The Lady Grace Mysteries
“There’s definitely something interesting happening. I’m going to find out what it is.” – Lady Grace Cavendish, Assassin.
This week’s books is a special little one I found at the back of my bookcase. I’ve had it for about ten years and haven’t read it for about six. It was just about the time I was beginning to become obsessed with the Tudors (for which I fully blame the Horrible Histories magazines!) and my grandparents catered to this love by giving me this book for my birthday.
It tells the story of Lady Grace Cavendish, a Maid of Honour for Queen Elizabeth I. The Queen is her godmother, and since her parents died, they have had a very close relationship. Her mother was also a Maid of Honour (except the Queen actually liked her and didn’t throw things like hairbrushes and shoes at her) and she died drinking poisoned wine meant for the Queen.
Grace is about 13 during the first book, and is basically no typical girly–girl. As in, she likes to walk the dogs and climb trees, has no interest in men, and has made friends with the servants. She also has a great love of solving mysteries, and that’s really what the books revolve around.
At the start of every book, something happens at court and a mystery is presented to the reader. Grace, defying social convention and the restrictions of her class and gender, takes it upon herself to solve it. Without taking any credit for herself, of course.
There’s a few very unique things about this book however, that make it very special. For one, it’s written in the style of a diary, so some passages are short, some are long, and some cut off halfway through. Each entry also has the date at the start so you get a better feel for the time period.
It’s a very cute little book. The cover is actually designed to look like a diary that’s seen some wear and tear. But the most interesting thing is that it is a series of books that go in alphabetical order. So, the first book is ‘A’ for Assassin (the title of the book) then ‘B’ for betrayal, ‘C’ for conspiracy and so on and so forth.
They’re short books, and definitely intended for children, but they’re a very pleasant read. Anyone who’s a fan of the time period, loves a good independent heroine or just wants something easy to pass a couple of hours, this is one for you.