Someone to Watch Over Me

Siblings Lily and Robert Brewster were born into a wealthy family, but all that changed with the 1929 Stock Market Crash. After living in a NYC tenement, they were informed that they inherited their late Uncle Horatio's estate and holdings, but with conditions. They had live on the estate fir 10 yrs, and support themselves. They were too embarrassed to let their new community know that they were moneyless. During their second summer at Grace and Favor Cottage, the world was changing. Many of the local Great War veterans had headed to Washington D.C. for the Bonus Army March. The Bonus was money promised to the veterans, but not to be given to them until 1945. With so much of the country out of work, the veterans wanted the money to be show more distributed now. Jack, the local newspaper editor decided to go check out the March. Meanwhile Robert found a mummified man in an icehouse which he was tearing down for the wood and building supplies. The mummy was unidentifiable. Lily joined a local woman's organization which tried to help those is need. One of the members, the local vegetable grower, had her husband found dead. Lily and Robert took it upon themselves to solve these murders.

I learned about the Bonus Army March, and how President Hoover forcefully disbanded it using the military. I had never heard of this March. Churchill weaves a truthful tale about how the Depression effected the life of the general population. A very well written historical mystery. show less

This is the 3rd in the Grace & Favor series which I am mostly (#2 has not yet arrived) reading in order (Don't Faint).

Robert & Lily are settling into Grace & Favor Cottage (manor) nicely. Robert has decided to do some work around the estate & begins w/ the tearing down of the Ice House.... The door which once held the key is now locked & the key is gone forcing Robert to take the door from the hinges.

Inside the Ice House Robert and the Harbinger brothers find the mummified body of a man in a very expensive tailored suit.... the quest to identify the man & his murderer begins with Robert going to Manhattan & seeking out the tailor.

Meanwhile, Lily has joined the local do-gooders Ladies League and helps the local police chief make show more inquiries around the town.

These are very enjoyable historical mysteries: the characters are likable, intelligent, & enterprising. The story line is not overly improbable rather easy to read & entertaining.

Interestingly enough, the author gives us quite a bit of national political history, what I learned about Herbert Hoover really dismayed & disturbed me, especially the veterans' march on D.C. and the u.s. military terrorist attacks on them by President Hoover, General MacArthur, Major Eisenhower, & Patton. show less

I'm not sure why most focus on the mystery plot of this with Lily and Robert and totally ignore Jack. It is what makes this a 5 for me. It might make many uncomfortable to realize that while it is a fictionalized account of what happened it is indeed exactly what happened and Hoover and MacArthur did indeed do this. It's a good depiction of what could have happened to the individuals as well as a probable aftermath.

The mystery was interesting and details of the 1930s daily life again made the book at least a 4 but as I said, Jack made it a 5. The author does extremely well on her research and the title is perfect both on the relationships of men and women and on the Government to the Vet.

historical-fiction, cozy-mystery

The series is set in New York State in the years following the financial disaster of 1929, this one is in the summer of 1932.
There are a couple of decent mysteries going on, and the depiction of the difficulties faced by law enforcement of the time should serve as reminders of how far we've come in that regard.
For me, the most notable segments dealt with the Bonus Army and the March on Washington. The basis was the legal promise made to the veterans of WWI to pay a financial bonus to each of them in 1945. As the country was deep into a depression and people were without jobs or resources, they needed the money now, but Hoover had his head in the sand and not only denied them the money, but denied that show more the country really was in need. When men and families were so desperate that they camped out in tents and packing crates across from the senate, at one point Hoover sent MacArthur, Eisenhower, and Patton on horseback with drawn swords and tear gas to remove the children, women, and men, many of whom had nowhere to go due to foreclosures.
The historical facts check out, but are presented in the context of fictional persons. show less

Yes! Excellent story! The thing I love about these stories is all the great history the author weaves in. Much more substantial than the average cozy mystery. Hungry for more! :)

Nothing personal, and I'll probably go check this out again as I've enjoyed other books in the series -- it was just that other books interfered and I had to return this one.

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