It Had to Be You

Grace & Favor #5

by Jill Churchill

Comfortably ensconced in their late great-uncle's "Grace and Favor" mansion, brother and sister Robert and Lily Brewster are riding out the Depression, penniless but in high style. Now a new day is heralded by Franklin Roosevelt's inauguration. Barely recovered from his trip to Washington to witness the historic event, Robert is rushed by Lily to a nearby nursing home, where the Brewsters have agreed to lend a helping hand to the staff. But when an elderly resident is murdered in his bed, Robert and Lily realize the local police will need their able assistance as well -- especially since the slaying isn't the only big trouble in tiny Voorburg. The spring thaw hasrevealed another body, and the Brewster siblings must expose acold-blooded criminal before he -- or she -- kills again.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Cozy, Historical, Mystery Thriller

244 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

A pseudonym used by Janice Young Brooks.

Jill Churchill, winner of the Agatha and Macavity Mystery Readers Awards, and nominated for an Anthony for her best-selling Jane Jeffry series, lives as Jane does, in a midwestern suburb. On purpose! She says writing this series and the Grace and Favor series is the best treat she can have without a knife and fork.

Under her real name, Janice Young Brooks, and various pseudonyms, she's written historical novels, a gothic novel, and a history textbook as well as many articles for newspapers and magazines. When she's not writing, she's avidly doing genealogy which she says is a lot like mysteries with all the red herrings, clues, speculations, and surprises.

She gardens enthusiastically, needlepoints superbly, and plays a mean game of gin against the computer. She has a son and daughter and two granddaughters, Rose Louise and Emma. Janice is currently in a battle of supremacy with her cat Max.

Reviews

[Laurie (barksbooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I put this on my Ipod without knowing anything about the author, plot or especially that it was part of a series. I like surprises and will grab any new audio my library offers. I can tolerate so much more on audio than I can when I'm reading an actual book which I can too easily put aside and never pick up again. Sometimes this works out for me, other times not so much. This book is apparently smack in the middle of a series. I really hate coming into the middle of things like that. I felt lost during much of it and didn't understand how or why the brother and sister pair were supposed to be intertwined with the mystery. Most of the time I felt as if I were reading two separate stories. That of the destitute brother and sister trying to make ends meet during the great depression and the other of the murder mystery being solved by other assorted characters. It was light reading but too disjointed for me to truly enjoy or comprehend.

I did find it very interesting to read about the brother & sister pair taking whatever jobs they could find (without complaint and "oh woe is me") and using all of their resources to make it through tough financial times. The mystery was a bit "meh" for me but I'm not a big mystery fan so that's not shocking.

[Elena Santangelo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an audiobook and I'll start by saying the reader, Wendy Dillon, was excellent. The only thing I didn't like was her choice for Lily's voice--a little too bimbo-ish--and some of her straight narration, which could be a bit too much like she was reading for children instead of adults. Otherwise, her voices were interesting and varied, and she did male voices naturally, which a lot of women readers fail at.

As for the novel itself...maybe I should have begun at the beginning of the series. It was supposed to have taken place in March 1933, but other than references to FDR and the bank holiday, I didn't believe any of these characters were going through the Great Depression. Characters not only took having food, a place to live, and things like heating fuel and car gas for granted, they had meat to eat (and servants to cook it, even though they didn't have steady incomes). The bank holiday didn't cause any sort of hardship, even though someone wrote a check (she mentioned the bank holiday as she did, but cashing it still didn't seem to be a problem).

The murder plot had no real arc. There were clues planted along the way, but no climax and no suspense. The solution didn't hold together that well.

On the plus side, it was a fast read.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good easy read.

[Nikki Sauter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, easy read!

[Phair · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to get into this one. Have not read previous titles in the series and the author does not really bring new readers up to speed about the whos, whats & wheres so parts were confusing or vague. Not even really sure who is the main character here. Period color was only so-so. Characters were brought in but not developed. Is that typical of the series- salt in a few new characters each book who will in turn feature in future books? The ending was curiously abrupt...I turned the page to continue on but it was FINIS!

[Ami · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've enjoyed this series and the characters and setting are still interesting and likable, but the mystery was pretty lame.

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the characters and the time period the mystery was set in. The culprit was too obvious.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first Agatha Christie (written under the name Jill Churchill) novel I’ve read. And I found it fairly interesting. It was nice to read a quick mystery! I love the cover art, it’s what drew me to buy this book at the library. I listened to the audiobook while reading along with the physical copy. The audiobook made the book more interesting, with the different funny voices / accents

[Kathy Hutchins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This cozy mystery took place in 1933, so during the Great Depression and the beginning of FDR’s presidency. That added interest to it. The characters weee good. The plot was fairly good, though the reasons behind the murders seemed weak to me. But I enjoyed reading it.

[Lynn Howard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite characters.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story about the great depression. Interesting information, good characters. Interesting suspects and murderer. I did guess early, but not the way it was solved.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must say, I like the Grace and Favor books better than the Jane Jeffrey books (not that I dislike them). In these books, I learned a bit of history I didn't learn in high school. But then that isn't hard considering that in the south that I grew up in most of American History classes revolved around the Civil War. The era just before FDR came to be president is a bit of a blur. Churchill's books, while fiction, helped fill in some details...and trust me, I checked if some of these were real incidents or not. And they were.

These are not "heavy thinking" books, they are cozies to be enjoyed as a relatively quick read. Despite that, I really recommend these books for history buffs as well as cozy readers.



Here is the blurb from the author's site:

IT HAD TO BE YOU
CIt’s the 3rd of March 1933, the day before Franklin Roosevelt’s inauguration and Robert goes to Washington D.C. for the event. While he’s gone, Lily is visiting a nursing home close to Grace and Favor. The owner, Miss Twibell, an experienced nurse who owns it, is minus an assistant nurse. She wants to hire Lily and Robert.

One of the patients, a nasty old man, Sean Connor, is the only patient who is seriously ill, and not expected to live very much longer. The first day the Brewster’s work there, he goes into a coma and dies. Nobody’s surprised until it’s revealed that he’s been murdered. Chief of Police Walker can’t imagine why somebody would bother to murder old Mr. Connor when he had only hours to live. Several people visited that morning.

Walker also has another crime to deal with. A young man was reported to have been pushed into an almost frozen lake near a town upriver before last Christmas. No body was found. Now, when the ice started the spring break-up, a body came to the surface, so deteriorated that nobody can figure out who it might be. Walker interviews some of the neighbors. Then having given the temporarily disabled chief of police a bit of advice, before going back to Voorburg.

Walker, helped along by Lily and Robert’s snooping, begins to see the patterns in both crimes starting to turn into good theories. But lacking solid proof, he has to call on Lily and Robert to acquire a vital piece of evidence.

[Lis Carey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lily and Robert Brewster are orphaned siblings, now in their twenties, living in their late great-uncle's mansion, Grace & Favor, with Mr. & Mrs. Prinney (the executor of their uncle's estate and his wife), a maid, and a couple of borders. It's 1933, the Great Depression is in full swing, and Franklin Roosevelt has just been sworn in as president.

In fact, Robert is away watching the Inaugural in Washington while Lily, at home in Voorburg, NY, a little town on the Hudson River, was visiting Miss Twibell, an experienced nurse who has turned her family home into a nursing home. She's down one experienced nurse who is out sick, and her bunions have flared up, limiting her own ability to take on the work. She wants to hire Lily and Robert to help out until the nurse can return. They live in a mansion, but are broke like everyone else, and Lily and Robert are happy to take the temporary work.

They haven't been working there long one one of the most difficult patients, Sean Connor, is found dead in his bed during his wife's visit, and is discovered to have been suffocated with his pillow. But who would bother to kill a man who had at most another day to live?

Chief of Police Howard Walker is quickly on the case, but Lily and Robert can't contain their curiosity about what happened. Meanwhile, the chief of police in a neighboring town has an unexpected and unidentified dead body fished out of an especially nasty local lake, and, being limited by a flare-up of gout, and having little confidence in his inexperienced new deputy, asks for Howard's help.

This is a very light, pleasant cozy, having no depth at all and aspiring to none. Lily and Robert are likable young people, raised in wealth and comfort, but completely at ease with taking on whatever jobs they can find to help earn their keep. There's not much history here, but what there is, is accurate. That's beside the point, though, really. This is light entertainment, with the historical setting meaning the characters don't have modern tools to help them solve the mystery.

Good fun.

[Drebbles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Robert and Lily Brewster are siblings trying to make ends meet during the Depression. They have inherited their great uncle's mansion, but still must take in boarders and do odd jobs to earn money. In this installment in the "Grace and Favor" series, they take temporary jobs in a nursing home. Before long they are involved in another mystery when one of the patients is smothered in his bed. There are plenty of suspects, including the patient's wife and family, many of whom haven't seen or talked to him in years. But then another body turns up and the Brewsters, along with Chief of Police Howard Walker, work to find out if the two cases are related and catch the murderer.

"It Had to Be You" is an amusing, if light mystery. The historical details, Franklin Roosevelt has just been elected President, are the most interesting parts of the book. Lily and Robert and strong characters, maturing with each book in the series. While there have been hints in the descriptions of the various books that Lily is attracted to Howard Walker, it doesn't come across that way in the book, there's no sense of any attraction between the two of them. I hope that's developed in future books.

The mystery itself is pretty light. Jill Churchill throws in plenty of suspects, but it's pretty obvious from the beginning who the murderer is. I read the book hoping that Churchill would throw in a plot twist and have someone else commit the murder, but I was disappointed. And she never explains why the murder took place when the victim was very ill and hours away from dying.

This is a good but unchallenging mystery.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It Had to Be You is a charming cozy mystery set in the 1930's, back when mysteries weren't hampered by modern technology and forensics. The Grace & Favor series reminds me of Agatha Christie's mysteries that featured Tommy & Tuppence. Both contain a male/female amateur detecting team operating in approximately the same time period. Jill Churchill captures the feel of the 30's well, especially having her main characters suffering a great financial loss from the stock market crash of 1929. In It Had to Be You, FDR's presidential inauguration and the repeal of prohibition are experienced, lending authenticity to the atmosphere.

The mystery in It Had to Be You was who killed a gravely ill man, but the much more important question was why would someone even bother killing this man when he was going to die naturally in a matter of days or even hours. The killer is found and proves to be a surprise, but the question as to why kill him at all isn't really answered even though many characters brought the point up at different times in the book. It's a baffling question and the novel feels incomplete without a solid explanation.

It Had to Be You is a short and sweet mystery that isn't particularly gripping. The story flows along nicely, but there wasn't anything happening that would entice the reader to continue. If put down, I doubt anyone would be anxious about getting back to it.

[Lizzie]

-Didn’t realize it was like the 5th book in a stand-alone series
-There were way too many details about installing the dumbwaiter that literally had 0 addition to the plot
-There were several other times where she included random details about day to day life that were unnecessary and didn’t add anything to the story
-Didn’t love it

[Chazzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brother and sister, Robert and Lily Brewster, are living in the Grace and Favor mansion they have inherited from their Great Uncle Horatio Brewster. It may be elegant, but times are hard as it is the Depression. The farmers, who’d bought land from Uncle Horatio, were having a hard time paying their mortgages due to the economy and bad weather conditions. This has led Robert and Lily to taking odd jobs to bring in money.

They were approached by a nearby nursing home to lend a hand due to some staff shortages. They wound up finding themselves in the midst of a murder investigation, when one of the patients was found dead in his bed. The patient wasn’t well liked by his family or people he’d dealt with.

Further complications developed when the spring thaw revealed another dead body. The possibility of a relationship between the two deaths turns out to be quite strong. The question is who is the killer and what is the motive?

This is a fun cozy read with busy characters and a good amount of twists and turns.

[Marjorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

FDR is inaugurated and Robert goes to Washington to see this historic event take place. Upon his return, Robert and Lily take temporary jobs in a Nursing Home. Of course a patient is murdered, which is puzzling because he was dying anyway, and another body shows up. Robert convinces the Nursing Home operator to install a dumbwaiter to make things easier than hauling the laundry up and down the stairs. How interesting to read about this time in America. Likable characters, you should start with the first Grace and Favor to get a good feel for the series. (The dumbwaiter is not a part of the murders, but I believe that part is more development of the characters. Typical of the brother, Robert to want to fix things, make them better, easier, more efficient.) The books are light reading and fast.

[Marty · Rating 2 out of 5]

This first book in a new series (2004) is a quick read – I am not impressed enough to look for the following books, but it was OK because I had nothing else to read and a couple of hours of reading time. The story opens with Robert catching a train to go to FDR’s first inauguration. Robert and his sister, Lily, are to inherit an old estate in the Hudson River Valley…. No money, but a big house. It is not explained, but their great-uncle’s lawyer is the custodian of the estate now and Robert and Lily are living in the house with the lawyer and his wife. This seems to be a good arrangement. Robert and Lily find themselves getting temporary jobs helping with cleaning nursing home nearby. Just as they start work, one of the patients is murdered. Of course, Robert and Lily do what they can to help solve the murder.

[Dharia Scarab · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...

1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.

2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.

3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.

4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.

5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a little light reading, Jill Churchill fills the bill with either the Jane Jeffry or this Grace and Favor series. I had some time to kill between waiting for a book delivery and needed a quick read. This particular one, is not as much a pleasure as the others. It seemed a bit slap-dash with almost a foregone conclusion of who-done-it. I really had it figured out from the start. Yet, one can't help like Lily and Robert and the regular characters but, other than one exception, the newly introduced characters in the nursing home and the murdered man and his family are either unpleasant or unremarkable. All in all, it left a bit of a bad smell, but it could be the smell of the nasty lake that features in the story!

[Rachel N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the fifth entry in the Grace and Favor mystery series, set in New York during the depression. This time around Lily and Robert Brewster are hired to help at a nearby nursing home when one of the patients is murdered. Lily and Robert don't actually do much investigating this time and their main involvement in the story is getting a dumbwaiter installed in the nursing home. The ending seemed a bit rushed and why the murder had to occur when the victim was going to die of natural causes that day anyway is never really explained. Not much of a mystery but I still enjoy the main characters.

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only gave this a two because the plot was fairly decent. I keep trying to like her books but the poor writing keeps me from it. This was supposedly set in 1933 but a few references to FDR and Duesenberg automobiles just doesn't cut it. Like the setting that sort of floats in space, so do the characters, making them easily confused with each other. There is no main voice holding the threads of the story together and I still don't know what Grace & Favor is/are! This Lily person is supposed to be a young woman but she could be anywhere in age - including a senior citizen. I just hope I remember how much I dislike this author when I next visit the library!

[Mayda · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this gentle cozy, Robert and Lily are working in a convalescent home. They must earn their keep to comply with their uncle’s will. When a cantankerous patient dies, not one was surprised. They all knew he had been at death’s door. But when an examination proved he had been murdered, everyone wondered why the killer just didn’t wait for the old man to die. The charm of this book isn’t so much with the mystery but rather with the characters. Robert and Lily are quite delightful, as are the secondary characters who people the story. The setting in the 1930’s is quite entertaining, as the people go about living their quiet lives, making do and just surviving the hard times.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another enjoyable entry in this lighthearted series. Set during the Depression (in this book, Roosevelt has just been inaugurated), two erstwhile children of privilege are constrained to make their own way for 10 years by the terms of their great-uncle's will. Hired to help carry laundry, scrub floors, and do other chores in a local nursing home, they are quickly involved in a murder investigation. The local police chief, newspaper editor, and their attorney all play their parts, and there are the usual and fun eccentric local characters in the small Hudson Valley town. Recommended.

[Crafty Cristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this one was my favorite of the series, though I did figure out the murderer pretty early. I like the characters and that in each book the main characters have different jobs. Each job is temporary and fits with the story line of the 2 young people who had been rich before the Great Depression, therefore their skill set is limited.

Robert and Lily have a job as cleaning staff for a nursing care home just until the regular lady recouperates from pneumonia.

A cratchety old man who is a patient is murdered. They have to solve the crime.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read some of these a few years ago and recently re-discovered them. I remember the earlier books in the series being better-crafted, whereas this one seems rushed. The historical context/events are stuck in awkwardly rather than woven into the plot, and the quickly wrapped-up ending was out of proportion to the highly-detailed ongoing saga of installing a dumbwaiter which had nothing to do with moving the plot forward.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert goes to Washington for FDR’s inauguration, only to find that his old college buddies are either not in town, or not in favor of FDR. In order to earn some money, Lily agrees to help out at a local nursing home when an assistant nurse gets sick. When she and Robert get there they find the work load is greater than expected. Robert suggests a helpful improvement. While they’re there, a disagreeable dying man is murdered. Why bother?

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The series is set in New York state during the Depression. In this one it is March of 1933, and the incidental history facts check out. The town sheriff is tasked with solving a murder of a terminally ill man in a care home where the main protagonists are temporarily working. He is also helping out a neighboring department with some unusual issues. There are twists and surprises in the investigation as well as some interesting things at the care home. A short but very interesting story!

[Priscilla Herrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this mystery, and especially enjoyed the flavor of life in the 30s. FDR has just been elected - and one of the young detectives goes by train to Washington DC to see the Inauguration. There are bits of history sprinkled throughout, such as the Bank Holidays, to keep the atmosphere.

This book is apparently the 6th in the Grace & Favor series, and I expect I'll seek out some of the others.