Someone to Watch Over Me (Hardcover)

Readers are in the midst of the Bonus Army March as they camp out in Washington, D.C. in 1932. Churchill recounts the historic adventure through the eyes of their newspaper editor, Jack Summer who travels to D.C. to get a first-hand glimpse of the protestors.

The papers proclaim that Henry Ford has cut wages and increased hours and hosed down disgruntled employees who are seeking better conditions. ( I was a little confused about this as I knew that in 1914, Ford was the first to establish a "minimum wage" law as he raised the pay from $2.50 to $5.00 - which was a fortune in those days for doing assembly work. Naturally, it helped him retain employees - but I doubt that in 1932 many people were buying automobiles and Ford was trying to keep the company afloat.) It would have been nice if this had been explained.

In between all the historical events, there are two murders and plenty of dialogue. You grow to like these characters more and more with each new book. This Churchill series is as good as it gets!

Set during the Depression, the once wealthy Brother and sister Lily and Robert inherit their uncle's mansion on the Hudson River. But the inheritance is predicated on the English law of Grace and Favor where they must live in the house for a period of time before they can rightfully own it. And their uncle added one more element to this inheritance in that both Lily and Robert must have jobs in the area and live only in the house before they inherit anything. The house comes with an array of interesting people who work for them in addition to some of the townspeople who quickly become part of their lives.

Unfortunately, times are tough for all including Lily and Robert who few in the village know that their family was a casualty of the Depression early on and their fortune no longer exists. With both their parents now gone, they must figure out a way to make ends meet. They come up with one idea after another to bring in some much needed income while they also somehow become amateur detectives. As she did in her two previous books, Ms. Churchill presents first one murder victim and then another as Lily and Robert become entangled in solving the murder And not content to have only one main plot at work, Churchill fully explores the plight of the average person as they deal with the Depression. A most interesting part of the book is when the author describes the workers march on Washington, DC for wages as well as their living conditions in tent cities erected around this area.

While I enjoyed the mystery angle of this book, which is enough to satisfy most mystery readers, it is the description of the area around the Hudson and the characters that really interest me in these books. Now once again I am waiting for the next title in this series to find out what everyone is doing and how life has been treating all of them.