Grace Covington was marked as a poor relation even before she was born because her mother had the temerity to marry for love - to a man well below her station. A fact that Grace's Aunt Clove never lets her forget. However, it's her uncle who is her mother's blood relation, and Grace has been allowed to spend time with her cousins, Lillie and Oliver, growing up - and the cousins adore each other. So when Lillie and Oliver want Grace to come to their home in St. Louis for the 1904 World's Fair, of course she goes. She's not about to miss out on the biggest event of her young life!
But alas, there are secrets a plenty. Oliver has fallen head over heels for an actress (a fact that will surely kill Aunt Clove) and only Grace knows about the relationship. Lillie is determined to do more with her life than be a pretty socialite, and is sneaking out of the house to work with a local doctor at a women's clinic (in case Aunt Clove survives Oliver's secret) - again, another fact that only Grace knows about. Another mark against Grace? Her troubled brother Walt, who fell down the rabbit hole of addiction and has not been seen by the family for the better part of a year. As if Grace's father owning a restaurant wasn't scandalous enough!
These secrets and the added tension of class differences boil over when a member of their merry group of friends attending the Fair is murdered - and Oliver becomes Prime Suspect #1. Grace knows deep in her bones that he's innocent and helping her in her sleuthing is wealthy Theodore Parker - a man she has an Enemies To Lovers vibe with ever since they had a disastrous run-in with each other at a Chicago soirée.
This was a really pleasant and enjoyable story even if it does take a while to come to a boil. The author did not skimp on her research and it shows up tremendously with her world building. I truly felt like I was at the 1904 World's Fair and she spends the first 30% or so of the book really digging into her characters so that by the time the murder happens you actually give a damn.
Speaking of the murder, there's plenty of twists and turns along the way and the author kept me guessing. On the romance front, the author does an amiable job playing with the adversarial Enemies to Lover trope by having Grace and Theodore rub each other in all the right and wrong ways. There's a moment in the final chapters where I thought the author might break the BIG cardinal rule of the romance genre, but rest assured for romance fans, it ends happily for Grace and Theodore. In fact it ends happily for most of the characters, other than the murder victim and, well, the murderer (duh).
Finally, besides the world building, I really appreciated the time and care the author spent using class differences as part of the conflict. Americans just love to pretend like we're not classist pieces of crap like our British counterparts, but rest assured we were and still are. It was nice to read a historical mystery that didn't sweep this under the rug.
This was a very enjoyable read and I'm glad I took a chance on it. Murphy has also written middle grade and young adult, and this is only her second adult novel. I'm hoping she has more historical mysteries with romantic elements up her sleeve.
Final Grade = B+
"Americans just love to pretend like we're not classist pieces of crap like our British counterparts, but rest assured we were and still are. It was nice to read a historical mystery that didn't sweep this under the rug. "
ReplyDeleteColor me convinced (and may I say how much I love your insightful honesty about these things? Thank you)