2 Books Like The Grammarians

The story starts at the end, and then reveals the events through Lily’s storytelling. That threw me a little at first, but once I was caught up in the tale, there was no getting out of it.

Joanna Davidson Politano spins as marvelous a tale as anything Gordon Makepiece told Lily in the book. She gives us historical details of a real place (St. Anne’s Well Gardens) and a real person (George Albert Smith, one of the earliest filmmakers), and she wraps those details in a story that is by turns whimsical and wistful.

Lily truly is a mystery, as Peter learns. Lily isn’t her given name, but one of many she’s used in the past. What is she running from? How did she get the Briarwood Teardrop? Why is a magistrate sending Scotland Yard after her? Politano unwinds Lily’s story and weaves it together with Peter’s with humor, tension,… show more.

The book starts off with a bang. Right away, Dickason had me wondering what was up with local law enforcement. The sheriff clearly has history with Riley, and it isn’t good. And when the dead body goes missing, his glib dismissal of the case as closed is positively criminal. (I know there are some bad/useless cops in the world, but the sheriff here seems to take that to a whole new level.) The deputies “working” the case aren’t much better. Billy Thatcher seems pleasant enough, almost apologetic for his fellow officers, but Mickey Bennett sure feels like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Cody is a great addition to the Tracker team. He’s good at what he does, and I expect his unique abilities will prove incredibly useful. And while romance definitely isn’t the focal point of the story, the relationship growing between him and Riley has me hoping we see… show more.