"Engaging historical police procedural"
In 1979 Havenwood, Minnesota, a fire kills long time
British expatriate Grace Meade. The police believe her
daughter Jillian killed her mother. FBI Special Agent Alex
Cruz arrives from DC to question Jillian about the deaths
of her mother and two other British women, who were
companions of Grace in the World War II French Resistance.
They both died following a visit from Jillian. Alex's
interrogation results in his inability to obtain any useful
information from a tacit Jillian locked away for her own
protection after an attempted suicide. Alex soon learns that Jillian was researching her
mother's role in World War II and that is why she met with
the now deceased women. He finds her journal of notes and
uses that as a springboard to try to learn whether Jillian
is a serial killer or just an easy mark of someone who
wants the three plus decades of events in France to remain
silent. DEADLY GRACE is an engaging historical police
procedural that fans who relish good detective work will
find inviting because the FBI agent and the prime suspect
are strong interesting protagonists. However, the tale
hinges on the characterization of Jillian, but she fails to
come across as real, hurting the overall plot. In spite of
that, the story line is crisp and the climax quite
surprising and powerful so that sub-genre readers will
enjoy Taylor Smith's latest work. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted November 4, 2001
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