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book_concierge's review against another edition
3.0
Book three in the Manor House Mystery series, starring Grace Wheaton, curator and manager of the estate / museum in the North Carolina mountains.
As cozy mysteries go, this is a pretty good series. I like Grace, who is generally calm in a crisis, and obviously competent at her job. She does seem to take more chances and she has a blind spot where romance is concerned. I like most of the supporting characters and wish that her roommates Scott and Bruce had a larger role in this episode. Her irascible assistant Frances is a hoot! Millionaire Bennett’s stepdaughter Hilary is a distraction but provides some needed tension. My stars but that woman behaves like a teenager, and a spoiled brat teen at that! Of course, Grace will help the police discover the culprit, proving her worth to Bennett and further securing her future role at Manor House.
As cozy mysteries go, this is a pretty good series. I like Grace, who is generally calm in a crisis, and obviously competent at her job. She does seem to take more chances and she has a blind spot where romance is concerned. I like most of the supporting characters and wish that her roommates Scott and Bruce had a larger role in this episode. Her irascible assistant Frances is a hoot! Millionaire Bennett’s stepdaughter Hilary is a distraction but provides some needed tension. My stars but that woman behaves like a teenager, and a spoiled brat teen at that! Of course, Grace will help the police discover the culprit, proving her worth to Bennett and further securing her future role at Manor House.
cstaude's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting mystery that kept me guessing right to the end. I think I like this series by Hyzy. Grace Wheaton is a very well drawn character and her life as a museum curator is certainly exciting !
paige1947_'s review against another edition
4.0
You gotta love Grace. She is a hard working person- likes her job and her boss- yet thigs keep getting in the way -like dead bodies. In this the third of the Manor House series Grace once again leads us on a chase to find the bad guy or guys.
lakecake's review against another edition
4.0
This had a lot of good twists and kept me guessing all the way through. I wanted to be mad at how love-lorn Grace seemed in this book, but honestly it seems really in character for her as I think about it following the ending and I think it will allow the character to show some real growth moving forward. I like the relationship between Grace and Frances and watching that evolve. Hillary is an annoying foil, but she’s meant to be so I can only hope that character evolves in a realistic way as well.
reading_srsly's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
rynflynn12's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
jesabesblog's review against another edition
2.0
This one didn't ever quite hook me. I like Grace and the other characters, but it was so easy to see exactly where the story was going I was bored.
imbookingit's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
This was a fun read in a fairly typical cozy kind of way. Looking at my reviews of the previous 2 books, this is something of a flashback to the first book for me-- I enjoyed it, but nothing really stands out, or seems like it will stick with me.
Well, except the big scene at the end. I did find myself cheering Grace on and loving the way she was handling the situation, although I can't say why without giving away more than I should.
Grace makes some typical cozy heroine mistakes along the way. The books are also developing the typical cozy problem of a perfectly innocent setting becoming a murder magnet. The characters are joking about it already... I'm guessing the next book will be set elsewhere, as this one leaves off with a trip in the works, but there's a limit to how many dead bodies a normal person can encounter without it getting strange.
I'm satisfied with the handling of the characters, major and minor. The mystery was fine, by cozy mystery standards. I figured out most of the pieces, although I didn't put them together.
I'd recommend reading these in order, although if you find yourself with this book in hand, you'll be fine, although the characters might not be as likable without the more extended introductions before this book.
This was a fun read in a fairly typical cozy kind of way. Looking at my reviews of the previous 2 books, this is something of a flashback to the first book for me-- I enjoyed it, but nothing really stands out, or seems like it will stick with me.
Well, except the big scene at the end. I did find myself cheering Grace on and loving the way she was handling the situation, although I can't say why without giving away more than I should.
Grace makes some typical cozy heroine mistakes along the way. The books are also developing the typical cozy problem of a perfectly innocent setting becoming a murder magnet. The characters are joking about it already... I'm guessing the next book will be set elsewhere, as this one leaves off with a trip in the works, but there's a limit to how many dead bodies a normal person can encounter without it getting strange.
I'm satisfied with the handling of the characters, major and minor. The mystery was fine, by cozy mystery standards. I figured out most of the pieces, although I didn't put them together.
I'd recommend reading these in order, although if you find yourself with this book in hand, you'll be fine, although the characters might not be as likable without the more extended introductions before this book.
amshofner's review against another edition
3.0
Original review: http://onabookbender.com/2012/08/24/review-grace-among-thieves-by-julie-hyzy/
3.5
Because it had been over a year since reading Grace Interrupted, the second book in the series, it took me a little bit to resettle into the Marshfield Manor and company. Once I did, though, I found myself enjoying this mystery and the cast of characters with only a couple minor exceptions. The biggest aspect that bothered me was the constant reference to the fact that until Grace came to Marshfield Manor, there hadn’t any murders. Which I get. But I also feel that in series like these a certain amount of suspension of belief needs to happen. In other words, yes it’s odd to have so many murders happen, but it’s a cozy mystery series and it wouldn’t really be a series without the crimes happening.
I was able to guess who was behind the thefts pretty early in the book. While normally that’s not necessarily a good thing, I don’t think it detracted too much from the book overall. After all, I don’t really expect my cozy mysteries to be all twisty turny or be extremely suspenseful. And I have probably read enough mysteries to figure things out. Because yeah, I’m awesome like that. And while I figured out who was behind the thefts, I didn’t find out what the thieves were really after, so it wasn’t like I had solved the entire mystery.
One of my favorite characters in this book is actually Frances. She is both Grace’s assistant and the resident gossip, and she can be mean, but there’s something lovable about her. Perhaps it’s that she’s not as mean as she seems. Or that underneath all that gruff, she has the best of intentions for the manor. Or she leads a mysterious life that no one knows about on the weekends. And I think that Grace is really starting to come into her own as far as the manor is concerned, and who she is as an amateur sleuth. Grace’s romantic life is a bit involved this time around, and while I wasn’t completely satisfied with that, I am definitely sure that I want to see where it goes in future books.
Overall, Grace Among Thieves was a great cozy mystery, and perfect for a quick summer read. I am looking forward to whatever trouble Grace gets into next!
3.5
Because it had been over a year since reading Grace Interrupted, the second book in the series, it took me a little bit to resettle into the Marshfield Manor and company. Once I did, though, I found myself enjoying this mystery and the cast of characters with only a couple minor exceptions. The biggest aspect that bothered me was the constant reference to the fact that until Grace came to Marshfield Manor, there hadn’t any murders. Which I get. But I also feel that in series like these a certain amount of suspension of belief needs to happen. In other words, yes it’s odd to have so many murders happen, but it’s a cozy mystery series and it wouldn’t really be a series without the crimes happening.
I was able to guess who was behind the thefts pretty early in the book. While normally that’s not necessarily a good thing, I don’t think it detracted too much from the book overall. After all, I don’t really expect my cozy mysteries to be all twisty turny or be extremely suspenseful. And I have probably read enough mysteries to figure things out. Because yeah, I’m awesome like that. And while I figured out who was behind the thefts, I didn’t find out what the thieves were really after, so it wasn’t like I had solved the entire mystery.
One of my favorite characters in this book is actually Frances. She is both Grace’s assistant and the resident gossip, and she can be mean, but there’s something lovable about her. Perhaps it’s that she’s not as mean as she seems. Or that underneath all that gruff, she has the best of intentions for the manor. Or she leads a mysterious life that no one knows about on the weekends. And I think that Grace is really starting to come into her own as far as the manor is concerned, and who she is as an amateur sleuth. Grace’s romantic life is a bit involved this time around, and while I wasn’t completely satisfied with that, I am definitely sure that I want to see where it goes in future books.
Overall, Grace Among Thieves was a great cozy mystery, and perfect for a quick summer read. I am looking forward to whatever trouble Grace gets into next!