JFK Is Missing! (PI Grace Smith Investigations) [Paperback]

Liz Evans (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2002

Grace's client, Henry Summerstone, has been blind for years. He has no idea of the name of the girl he's trying to trace, what she looks like, where she lives and works; in fact, he's not even sure that she's missing. But he's concerned about the whereabouts of the young jogger who talks to him on his solitary early morning walks, and he's offering cash - an offer Grace finds hard to turn down. Before long, she's got a lead on the girl - several leads as it turns out - though each time she gets close, Miss X slips away. Grace, however, is a girl who knows how to persevere and persevere she does, becoming entangled with squatters, invisible pigs, a twelve-year-old estate agent and the man of her dreams - who unfortunately seems to be the man of his wife's dreams too...

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Great fun and good laughs—sure to appeal to those who like their heroines cheeky, charming, and crazy.” -- BOOKLIST, for Barking!

“One of Britain’s more unnerving private eyes.” -- LIBRARY JOURNAL

“Those with a taste for oddball working–class female PIs should go for Grace Smith.” -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

From the Publisher

Liz Evans is in top form in these, the first three investigations in the PI Grace Smith mystery series. Featuring a feisty and engaging heroine, and packed with cracking one–liners and unexpected twists, these pacey novels will keep you guessing to the end.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 345 pages
• Publisher: Orion Books; First Edition edition (August 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 075283696X
• ISBN-13: 978-0752836966
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 4.5 x 7.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,821,855 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars British Kinsey, February 4, 2003

By 

"natchen" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: JFK Is Missing! (PI Grace Smith Investigations) (Paperback)

I picked up this book because of the comparisons of the heroine to Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum. Instead, I found that Grace Smith could be the British counterpart to Sue Grafton's character, Kinsey Milhone. The book is entertaining and well written, but left me wondering about the heroine's lifestyle. I suppose if Evan decides to write 24 more books in the series like Grafton has committed to, we'll find out more about the reasons for Smith's eccentric lifestyle.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite authors !, October 23, 2005

By 

JoJo Zawawi "JoJo" (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: JFK Is Missing! (PI Grace Smith Investigations) (Paperback)

Not much to say, besides the fact that Liz Evans writes very entertaining stories -- she's one of my favorite authors !

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Liz Evans is a great "find" for American mystery readers, October 14, 2005

By 

M. C. Crammer (Decatur, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: JFK Is Missing (Hardcover)

Comparisons with Sue Grafton are fairly obvious, although Liz Evans has a different style and her detective character (Grace Smith) is not a copy of Kinsey Milhone, although they have some characteristics in common, like no family to speak of and being tightfisted. While Kinsey Milhone's frugal lifestyle is treated as something that's not bad, Grace Smith's efforts to avoid spending money are the subject of humor, as she's always trying to get something for free (like a meal) and drives an old heap that's not all that driveable, because she refuses to spend money on a new car (although she has the money).

Grace lives in a seaside town and works as a private detective (or doesn't work, as the case may be). She lost her position on the police force because she was set up, so that it looked like she'd taken a bribe that resulted in the killer of a policeman getting away with murder. Consequently, the local police both know her and dislike her, which is often a plot element in this series, as it is in this book.

In "JFK Is Missing," Grace is working (in the course of the book) on three cases that turn out to be related (not too surprisingly). THe first involves a blind man who asks her to find a woman he used to talk to early in the morning as they exercised on the seafront -- he doesn't know her name and can't really describe her. Then a young teenager asks her to find her missing "boyfriend" -- an older man she wants to take her to the school dance. And finally, someone else asks her to find a missing person.

Liz Evans always has complicated plots, but this one wasn't so complicated that I couldn't follow it. There's humor, including a pair of squatters that move into Grace's friend's apartment while the friend is out of town. For reasons that aren't very credible, no-one calls the police to charge them with burglary and/or criminal trespass -- instead, Grace has to keep her friend from finding out and going ballistic and try to get the squatters to move out -- more difficult than it sounds.

I thought the book was about 25 pages too long and should have been tightened up with some editing. Otherwise, another great mystery by Liz Evans.