Still Good, 10 Books In

Jinx by Grace Cavendish
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the 10th book in the Lady Grace Mystery series, and it's still fun.

A woman is killed and one of the ladies in waiting burned at the St Bartholomew's Fair. As it happens, the best hope for Lady Sarah's burns was the woman who died in the fire, a woman with some healing skill, and the story behind that is the heart of the mystery. Lady Grace has to figure out what really happened to the woman, who started the fire, and how to prove what she has learned. IMO, the story works, and Lady Grace continues to be quite realistically plotted, or at least as realistic as the genre requires. It is also plenty of fun and more than a little informative about the time and setting in general.

Ranking the book for me, an old man reading a book aimed at kids, I found it (and the series as a whole) entertaining and unironically enjoyable--4 stars. Ranking it according to my opinion regarding young people and their preferences, I'd give it all the stars. Nothing not to like. Speaking as a teacher with an ax to grind, the best thing for turning young on-again, off-again readers into genuine excited readers is finding something they like and getting them lots more of that, which is why a successful series like this is perfect (depending on the particular interests of the reader). There is a lot to like with no drop-off in quality across the books. If they like one, they're bound to like the whole bunch.

So--recommended for all ages, but especially for MG and YA.

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