Six Things About Grace and Manor House Mysteries {+ Giveaway}

I’m thrilled to welcome award-winning author Julie Hyzy here today to talk about GRACE AGAINST THE CLOCK, the last release in her Manor House Mystery series.

This enjoyable cozy murder mystery is the fifth installment in Julie’s delightful series. Thanks to Julie and the lovely Danielle at Penguin Group, I have a print copy of GRACE AGAINST THE CLOCK to giveaway in celebration of its release. Please see the end of the post for more details.

First, here’s a brief synopsis of Grace’s latest adventure ….

        When Marshfield Manor hosts a charity event, Grace Wheaton, the mansion’s curator and manager, is happy to lend a helping hand—until a killer makes an unwanted donation…
        With the town clock in desperate need of repair, local lawyer Joyce Swedburg and her ex-husband, Dr. Leland Keay, are trying to put their differences aside to organize a benefit at Marshfield Manor to raise money to restore the beautiful timepiece. While Grace appreciates the opportunity to support such a good cause, the tension between the unhappy exes is giving her the urge to put both of the organizers in time out.
        But after Leland collapses on stage during the festivities, poisoned, Grace suspects there was more going on behind the scenes. Now, she’s in a race to catch a ticked off murderer, and, if she’s going to prevent anyone else from getting hurt, every second will count…

Julie joins us now to share a little quiz about ‘Six things you may not know about Grace and the Manor House Mystery series.’ Welcome, Julie.

Where has the time gone? My fifth Manor House mystery, Grace Against the Clock, debuted July 1, 2014, and I’m both amazed and enthralled by the warm reception Grace and her friends at Marshfield have received. 

Whether you’ve read one, two, four, or none of the prior titles, you may have fun taking the following quiz. No worries, we won’t keep score. This is simply a chance for me to share a little behind-the-book trivia with you:

1. When writing the first book in the series, Grace Under Pressure, I knew I’d have to come up with suitable name for the magnificent estate where Grace would work and ultimately find family. What is Marshfield’s name an homage to?

a) A defunct sports team

b) A department store

c) A street in Chicago

d) A wide meadow I used to visit as a child.

2. In Grace Interrupted, we meet a little tuxedo kitten for the first time—Bootsie. Grace wants nothing more than to adopt the bundle of fur. But there’s a problem. What is it?

a) Grace is allergic

b) Bootsie’s owners reclaim their pet

c) Grace can’t have pets in her building

d) Grace’s lifestyle can’t accommodate a pet

BONUS: What’s Bootsie’s gender?

3. In Grace Among Thieves, two priceless antiques play a key role in the story. What are they? (Pick two)

a) An original American flag from revolutionary war times

b) Five Picasso originals

c) A jewel encrusted tiara

d) A World War II sword

4. In Grace Takes Off, Grace and Bennett visit Florence, Italy. While there, Bennett begins to suspect that his elderly friend’s treasures are being systematically stolen and replaced with fakes. Bennett first notices something amiss (and points it out to Grace) on what piece of artwork:

a) A Picasso sculpture of a skull

b) An oil painting from Renoir

c) A Ming dynasty vase

d) A fresco transported from Milan

5. Grace Against the Clock was written and almost complete before being assigned a permanent title. Believe it or not, the first version had no clock in it whatsoever. Here’s the question: The book opens with a fundraiser for renovating the town clock. What was the original purpose of the fundraiser in the manuscript’s pre-title-change version?

a) A women’s shelter

b) Streets and Sanitation in Emberstowne

c) The local hospital

d) The local food pantry

6. Grace’s personal issues, beginning with the loss of her mother and her subsequent discovery of other possible family connections, is based (loosely) on what other story?

a) Jane Eyre

b) The LaPlace-Dutz Saga

c) Anne of Green Gables

d) Pollyanna

Ready? Answers below. If you get all the answers correct—Woo-hoo! We must have met in person, because some of this information doesn’t appear in any of the books.

ANSWERS:

          1. b – department store. I named Marshfield after the former (and beloved) Marshall Field’s, whose flagship store was on State Street in Chicago, and where I spent many a lunch hour when I was working in the city.
          2. a – Grace is allergic to cats. As am I—something I didn’t realize until our daughters adopted sister cats. BONUS: Bootsie is female.
          3. c and d
          4. a
           5. c
          6. b – My mother was raised as a LaPlace, but her real father was Joe Dutz, a fact we didn’t discover until shortly after my mother passed away and her sister spilled family secrets.

Thanks for taking the quiz! I hope you enjoyed and that you learned a little more about Grace and the gang. If you’re new to the series, I hope this quiz piqued your interest.

Julie, thanks for joining us and sharing this look at Grace. It was fun remembering things from the earlier books.

Now for those of you who aren’t familiar with Julie, here’s a brief background.

Author Julie Hyzy

Anthony and Barry Award winner Julie Hyzy is the New York Times bestselling author of the White House Chef Mystery series featuring the intrepid Olivia (Ollie) Paras, and the Manor House Mystery series featuring mansion curator Grace Wheaton.

For more on Julie and her writing, visit her website and blog, as well as connect with her on Facebook.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

This giveaway is for one print copy of GRACE AGAINST THE CLOCK. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and will end Friday, July 18. 

To enter, just click on the Rafflecopter widget below and following the instructions. The widget may take a few seconds to load, so please be patient. The winner from this giveaway will have 72 hours to respond after being contacted or another winner will be selected. The email will have ‘Thoughts in Progress Julie Hyzy’s Tour’ in the subject line, just so you know what to watch for (in case it goes into your spam folder).

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Did you enjoy the quiz? How did you do on it?

*This post contains affiliate links. a Rafflecopter giveaway