The Manor House Murder Mysteries is another great series from author Julie Hyzy whose White House Chef Mysteries I recently finished. In this series we have as the main character, Grace Wheaton, who is the Marshfield Manor Curator. There are only three books in the series so far and I am really looking forward to more. The setting for White House Mysteries is real and pretty well known LOL. Marshfield Manor is fictional but picture George Vanderbilt’s Biltmore House and my bet is you are picturing what the author was when she wrote it. Grace returns to her childhood home to care for her dying mother. After her mother’s death, she takes a job as Assistant Curator at the manor. She is thrust into the head curator position while still in her 90 day probationary period when Abe, the long time curator is murdered. There are all kinds of complications for Grace besides just murder. From leaky roofs (hers, not the manor’s) to her grandmother’s secret affair to the assistant from hell. That is very interesting in terms of character development – watching, across the three books, the relationship between Grace and her assistant Francis change and grow. Also watching the growing relationship between Grace and her maybe, maybe not, uncle Bennett Marshfield. We go from Ponzi schemes in the first book to thefts from the manor in the third but the civil war re-enactors in the second book really gave me a laugh. When my son was five I rushed him to the hospital with a hot appendix. There had been a civil war reenactment going on on a farm across the street from the hospital and there had been some injuries and heat stroke. You don’t know surreal until you’ve arrived in an emergency room full of re-enactors, keeping in character, with a five year old in pain. Anyway, another great series that I highly recommend. ♥♥♥♥♥
Everyone wants a piece of millionaire Bennett Marshfield, owner of Marshfield Manor, but now it’s up to a new curator Grace Wheaton and handsome groundskeeper Jack Embers to protect dear old Marshfield. But to do this, they’ll have to investigate a botched Ponzi scheme, some torrid Wheaton family secrets-and sour grapes out for revenge.
On the grounds of Marshfield Manor, Civil War re-enactors have set up camp. And what a dedicated troupe! One of them has really been killed…
When Grace’s former professor calls to warn her that there have been a rash of thefts at various historical sites, Grace isn’t surprised—because Marshfield Manor has been targeted, too. She wonders if it has something to do with the film crew roaming the grounds, digitally immortalizing the manor, but then she gets distracted by an incident much more dire: the shooting of one guest and the murder of another.
Kate Eileen Shannon 