Don't Mess with Mrs. In-Between

by Liz Evans

Book Overview

When Barbra Delaney comes into Grace Smith's office, looks her in the eye and announces, 'I'm filthy rich and I've decided to make a will leaving the lot to a complete stranger. I've chosen you...',... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0752842978
• ISBN13: 9780752842974
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Orion
• Length: 406 Pages
• Weight: 0.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.5" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

I love this series!

If you like Janet Evanovich's series featuring Stephanie Plum, you will love this series featuring Grace. You will laugh til you cry at some of the scenes and some of the things she says. I just love it when she calls someone a "bugger". The books are like a cozy mystery so if you are into those, you should like these also. A great female sleuth series!

British PI Grace Smith

Not sure how I had previously missed this novel. It is about British PI Grace Smith, who has an office arrangement upstairs in a PI firm, and who lives as one of the squatters in a building that has an unknown owner. She has an automobile that she can't take out on the highway, so relies on a bicycle, borrowed vehicles, and bumming rides. She is tightfisted with money. The novel has a mixed group of characters. Throw together a cast that includes an older woman with a boytoy, a cross-dressing actor, a would be movie producer, an old guy with a shotgun playing with a half deck, various love smitten people, and assorted other players and spear characters, and you get a story that goes in some iteresting directions. There is a wrap-up at the end that has a few twists, and some advice about the necessity of sometimes needing to let people go, no matter how much you may think you love them. Parts of the novel are funny. Grace is not exactly Kinsey Millhone, and not exactly Stephanie Plum. The novel is not a quick read, but definitely worth reading.

An enjoyable read, but the ending disappointed me

I previously read Liz Evans' Sick as a Parrot and thought it was one of the best books I've read recently, so I came to this one with high expectations. I enjoyed reading the book, but I think perhaps there were too many plots going on, and somehow, in the end, there wasn't that feeling of satisfaction that all of it made sense and came together. In fact, by the end, I was feeling confused -- so many subplots to keep track of. The main plot (is there really a main plot in this book?) involves a wealthy woman who hires private investigator Grace Smith for a job (Grace is kind of a British blend of Kinsey Milhone and Stephanie Plum -- humor and romance, but plotting is much stronger in Evans than Evanovich, and Grace is kind of an "on her own in the world" sort of detective character, like Milhone). The assignment is to identify three people the woman has secretly photographed coming out of a shop in a nearby village (Grace lives in an English seaside town). The woman says that she intends to leave her fortune to these strangers rather than to her ne'er do well son, because she thinks he may be trying to kill her for her money. It immediately becomes clear that Grace has stumbled on a hornet's nest -- she has upset someone, but about what? Each of the three people in the photographs has a story (subplot) involving their life, including a farmer who is caring for his demented father (who ties Grace up at shotgun point), a couple who have started an American Indian study center, a politician, a transvestite, etc. Perhaps there are TOO many characters, although they're all interesting. I will continue to read more in this series and can recommend this book -- but it does require some concentration, so this is not a good book to read in short spurts or a distracting setting. If you like more literate mysteries, this will probably appeal, and there are some great humorous lines and episodes.

British myster with strong female lead character...

Don't mess... is a fast paced novel with a wealth of interesting characters. At times the plot stretches credibility, but still in an enjoyable fashion. The author does a nice job of introducing enough characters to keep this relatively lengthy novel interesting (400+ pages), and does so in a way that it is still easy for the reader track. The novel is modern-British in tone and nature, but still very accessible. Although not great literature, the book holds your attention throughout.