Book Review: Grace Interrupted by Julie Hyzy

Grace is the curator of the Marshfield Manor. She's used to having day visitors and even overnight guests and all the small issues that come with them staying at the Manor. However these newest guests are something completely different. A group of Civil War re-enactors have camped out and Grace is slowly learning more than she ever wanted about Civil War re-enactors. When one of the re-enactors ends up dead, it looks like they have a murderer in the mix. The worst part? Her friend Jack, is their chief suspect. Grace must once again put her sleuthing skills to use to clear Jack's name.

I quite enjoyed the first book in this series, Grace Under Pressure, and have been looking forward to continuing with this series. Grace first started as assistant curator at Marshfield Manor and due to earlier events is now the head curator. With this jobs comes lots of responsibilities. I like Grace for the fact that she never pretends to be perfect. She's been cast into the position as head curator earlier than she thought and as she tells Jack's brother, she's hopes she's doing everything okay and one day it might be true! I think a lot of readers will relate to Grace. While she appears to have a great life now it hasn't been easy and I found I was able to relate to Grace very well.

I didn't know very much about civil war re-enactment before I started Grace Interrupted and I found all the information and scenes about the re-enactment very interesting, including what they consider big no-no's. For example: like using coolers to chill drinks and other things that wouldn't have been around during the civil war. It was my first time reading a mystery that involved a re-enactment and I found it very interesting.

Grace Interrupted was a thoroughly enjoyable read. Grace and Bennett, who owns Marshfield Manor, have a growing friendship that is more akin to uncle and niece. I'm really enjoying watching this friendship blossom.

For readers that like a good mystery with lots of interesting secondary characters, you will find the Manor House Mysteries a joy to read. Along with some memorable characters that were first introduced in Grace Under Pressure, Julie Hyzy also introduces us to Bootsie, an adorable tuxedo kitten that has decided to adopt Grace. Whether it's for Bootsie's charm or the fascinating mystery, I highly recommend this series.