PI Grace Smith is earning a few pence as an Easter Bunny, but she hadn’t figured on the drawbacks, ie the youth of the community setting alight to her tail with the squeals of ‘Ooh look, a hot cross bunny!!’ She does however manage to turn the escapade to her advantage and distributes some leaflets advertising her services.
The result, a client - one Della Black whose son has been receiving threatening letters. She wants Grace to find out who is the sender. This has its complications when it turns out that the son is Jonathan Black, husband of the soap celebrity Clemency Courtney. This involves Grace going undercover as a gardener. Grace’s idea of gardening is just cut it all back to the roots. I did sort of flinch here, being a bit of a gardener myself. However, I also understood the philosophy; it will most likely grow again.
Before she has barely ducked undercover, out of the bushes springs Dane O’Hara. Dane is righting the wrongs of his dead brother Declan, formerly a police officer; obviously a corrupt - or should I say misled - one.
Grace’s investigations are somewhat hampered by the obliging but limpid Bianca, who enthuses that she is Clemency’s best friend. Unfortunately Bianca has a real bunny, Cappy, who had decided that Grace is just the female bunny he has been seeking all his life and launches at her at every opportunity. Hampered by Bianca and Cappy, Grace has a time of it, but assisted by Dane who pops up at every turn, she begins to piece together an unsavoury story.
I loved Sick as A Parrot and this was just as much fun. Bring on the next Grace
adventure. I can’t wait!
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Lizzie Hayes
There are six books about PI Grace Smith so far - the first was Who Killed
Marilyn Monroe? (1997). Liz also published 4 books under the name Patricia
Grey in the 1990s.