Cassidy Percoco reviewed Anything goes. by Jill Churchill
Review of 'Anything goes.' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Like most series mysteries, this comes down to the gimmick and the characters. I'm fond of the characters: Lily is sensible and clever, Robert a Wodehousian playboy, and ... Jack(?) filled a needed niche and will make a nice love interest for Lily at some point. The gimmick - that the Brewsters were left a great deal of property but have to live in this particular house on the Hudson for ten years before they come into the money - is actually such a good one, leaving openings for a lot of comedy-of-manners class-related situations, that I kind of wish it were dealt with in a longer non-mystery novel.
However, I can only give it three stars, as I just didn't feel an emotional connection to it. It didn't quite hook me, and I don't plan to read any of the others in the series. Maybe it was too short …
Like most series mysteries, this comes down to the gimmick and the characters. I'm fond of the characters: Lily is sensible and clever, Robert a Wodehousian playboy, and ... Jack(?) filled a needed niche and will make a nice love interest for Lily at some point. The gimmick - that the Brewsters were left a great deal of property but have to live in this particular house on the Hudson for ten years before they come into the money - is actually such a good one, leaving openings for a lot of comedy-of-manners class-related situations, that I kind of wish it were dealt with in a longer non-mystery novel.
However, I can only give it three stars, as I just didn't feel an emotional connection to it. It didn't quite hook me, and I don't plan to read any of the others in the series. Maybe it was too short - once Lily and Robert moved to Grace & Favor Cottage and no longer had to deal with adversity, the plot just sort of happened and I stopped being as interested in them.
