It Had to Be You
A Grace & Favor Mystery
Jill Churchill
Review: It Had to Be You is the 5th mystery in the Grace & Favor series by Jill Churchill featuring siblings Robert and Lily Brewster.
It's always a puzzle when an author goes to great lengths to set up a conundrum in a mystery they have written, then do nothing to resolve it. Such is the case with It Had to Be You. On the dust jacket, this query: "... who would bother to murder [the old man] when he had so little time left?". The Chief of Police ponders on numerous occasions the same perplexing aspect of this crime. Yet, in the final chapter of the book when the culprit is identified, no mention is made of why the murder was committed so close to the man's natural death.
Fans of cozy mysteries will undoubtedly appreciate It Had to Be You as it is a rather enjoyable book. Churchill does a wonderful job with setting, dialog, and characterization. But other than the curiosity of the timing of the murder, there's not much intrigue here. Unfortunately, the real mystery of It Had to Be You is why Churchill didn't follow through on answering a key question raised during the murder investigation.
Review Copyright © 2004 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Selected reviews of other mysteries by this author …
The House of Seven Mabels
William Morrow (Hardcover), August 2002
ISBN-13: 9780380977369; ISBN-10: 0380977362
Location(s) referenced in It Had to Be You: New York State
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It Had to Be You by Jill Churchill
Publisher: William Morrow
Format: Hardcover
ISBN-10: 0-06-052843-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-052843-0
Publication Date: March 2004
List Price: $23.95
Synopsis (from the publisher): March 3, 1933, the day before Franklin Roosevelt's inauguration. While Robert Brewster heads to Washington, D.C., to witness the historic event, his sister, Lily, travels to a nursing home near Grace & Favor. The owner, Miss Twibell, has lost an assistant nurse, and the siblings have agreed to help out.
The home is full of colorful characters, including a cantankerous old man named Sean Connor, the only patient who is seriously ill. The very day the Brewsters arrive, he slips into a coma and passes away. Though saddened, no one is surprised by his death — until it's revealed that he's been murdered. The old man wasn't well liked, but who would bother to murder him when he had so little time left? Several people had visited his room that morning, and there are plenty of suspects. Good motives, on the other hand, are thin on the ground.
And Mr. Connor isn't the only victim in town. Over the winter, a young man went missing and was presumed dead, though no body was found. Now that the spring sun has melted the ice, a body has surfaced. Is this the missing man or has a third crime been committed?
With multiple murders plaguing the community, the Brewster siblings are more committed than ever to helping the police find a cold-blooded criminal before he strikes again.
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