Where I'm Sorry to Reach the End of the Series

Loot by Grace Cavendish
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another nice entry in this series. It's also the last of the series, unfortunately, though there's lots of room to write more if the authors and publishers had a mind to.

Like pretty much all of them, it tells a nice story, makes good use of period details, has sympathetic characters, and has significant enough stakes to keep it engaging without raising the tension too high. In tone and readability, it's much like Enola Holmes, and both series, written for MG or YA audiences, make very nice cozy mysteries for adults.

IMO.

But they're also ideal for young readers; I love a series that can hook a kid and then offer so many sequels. I hope somebody decides to bring them all back out in new editions--there's a whole new group of young people who are unlikely to find these older copies and they certainly deserve to be read.

Recommended--the book and the series, I mean.

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Where Grace Solves a Locked Room Mystery

Keys by Grace Cavendish
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book 11--just as good as books 1-10.

Set in Queen Elizabeth's reign, among her ladies in waiting, this story, like the others, has a young woman named Grace solving a mystery without letting on that she's doing so. That's a bit of a trick, though she has a couple friends who can help her sneak around at night or gather rumors. This one was a locked room murder mystery with a clever solution, and I feel like it worked well. The authors behind the "Lady Grace" pen name do a good job with characterization and dialogue and pacing, but I think they are especially good with setting; they make excellent good use of London and the various residences of the queen's in the 16th Century, and the historical elements that go into the stories, including this one, I find not only accurate but instructive.

These are intended for a MG audience, and I think both in terms of interest and quality they should continued to do well with that group--if they find them. The last book was published more than a decade ago, and the later ones in the series, like this one, are kinda rare. Maybe a new edition?

Recommended for young readers as well as older readers who enjoy mysteries with a cozier tone.

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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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Where Grace Unmasks a Ghost

Haunted by Grace Cavendish
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thought the series faltered a bit in the first half of the previous book--though it did get better later--and I feared the series had run its course; I thought it would only disappoint from here on, and I half expected this to be a mess. Nope. Great fun. Solid. Good mystery, good use of our favorite characters, good action. The series seems to be going strong at this point.

"Haunted" is a bit like an episode of Scooby Doo, but in a good way. A ghost in the castle? Nice. A generations-old mystery? Perfect. It works. Plus, [spoiler] there's a happy surprise for one of Grace's friends, which I was glad to see.

Recommended. Obviously, if you've read the first seven books in the series, you should read this one too. Very entertaining.

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Where I'm Glad I Kept Reading

Gold! by Grace Cavendish
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I continue to enjoy this YA (or MG) series, although the beginning of this book is the first time that I thought it talked down to the reader, and it put me off. I almost set it aside. (Lots of choppy sentences and exclamation! marks! And an odd tone that felt strangely light.) I wondered if it was a new author--there are several involved in this series--but Sara Vogler and Jan Burchett wrote two earlier volumes that I liked, so that wasn't it.

It may have just been me.

In any case, the tone evened out (or so it seemed), and the voice once again sounded like that of Lady Grace, and I once again found the plot and characters charming. It's cute how Lady Grace, who has been starting to show an interest in men without quite realizing it, comes a little closer in this story to recognizing that she's a young woman and actually has someone whose attention she enjoys. The authors have been pretty consistent in developing that gentle arc, and I think it's well done.

I'm glad I didn't give up on the story. There are a few more sequels and I'm still planning to read each one.

Recommended (book and series) for adults who enjoy cozy kids' mysteries with not inconsequential stakes and a little bit of action. Highly recommended for young readers. I was gonna say girls, but it'd be good if boys read it, too.

(TBH--I wouldn't have read this as a boy, sorry to say. But here's to a new generation growing up better than the last...)

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Where Grace Saves Her Friend

Exile by Grace Cavendish
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another fun story in the series. As one expects in pretty much all fiction, there's some implausible stuff here, things unlikely to ever happen in real life, and I think this title has a bit more of that than the previous ones, but it's still blended so well with historical details and a well realized setting that it works. The mystery is not too difficult for the reader to solve, but the action is brisk and it resolves in a satisfying way.

This series remains one of my go-to's for reading at bedtime when I'm not prepared for the cost of, say, grimdark fantasy or Victorian literature. The stakes are real, but it's still light reading and makes few demands on one's patience.

Still recommended.

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Where Grace Finds Mystery on the Frozen Thames

Deception by Grace Cavendish
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This fourth book in the series is a pleasure to read, as much as the first three, and I ran out of reasons for giving fewer than the full five stars. It has a good protagonist. It has a good mystery. Exciting action. Conflict. Stakes. And most impressive, it has a realistic setting, demonstrating an excellent command of historical details. (The mystery here is based on the problems Queen Elizabeth had with her coinage, and I'll admit I learned some stuff.)

These books are fun and entertaining and satisfying, regardless of the audience they were originally intended for, and I'm here for it.

Recommended.

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Where Grace Solves Another One

Conspiracy by Grace Cavendish
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Third in the series. Still very cute, well plotted, well researched, and fun.

This is intended for a MG audience, and IMO is nicely tuned to that age group, but the readers aren't condescended to, which is why it works for older readers, too. Obviously, a writer of fiction is allowed to take liberties with facts, and few middle graders would notice if the novel was unrealistic in its depiction of the setting or characters, but I credit the author(s) with doing an excellent job of recreating Queen Elizabeth's court and the people within it. The overall setting is believable, the characters are generally constrained by the norms of their time, and the historical events and context are handled in a way that is both instructive and (thankfully) unobtrusive.

Entertainment was the primary goal of the series, I suspect, not social studies instruction, but historical accuracy and educational value were clearly significant concerns for the author and publishers. (The mention of teacher tools in the back rather confirms this.) And there's a lot to learn here. Sir Walter Scott's Kenilworth taught me a lot about the place and time, which makes sense because he was a brilliant scholar, but I'd be a liar if I said I didn't also learn quite a few things about the Earl of Leicester, Kenilworth Castle, and life for people at court from reading this novel. It's all packed in there, just part of the deal.

I also like the main character. Lady Grace make a fine detective ("pursuivant" here) and an entertaining protagonist for the series. She isn't a bumbling goof (a type I never enjoy), but neither is she excessively skilled, and is in the sweet spot to make the mystery work. She can't fight, she doesn't dance well, and other than climbing trees is not any kind of action star. Neither is she some kind of Sherlock, solving mysteries by cigarette ash and footprints. But she's brave enough, resourceful enough, persistent enough, and clever enough to make a fine POV character.

I liked it.

This book and the previous two were written by Patricia Finney (writing as Grace Cavendish, in the same way that the Hardy Boys authors were all called Franklin Dixon), but she didn't do any more. The following titles are written by other authors; I'm hoping they continue the excellence.

Let's find out. :)

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An Elizabethan Mystery

Assassin by Grace Cavendish
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I briefly started this when I first bought it but then set it aside. This time, I read on and enjoyed the whole thing. (Also, it comes in a beautiful hardcover volume that's a pleasure to handle.)

I'm not sure if this is meant to be MG or YA; it leans toward the former, IMO, but it may sorta fall in the crack between. Sometimes, it's a lot of fun to read such books, and that's how I felt about this novel. With a quick plot and quite a bit of action, it reads briskly and tells an entertaining story in 40,000 words or so, like a welcome visitor who drops by and then heads out again while you're still having a good time.

Grace, a maid of honor to Queen Elizabeth I, is getting pressed to get married, and in the course of meeting some suitors there is a murder in the castle. The way this young woman--with a few friends--goes about solving the murder while not having very much freedom of movement is quite realistic. The characters are round enough to suit the needs of the story and the genre, and the plot is reasonably complex while being straightforward enough for younger readers.

And entertaining enough for old ones, too.

Recommended for historical mystery readers who are open to MG or YA. (Fun people only, obviously.) :)



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