Who's Sorry Now? (Grace & Favor Mysteries, No. 6) [Mass Market Paperback]

Jill Churchill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 2006

Sister and brother Lily and Robert Brewster may not have a penny to their names, but at least they're in good company––times couldn't be tougher in the Hudson River Valley during the Great Depression, and even the much–revered Chief of Police has lost his home. Their poor town has been stripped of its Post Office, too; now mail gets dumped off the trains steaming up the Hudson River, and people have to rummage through the bags to find their letters and packages. When Robert helps a young widow and her newly–arrived German grandfather haul the old man's trunks to his granddaughter's shop, he thinks he may have found a new set of friends––especially the kind train porter who helps them out. But when a red swastika is found painted on the widow's shop window, and the train porter is found dead, Robert knows that something much deeper, and much darker, is happening in his sleepy little town. Even back at Grace & Favor Mansion, where Lily and Robert live, things are falling apart. The Chief of Police has just unearthed a very, very old skeleton––right on the grounds! Could the two murders be related? It's up to Lily and Robert to find out the truth, before their quiet community is town apart by hatred, secrets, and a killer who may have set his sights on Grace & Favor...

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Author of the Jane Jeffry series, contemporary mysteries set in suburban Chicago, Churchill focuses here on her historical series set in the Depression-era Hudson Valley and starring brother and sister Robert and Lily Brewster, who live in the beautiful old Grace & Favor mansion with a variety of interesting boarders. This time a new resident of Voorburg-on--Hudson is targeted by racists. The grandfather of a Voorburg resident has just arrived from Germany and soon finds a big red swastika painted on his shop window. Shortly after, a kindly train porter is found brutally murdered in the train station. Who is perpetuating such hatred? Robert and Lily play relatively small roles this time, with the story focusing on police chief Howard Walker and his admiring deputy, Ron Parker. A fair, kind, and smart hero, Walker is delightful to be around, and the relationship between the two cops is a highlight of the story. Churchill's spare yet eloquent prose fits perfectly with an era that eschews waste of any kind. The nice mix of Depression history and cozy ambience is reminiscent of a Preston Sturges film. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“Crisp and clever . . . savvy and witty . . . Jill Churchill just keeps getting better and better!” (Kansas City Star )

“Delightful....spare yet eloquent prose...[a] nice mix of Depression history and cozy ambience.” (Booklist )

“Agatha Christie is alive and well and writing mysteries under the name Jill Churchill.” (Nancy Pickard )

“Zany…witty…Churchill’s stories…are written to amuse and entertain, and this they do in abundance.” (Chicago Sun-Times )

“It will leave you feeling a little better about human nature.” (Washington Post )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Avon Books (October 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060734604
• ISBN-13: 978-0060734602
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #371,352 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jill Churchill has won the Agatha and Macavity Mystery Readers Awards and was nominated for an Anthony Award for her bestselling Jane Jeffry series. She is also the author of the highly acclaimed Grace and Favor mysteries and lives in the Midwest.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, July 13, 2006

By 

kskrista (Wichita, KS United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who's Sorry Now? (Grace & Favor Mysteries, No. 6) (Hardcover)

I agree with all the disappointed reviews of this book. I've collected this series and, at this point, I'm seriously considering giving up the books. I have the hardcover and the synopsis of the book on the DJ isn't even correct! What about the skeleton? What on earth did Robert and Lily have to do with discovering the murderer? How did the killer have plans for Grace & Favor????? (I don't know WHERE that particular comment came from!)

The writing really IS terrible. I felt like the author was bored half the time she was writing. In a way, I was. There was no romance, no real danger, no real mystery--just the day-to-day happenings of silly Robert (who does come off as a rather weak character). The sentences were short, choppy and just stated facts. The story was still somewhat interesting. I suppose that's because I've been interested in the characters. I'm just sad because this series showed such promise; I loved the historical stuff. None of that in this one. (Oh--maybe that's where the skeleton came in????)

Spoiler coming....

I was SO GLAD Robert changed the name of the mailing facility! That was almost too much for me when it was going to be named after him. And the killer's explanation of why he replaced the paint can. Oh my word! Sure, I hadn't thought of that explanation myself, but it was so incredibly simplistic. I know that, figuratively, my jaw dropped.

I like Police Chief Walker and I like the new deputy. But I was surprised at how little Lily and Jack Summer figured in this story and at how silly Robert appeared. I felt sorry for him.

I still can't believe the skeleton part wasn't "resolved". Not that it needed to be--but the book gave the impression it was supposed to be related. How weird. And how disappointing.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Reads Like a High School Assignment, March 9, 2006

By 

CWright (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who's Sorry Now? (Grace & Favor Mysteries, No. 6) (Hardcover)

I have been a Grace & Favor fan from the series start, and was thrilled to see this new book on the shelves. That thrill didn't last. The series is supposed to be of a simplier time, but this story's dialogue is painfully simplistic while the plot is confused, disjointed, and a bit farfetched. What was the significance of the skeleton under the bush?-I didn't see any. What part did Robert and Lily (the central figures of Grace and Favor) contribute to the conclusion of the story?-I saw none. And what of the books in the library?-I don't believe it.
As I forced myself to finish the book I had the distinct feeling that the author had an assignment (was under contract) to write about 250 pages and the content was not necessarily important. So like many of us did while in high school, she wrote a lower quality story, but satisfied the assignment by achieving the required story length. I've never expected this genre of novel to be Pulitzer-qualifying, but I expect to be entertained.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A children's book?, February 8, 2007

By 

S. D. Haltzman (Rhode Island) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Who's Sorry Now? (Grace & Favor Mysteries, No. 6) (Hardcover)

I've read one other Churchill book, but was willing to give this one a go. It was light, and charming, but, I just don't get it. The style of the writing, with the repitition of main plot themes over and over; it just seemed either the author thought we needed to be retold a story over and over, or she just ran out of things to write.

Let me give an example. Early in the book we learn that 3 "biddies" were going through the mail, and they wanted to prevent certain letters from being delivered. As the plot progressed, the protagonist felt it was important to tell others about what happened. Follow me so far? Now, in most books, the author would have written "...and he told them about the incident he saw with the mail," but this author has him repeat the same story with the same details to each person he sees. And WE, poor readers, have to hear it all over again. Likewise for other important "clues," they are repeated in detail over and over again as if the reader is a child, and needs to be reminded of these not-very-complicated plot developments.

The mystery itself was mundane, and there is a whole "subplot" of burying up some bones that is not at all relevent to the book.

Nice sense of life during the depression era, though. And charming (although 1 dimentional) characters