Grace Interrupted

Manor House Mystery, Book 2

By: Julie Hyzy

Narrated by: Emily Durante

Civil war reenactors have set up camp on the grounds of Marshfield Manor. The group is very believable, especially when the unrest spills out of the barracks and inside the sumptuous mansion. Grace Wheaton, the curator and manager of the manor, manages to settle a minor squabble but loses the war when actor Zachary Kincade is found stabbed to death.

Jack Embers, the groundskeeper, falls under suspicion when he's linked to the death of Zachary's brother years ago. But there were others out for Zachary, actors who can be very convincing when the coveted role of "general" is on the line. Grace feels responsible for finding the murderer. Can she come to the rescue of her friends without putting herself in danger's way?

©2011 Julie Hyzy (P)2015 Tantor

Attention Grabber

I loved it. I like all the characters. Unfortunately the narrator wasn't my favorite. Good ending.

Murder at a Civil War reenactment

In Grace Interrupted by Julie Hyzy, Grace Wheaton, now curator of Marshfield Manor, has to deal with a pair of angry women determined to confront Zachary Kincaid, a Civil War reenactor with the group staging a living history program on the grounds of the manor. The week before, Kincaid stood up their friend at the altar via a text message to the wedding party, and they want revenge. As Grace is trying to get rid of the women, Kincaid comes up, and one of the pair pulls out a stun gun and gets tackled by security. As security escorts the women out of the manor, Jack Embers and his brother Davy, gardeners at the manor, approach the group, and Zachary attacks Davy, whom he mistakes for Jack, yelling that Jack killed his younger brother. Since Grace has been trying to go out on a date with Jack, this accusation frightens her. Then early the next morning Grace gets a phone call to hurry to the manor because there has been a murder at the encampment. When she arrives, Grace discovers that the victim is Zachary.

As the police search for the murderer, they narrow their focus to the Embers brothers. This makes Grace concerned, especially since the local police's experience with murder is limited to the one case they investigated in Marshfield Manor a few months earlier. She sends out Francis, her assistant, to the encampment to snoop, since Francis is the queen of gossip. But it still takes a lot of work to get to the bottom of the case.

I really enjoyed listening to this book, though it is not as deep or detailed as the first book in the series, Grace under Pressure. It still delighted me and kept me listening closely. I liked the setting of the Civil War reenactments, which was creatively written.

I also really enjoyed Emily Durante's performance. With the book's being narrated by the character of Grace, Durante portrays this woman well. She helps to make this book seem even more realistic than it might have otherwise.

Grace Interrupted is well-written and a terrific read. I had a great time listening to this book and am eagerly looking forward to buying the next book in the series. Regardless of the fact that I liked the first book better, this still is great, and I give this book five stars.