A Vintage Reads Review: Deception

Deception (Lady Grace Mysteries, 4) by Grace Cavendish, September 13, 2005. 224 pages. Published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers. Source: Library.

Queen Elizabeth is furious at the production delays of her new coin. To escape her bad temper, Lady Grace and her fellow Maids of Honour skate down the frozen River Thames to the eagerly anticipated Frost Fair. But a gruesome discovery on the ice–a dead man with coins covering his eyes–interrupts the winter revelry. As the Queen’s Lady Pursuivant, Grace must unravel the mystery.
Uncover a dangerous world of counterfeiting and corruption inside the private daybooke of Lady Grace, the queen’s favorite Maid of Honour.
All miscreants and ill-thinkers, keep out! The Lady Grace Mysteries come to us from the most privy and secret daybooke of Lady Grace Cavendish, Maid of Honour to her Gracious Majesty, Queen Elizabeth I of that name.

First Sentence:

I have a new daybooke and I cannot wait to begin writing in it!

First off, I am saddened that my library does not have the rest of the series, which made me drag my feet while reading Deception because I knew it would be the final installment I'd get to read for some time. While I am disappointed about not being able to continue my binge reading of the Lady Grace Mysteries, I know that one day I'll get to read about the rest of Lady Grace's adventures.

On that note, I'll start off my actual "penning" of my thoughts on the fourth installment in the Lady Grace Mysteries. While Deception had more of a feel of danger, as in Grace seemed more likely to come to injury then the previous volumes, I was hoping that the mystery would perhaps be better than the previous volumes. Alas, I was sorely disappointed because I figured it out in record time.
   Even though the mystery was again disappointing, I really enjoyed this one because Lady Grace had to work even harder to figure out the villain who was trying to cheat the Queen and England with counterfeit coins. There was many a time that it looked like things were not going to end well for Grace or her friends, but I enjoyed watching them continue on as they sought out the villain. Just watching the story unfold is what makes this series such an interesting read.

I personally, have found it refreshing to be able to say, after four books, that the characters are still one of the best things about this series. Truly, I have enjoyed watching the get more daring in their quests for the truth and justice on the Queen's errands. There are not many books were I can say I enjoyed reading about the characters book after book without tiring of their back-sliding ways or by being annoyed over the silliness when it comes to 'love'.
    Also, it is nice to be able to enjoy a series were the main character has such close friends, especially with how they look after each other even though they are of different stations. Even better, Lady Grace is able to be just friends with a male character, which is something you don't see often enough in young adult books these days.

Again, for me, the only true drawback to this series would have to be the mysteries. When it comes to books, I am like Poirot or Sherlock Holmes sniffing out the answers long before they should be discovered. So, while it would be nice for the series to have better veiled mysteries, I am pleased to have found and read some of the series from my library and regret nothing about deviating from my TBR stack to read them.

Final Verdict: Deception- Danger is definitely afoot in the fourth, and most exciting, volume of the Lady Grace Mysteries.

Deception earns 4 out of 5 griffins