents chief among them the Chiefs of Police of two towns, a journalist for the local newspaper and the woman who owns the nursing home. The story does become even more interesting when a second body is found in a pond and readers wonder if the two murders are somehow related. And who could have done these deadly deeds as the finger points to several suspects.

While I enjoyed this book and would suggest it to others who enjoy cozy mysteries, I do recommend beginning the series with the first book Anything Goes which remains my favorite titles of this series. I would also suggest reading another series written by this author which features a housewife turned sleuth named Jane Jeffrey.

In my opinion Jill Churchill always provides her readers with a nicely spun mystery which is good reading and at times even amusing. Once again I look forward to a new book in either of her "must read" series for me.