Splendid Summer (Grace, Jack & Magical Cats Cozy Mystery) [Kindle Edition]

Mary Matthews (Author)

Book Description

Welcome to the splendid 1920s. When Grace Wentworth loses her last living relative and all her money, hot Detective and WWI Aviator Jack Brewster gets the case. Grace is learning to lead her own life instead of just following it around. Startled by Grace's lack of deference to him, Jack recognizes his romantic equal.

Product Details

• File Size: 212 KB
• Print Length: 80 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004WG4GW6
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #202,076 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Can everything truly change in the blink of an eye? October 3, 2011

By Mary J. Gramlich VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition

Grace Wentworth is the epitome of a 1920's modern woman, well bred, educated and on the cusp of becoming a social sensation. Her life was like a train moving forward destined for its next stop when the unexpected death of her uncle derails everything.

She knew loneliness after the death of her parents but their death was not considered a murder with too many suspects and not enough answers to her questions. Apparently, she can turn to the strong arms of Jack Brewster, Pinkerton Detective who is as serious about his job as he is taking care of the less fortunate both human and animal alike. He will find the underlying cause of this mystery and if he is fortunate, enough to spend some time with Grace all the better.

Grace shows her independence, follows her own leads, and turns her back on the ruthless woman that is her aunt. Jack is getting close and whoever murdered her uncle is convinced Grace has something they need, but what could it be? Together Grace and Jack figure out the road to success is paved with collaboration and some great kisses!

This was a wonderful, descriptive, and very romantic story even though the characters are brought together under duress. Grace shows us all what a woman with a thought on her own can do with it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars "Splendid Summer" is a reading delight. May 7, 2011

By Ann Shelly

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Splendid Summer is a fun read. The main characters, Grace and Jack have strong personalities and excellent verbal skills. Jack's sarcastic remarks are well taken and answered in kind by Grace. Her character has been tempered by tragedy and difficult circumstances in childhood. While she has been raised in luxury and culture her only access to any warm personal relationships have been with her uncle and her two friends in finishing school. Her life is dealt some devastating circumstances in the beginning of the novella but she manages to overcome them, thanks to the help of her new friend, Jack. Together they solve her uncle's murder and form a strong relationship as they face the future together.

The locale of the story is on Coronado Island, California, and the descriptions of the beach front life style in the early part of the century are vivid and noteworthy.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Could Have Been Better February 25, 2012

By G. Kimball

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

The story was interesting and it kept me intrigued to see what would happen. I also liked Tatania the cat. Jack and Grace, not so much. Their dialogue was overly melodramatic much of the time. It was also inappropriate a lot of the time. Not in a dirty or foulmouthed way but it would be very humerous at inappropriate moments (such as when a body has just been discovered they make cracks that for someone who is supposed to care very much for the deceased seemed out of place). I also have trouble feeling sorry for an ex-heiress whose main concern is to not have to sell her thoroughbred.
The biggest flaw though was the flow of the story. It was all over the place. There was little to no backstory for anybody, even the main characters. It just seemed like the author was trying to jump right to making us love her adorable characters that she skimped on actual story. Another huge problem is that characters would come and go like they were teleporting into the scene just to say their important line and teleport back out. For instance (it's not a spoiler) Grace goes looking for Jack and he's not home but his brother (a character we have not heard of as of yet and never will again) is there. Grace chats with him a bit and suddenly Jack is speaking as though he's been there all along. There was no indication of when he arrived or anything. Once or twice is fine but this happens a lot. There was a lot of amateurish mistakes that really detracted a lot from it.

I gave it three stars because it was cute and some of the dialogue was pretty funny but I don't really think I'll be reading the rest of the series.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Splendid Summer December 25, 2011

By Catherine Coffman

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Splendid Summer is a very cute short story. I have a hard time with short stories, because there's not enough time to really build a "relationship" with the characters or for a whole lot of development. While that makes things fast paced by necessity, it also tends to leave me wanting a little more. While this was true with Splendid Summer, I still enjoyed the story, and I'm looking forward to reading the next installment.

The story follows Tatania, Jack and Grace as they try to solve the mystery of Grace's uncle's death, especially after he lost all of the family's money. The powers that be are convinced that it's a suicide, but Grace is determined to prove them wrong, and is more than willing to step up and get Jack to help. Thankfully, they have Tatania to keep them in line, because they get into trouble at every turn.

Aside from the usual challenges of short stories, Splendid Summer is a little jumpier than I'd like to see - at times a new topic or scene get started without a transition so you have to go back and figure out where things belong contextually, but it's still cute and worth a try.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars A mixed bag November 9, 2011

By pixiecat

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Splended Summer had an excellent premise. The story was intriguing and I kept reading because I wanted to see how it ended. Unfortunately, the book suffers from a lack of cohesiveness. There are places where it feels like pieces are missing. You're in the middle of a scene, and suddenly the scene abruptly changes. Too many details are left out. The choppiness made what could have been an excellent story merely fair.

More About the Author

Mary loves her family, reading, history, cats and wine. She helped write WWII Veterans' stories for a Library of Congress project. She's a descendant of American Revolutionary Patriots whose ancestors arrived in America in the 1600s.

While researching the 1920s, Mary created the Splendid Summer series featuring romantic detectives Grace and Jack -- and their magical cats that can solve mysteries without missing a nap.

She's the author of Splendid Summer, Emeralds, Diamonds, and Amethysts, A Christmas Feral, Cher Ami, Meow Baby, Cupcake Kitty and Meow or Never.