Grace to the Finish by Julie Hyzy

Grace to the Finish by Julie Hyzy ISBN-13: 9780425281635 Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Released: June 27, 2017

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
Now that curator Grace Wheaton has officially been named heir to Bennett Marshfield's fortune, her usually busy schedule has become a juggling act. In addition to her duties at Marshfield Manor, she's bankrolling her roommates' refurbished wine shop, Amethyst Cellars. Grace is excited to check out the rustic space with Bruce and Scott. But that excitement turns to dismay when they stumble upon the body of the banker involved with the sale.

Grace wants to get to the bottom of this mystery quickly so that her friends' new venture isn't overshadowed by an unsolved murder, but she's got even more to balance when her troubled sister, Liza, is released from prison early. Liza's first stop is Marshfield Manor and her first priority is grabbing a bite of Bennett's fortune for herself. Grace has to keep her greedy sister at bay and catch a killer before her new life comes crashing down around her.


My Review:
Grace to the Finish is a cozy mystery. It's the eighth book in the series. This novel didn't spoil the mystery in the previous books. It will appeal most to people who have been following Grace's story and care about her personal life, as that made up much of the story. There were three "mysteries" going on.

The first involved a murdered woman. It was pretty straight forward and was solved by whodunit attacking Grace, even though she hadn't gotten very far with it. That's because her evil sister, Liza, is trying to sue Bennett to get a share of his fortune. An odd incident in their past may provide a good defense. Grace followed the clue but was reluctant to look too hard at it in case she didn't like what she found. The secret was so easy to figure out that only her reluctance (and Liza's antics) made this take up so many pages. Finally, Joe (the potential boyfriend) has a secret that he's been hiding but needs to tell Grace. They talked more about needing to talk than they did in dealing with the issue. Again, Grace was reluctant to investigate to determine the truth, so it's lucky that people who knew the whole story just keep telling her what she needed to know.

While Grace did find clues about the murdered woman and Liza, somehow the story felt more like it was about the drama than developing the mystery. I still like the characters, but you would hardly know that Grace ran a manor/museum in this one. But if this is the end of the series, then it did a good job wrapping things up. There was no sex or bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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