Customer Reviews

Someone to Watch Over Me (Grace & Favor Mysteries, No. 3)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

At one time siblings Robert and Lily were card-carrying members of the idle rich, living off their father's fortune. When the stock market crashed in 1929, the duo was left destitute as their father committed suicide. Sadly, neither has a skill to earn a decent living--upper-class style, that is. However, a relative comes to the rescue by dying and leaving his vast estate to the brother and sister if they move into his mansion in Upstate New York and support themselves for the next ten years.

It proves very difficult to find work in 1932, but neither sit idle. Robert finds a body on the property and is determined to find out who he was, especially since Lily's new friend Roxanne is believed to have killed her husband though no corpse has been found. Lily knows her friend did not commit any homicide and decides to prove she is right. Is amateur sleuthing acceptable under the stipulations of their inheritance? The Brewsters do not care because they believe they must do the right thing regardless.

Jill Churchill has written a delightful historical cozy that captures much of the ambience of America's Great Depression. The bewitching Brewsters brood is adjusting to a radical lifestyle change while trying to help a neighbor. SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME is enjoyable: the characters are engaging, the plot strong and vibrant, and the mystery cleverly executed.

Harriet Klausner

I enjoyed the first two books in this series, but this third one surpasses them by far. I literally felt like I was present, especially when Jack goes to Washington to interview the Bonus Marchers. It brought alive a period in history in a personal and exciting way. There are two mysteries, and while the sleuthing part of this novel is a bit weak, I didn't mind at all... because the story and characters were so compelling. I can't wait for the next addition to this series.

Someone to Watch Over Me by Jill Churchill is the third book in Jill Churchill's Grace and Favor series. The previous two books, Anything Goes and In the Still of the Night were delightful light mysteries which introduced us to a wonderful mansion on the Hudson River occupied by wonderful characters. And now with this, her third book in the series, she continues to engage many of her readers who also remember her Jane Jeffrey mysteries.

Set during the Depression, the once wealthy Lily and Robert, brother and sister, continue to occupy the home left to them, with certain stipulations, by their great uncle. Their eventual inheritance is perdicated on the English law of Grace and Favor whereby they must not only occupy the home, but also work in the community for a period of time before they inherit anything. The house comes with an array of interesting people who work for them as well as townspeople who quickly become part of their lives.

But times are tough for all including Robert and Lily who are unaccustomed to worrying about money or working. Few in the village know who their parents were or the fact that they are now broke. As it happens in Churchills previous books a murder takes place which seems to occupy Robert and Lily's interest. Not only does the reader become involved with first one murder and then another, but at the same time Churchill gives us a mini Depression history lesson describing conditions as the towns local newspaperman covers thw Workers March on Washington for Wages. We become familiar with tent cities and the people who are forced to live in them as they too seek out ways of earning money and being renumerated fairly.

While I enjoy the mystery angle of these books, which is enough to satisfy any reader, for me it is the description of the area surrounding the Hudson River and the characters who really interst me in these books. Now I am once again waiting for the next book in this series to find out what everybody is up to.

Someone to Watch Over Me by Jill Churchill is the third book in her Grace and Favor series. The previous two titles, Anything Goes and In the Still of the Night were delightful mysteries and Someone to Watch Over Me is a welcome addition to this series.

Set during the Depression, the once wealthy Brother and sister Lily and Robert inherit their uncle's mansion on the Hudson River. But the inheritance is predicated on the English law of Grace and Favor where they must live in the house for a period of time before they can rightfully own it. And their uncle added one more element to this inheritance in that both Lily and Robert must have jobs in the area and live only in the house before they inherit anything. The house comes with an array of interesting people who work for them in addition to some of the townspeople who quickly become part of their lives.

Unfortunately, times are tough for all including Lily and Robert who few in the village know that their family was a casualty of the Depression early on and their fortune no longer exists. With both their parents now gone, they must figure out a way to make ends meet. They come up with one idea after another to bring in some much needed income while they also somehow become amateur detectives. As she did in her two previous books, Ms. Churchill presents first one murder victim and then another as Lily and Robert become entangled in solving the murder And not content to have only one main plot at work, Churchill fully explores the plight of the average person as they deal with the Depression. A most interesting part of the book is when the author describes the workers march on Washington, DC for wages as well as their living conditions in tent cities erected around this area.

While I enjoyed the mystery angle of this book, which is enough to satisfy most mystery readers, it is the description of the area around the Hudson and the characters that really interest me in these books. Now once again I am waiting for the next title in this series to find out what everyone is doing and how life has been treating all of them.

Jill Churchill's third novel in her Grace and Favor mystery series is "Someone to Watch Over Me". Her protagonists, formerly wealthy (and pretty worthless) siblings Robert and Lily Brewster, continue to find that they can struggle with their new poverty and do good deeds. Most good mystery writers excel at portraying a very specific time and place: Agatha Christie and her English villages following WWI; Raymond Chandler and L.A. in the forties and fifties, Ellis Peters and medieval England. This series is located in the Hudson River Valley just up from NYC following the Crash. Churchill does a wonderful job of capturing the place--rather easy I think--and the time, a much more difficult challenge. Two bodies, the Veteran's Bonus March in Washington, D.C. and a possible romance brewing between the small town newspaper editor and an abandoned young wife and mother all make for the best in the series yet. Churchill's mysteries, especially in this fresh new series, are light, sufficiently challenging and fun to read. She's a good one!

In Jill Churchill's third book in the "Grace and Favor" Mystery series, you get a glimpse into the lives of those living through the depression. Yes, the series is meant to be a somewhat light mystery set during the depression-era, but it truly is so much more. You start to see how the depression caused a very wide gap in the social mores of the day when there were very strict adherences to the class structure. Approximately a third of the country was in dire poverty during the height of the depression. In "Someone to Watch Over Me," you start to see how so many of these social snobberies start to be abandoned by Lily and her brother, Robert Brewster. They let the town know that they are not rich, but have suffered complete financial ruin as most of the town has and that it has only been through the miraculous good fortune of being named in their Uncle's will that has enabled them to live in a mansion. Luckily, after a period of 10 years - they will inherit the estate as long as they meet the provisions of the will and earn their living.

Readers are in the midst of the Bonus Army March as they camp out in Washington, D.C. in 1932. Churchill recounts the historic adventure through the eyes of their newspaper editor, Jack Summer who travels to D.C. to get a first-hand glimpse of the protestors.

The papers proclaim that Henry Ford has cut wages and increased hours and hosed down disgruntled employees who are seeking better conditions. ( I was a little confused about this as I knew that in 1914, Ford was the first to establish a "minimum wage" law as he raised the pay from $2.50 to $5.00 - which was a fortune in those days for doing assembly work. Naturally, it helped him retain employees - but I doubt that in 1932 many people were buying automobiles and Ford was trying to keep the company afloat.) It would have been nice if this had been explained.

In between all the historical events, there are two murders and plenty of dialogue. You grow to like these characters more and more with each new book. This Churchill series is as good as it gets!

It's the early 1930's and struggling Lily and Robert, heirs apparent to their Great Uncle Horatio's estate AFTER they've lived there ten years are finally coming to terms with their own loss of fortune! Daunting at first, to these struggling siblings, they are now becomming involved in the community. Much to their dismay, a couple of murders along with a rash of pilfering combined with the historical event of the World War I Bonus March on Washington, interrupt Robert's plans to renovate Grace & Favor and Lily's acceptance into the local Ladies League, to make this a very, very interesting read. It's a BIG departure from Ms. Churchill's "Jane Jeffry mystery series", and I truly enjoyed every printed word.

The editorial reviews sum up the plot well, but don't say that most of the book has nothing to do with solving the murders. The whole bit about the editor's visit to Washington, the despressing discriptions of the government's treatment of the bonus marchers (some of them children) may appeal to history buffs, but had little to do with the crimes in upstate NY. Also the editor's involvement with one of the marchers,a young mother with two children had nothing at all to do with the murders. She was there in a wagon with a mule. I vaguely wondered about the historical accuracy of that. Would there be a mule pulled wagon on the highways between DC and NY in the 30's? But no matter - it was filler. I read another in this series earlier, In the Still of the Night, and enjoyed it, but will not seek out any more of them.

A great combo of history and mystery. The author manages to weave her mystery through a picture of life in early 1930's depression era, without becoming at all maudalin or depressing. I've read the earlier books in this series, and I will continue reading the rest.

Engaging tale set in 1932 with one of the major characters (Robert) finding a murdered man in the old ice box. Ms Churchill does a wonderful job of interweaving the history of the time to create a town any of our grandparents or great grandparents might have lived in.

While SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME is an entertaining book with interesting characters, well developed plot and an unpredictable ending. I'm sure after reading this you'll join me in waiting for the next addition to this refreshing series.