In the Still of the Night

The historical background is why this makes a 5. It's well done and solid providing a good background for the characters. It also continues our education into the depression as well as the realities of WWI. I have to admit, I esp like Lily who unlike many female characters today is nice solid and well balanced and well rounded. She comes across as believable including the insights into her own character. Both the main characters grow appropriately for the situation and the times.

Siblings Lily and Robert Brewster inherited Grace and Favor Cottage from their Great Uncle Horatio, but the inheritance came with stipulations. They had to live there 10 years, the upkeep was paid by the estate, but Lily and Robert had to be self-supporting. Considering that they had no marketable skills and jobs were few and far between during the Depression year of 1932, they decided to become a sort of Bed and Breakfast location for the wealthy. They were lucky enough to get the famous author, Julian West, to be among their first paying guests. However, the next morning one of the guests, a beautiful 50-something widow was found murdered in her room. Lily set out to solve the murder, as it seemed that there was more to her guests show more than met the eye...

A nice quick cozy mystery with interesting background on Pres. Hoover, the Depression and the aftermath of The Great War. show less

This author was new to me and I am so glad I found her! :) I really enjoyed this story. Set in the Great Depression era, it features women with grace and femininity and men who are gentlemen. While there were a few immoral elements to the story, it wasn't totally raunchy or more than I was comfortable reading. I did have the "mystery" figured out about half way through the book but still enjoyed how it all played out. I went down to the paperback exchange this afternoon and found three more by this author. I'm hoping they're as good as this one!

This is one of the earlier Grace and Favor books and it follows Lily and Robert as they begin to get their boarding house up and running. They invite a renowned author to visit and then invite paying guests. One of the guests is murdered and Lily and Robert need to get it solved before their new venture as landlords is ended before it gets started. I like these books because they are relaxing to read and I feel empathy for Lily as she tries so hard to make life work during the depression.

This is the 2nd in the series (which I thought I had & went crazy looking for) which I purchased:

Lily & Robert have decided to make a go of their inheritance by turning Grace & Favor Cottage (Manor) into a B&B where paying guests can meet & spend time w/ famous personages.

Their first famous guest is a well known author (who went to war & came back a very changed man) & his Aide de Camp. Their other guests consist of a young man Lily broke off with, his sister, a friend of Lily's who is also a school mistress, a friend of Robert's who is only interested in his inventions, and a particularly nasty/nice conniving woman whose most every word was a lie.

When the nasty/nice woman is found strangled in her bedroom, there are no end of show more suspects, for almost every guest knew & loathed her...

This was a light & entertaining story with interesting back political history of WW I & Hoover Politics. show less

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