Review

For fans of:  Claudia Bishop

The events of the past several months have taken a toll on Marshfield Manor’s curator-slash-manager, Grace Wheaton, so when her boss, Bennett Marshfield, announces he's going to Europe on business and offers to take Grace with him, she jumps at the chance to get away. The trip is a charmed one for Grace and Bennett both – until their flight home, that is, when Grace catches a woman attempting to poison Bennett’s food. Grace is desperate to know why anyone would want to harm her employer, but before she can force the would-be killer to reveal her motives or divulge the names of her accomplices, the woman winds up dead herself.

How can you protect someone when you don’t know who’s after him and why? Grace must find some answers and quickly, or it could mean a permanent vacation for poor Bennett…

Grace Takes Off is the fourth of Julie Hyzy's Manor House Mysteries, and it’s my favorite of the series thus far. By taking a group of relative strangers – at least one of whom is capable of murder – and stranding them together in a private plane far above the Atlantic Ocean, Hyzy’s essentially crafted an English country house mystery for the modern area. The pace is quick, the plot is twisty and complex, and Hyzy successfully ratchets up the tension with the passing of each and every chapter.

Hyzy's prose is nothing short of magnificent; it manages to be graceful and lush without calling too much attention to itself, and there’s not a person or set piece she describes that doesn’t immediately spring to mind fully formed. She does a particularly wonderful job with her rendering of Bennett’s friend Nico’s Italian villa; just three pages in, and I was already hideously jealous of Grace for being able to experience Hyzy's Tuscany firsthand. Her dialogue has a marvelous flow, with every word ringing true and informing character. And I adore that all of her recurring characters – from Grace and Bennett on down to the most minor of series extras – grow and change with every book in which they appear. Grace is finally coming into her own (both personally and professionally) making her that much more likable a heroine. Now that Hyzy’s given Bennett a bit more heart and a bit more history, I’m starting to understand what it is about him that inspires such loyalty in Grace and his other employees. And while I once considered Grace’s nosy assistant Frances to be one of the most odious fictional characters I’d encountered, I now not only find her amusing – I’m actually starting to like the old bat.

If you’ve never read one of Julie Hyzy’s Manor House Mysteries, Grace Takes Off is a fantastic place to start, and if you’re already a fan, then you’re in for a treat. Buy yourself a copy and then fasten your seatbelt:  Grace Takes Off is an action-packed ride that you won’t soon forget.

Reviewed by Kat