Grace Sees Red (Manor House Mystery, #7)

by Julie Hyzy

The New York Times bestselling author of the Manor House Mysteries and the White House Chef Mysteries is back with another nail-biting murder mystery for curator Grace Wheaton. 

Grace Wheaton, curator and manager of Marshfield Manor, and her benefactor, Bennett Marshfield, are discussing how to help her roommates Bruce and Scott with their wine shop troubles when Grace’s trusted—if testy—assistant, Frances, calls, saying she needs some assistance of her own. Arriving at the address Frances has given them, they find a coroner’s van and police cars parked outside an upscale assisted-living facility called Indwell.
 
One of the elderly residents has been found dead under suspicious circumstances, and Frances, seen arguing with the man earlier that day, is now a person of interest. It’s up to Grace to clear her assistant’s name and find the real killer—before another Indwell resident checks out early...

• ISBN10: 0425281620
• ISBN13: 9780425281628
• Publish Date: 28 June 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780425281628

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

I always enjoy July Hyzy's writing and Grace Sees Red wasn't an exception, even if the mystery plot relied completely on the "friend in peril" trope.   

The mystery in this one is the murder of an old cantankerous goat of a man at a very posh assisted living facility in a neighbouring town.  We learn about Grace's assistant's long-standing secret about where she spends her weekends at the same time we learn she's the number one suspect in the murder.    The basis for suspicion felt a bit weak to me from the start, and I've always thought Frances needed her ears boxed - the author takes cranky a bit too far to be loveable - but otherwise I love the characters, so it was easy enough to overlook.  I didn't figure out who the real bad guy was though, and I count that as a win.   Hyzy never goes the expected route with romantic interests so Grace is still a free agent and we are introduced to a new possible romance, one that has potential to be interesting.  

So even though it looks from the last line of the book that we're going to be recycling a previous plot (the sister - she's back!), I'm still firmly on board for book 8.