The Spirit of Grace

By: Terry Lynn Thomas

Narrated by: Lillian Yves

Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Sarah Bennett doesn't remember the night her mother tumbled down the stairs at Bennett House, despite allegedly witnessing the fatal fall. There was talk of foul play, dark whispers, and sidelong glances, all aimed at Sarah, prompting her family to send her to The Laurels, an exclusive asylum in San Francisco, under a cloud of suspicion. Now, on the one-year anniversary of her mother's murder, Sarah has been summoned home. Convinced of her innocence, she returns to Bennett House, hoping to put the broken pieces of her life back together. But when another murder occurs shortly after her arrival, Sarah once again finds herself a suspect, as she is drawn into a web of suspicion and lies.

In order to clear her name, Sarah must remember what happened the fateful night her mother died. But as she works to regain her memory, the real murderer watches, ready to kill again to protect a dark family secret.

©2016 Terry Lynn Thomas (P)2017 Terry Lynn Thomas

Wonderful start to a series

Any additional comments?

Sarah Bennett doesn’t remember anything about the night her mother took a fatal fall down the stairs in their home. Several people believed Sarah was behind her mother’s death. She was sent to live in an exclusive asylum. Sarah still was not able to remember anything about her mother’s death a year later. Her father has her to come home for the anniversary of her mother’s death in hopes this will help Sarah remember what really happened. Upon arriving at home Sarah finds that her father has remarried a much younger lady. Sarah is determined to remember what happened and clear her name but during her investigations, she discovered a dark family secret.

This is a well-written mystery with a lot of suspense. I really enjoyed Sarah’s characters and I really felt for her and wanted her to remember what happened to her mother. The setting in the book really adds to the story and enhances the storyline. This is a great start to a new to me series. I will be checking out more of this series.

I listened to the audio version of this book. The narrator Lillian Yves as a pleasant voice and is easily understood. Her storytelling ability is definitely an enhancement to the story.

I received this audiobook as a prize, all opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Great story; production needs work!

Full disclosure: I purchased and read the print version three or four months ago, but was given a free audio file in exchange for an honest review.

Having read and loved the print version of this book, I was more than excited to receive a promotional credit for the Audible file, because I'm an audiobook junkie. (Aren't we all?) But I found that this book is, if the audio stands as it is without further editing, much better in print.

This book is what I consider neo-gothic. Not quite as brooding as earlier gothic mysteries (see Du Maurier, Stewart, Michaels, etc.) the story nevertheless has all the right elements along with the necessary dollop of the supernatural. The characters are interesting and perfectly written for the first in a series; you never want to get too comfortable with characters that you're going to meet repeatedly or there's nothing new to discover. (Oh, I do love Zeke! Perfect foil for Sarah Bennett. I haven't read the second book yet, but I think his story goes a lot deeper!)

You can read the synopsis yourself, and I won't give anything away. Thomas has a deft hand with sudden surprises and her writing style lends itself well to the story and characters. I was very surprised at how much research she put into this; it wasn't until after I finished the book that I realized how immersed I had been in the setting without being dragged out of it by anachronisms. Too many mysteries these days that are set in a specific period are written by lazy researchers, but Thomas isn't one of them. She uses many tiny details along the way to create a rich, rounded WWII era setting.

Now we come to the crux of my problem with this audiobook. The narrator has a lovely voice, and the rather quiet, lilting quality of it would work well with this author. But poor editing makes this a difficult listen at times. There is literally NO dead air between sentences sometimes. The cuts between paragraphs and the rushed feeling during the dialog could be completely fixed by re-editing this book to provide the necessary pacing. If you do whispersnyc, it does adjust a bit to match your reading speed and that does help. If you are simply listening, I recommend adjusting the audio speed from 1x to .75x to get a more enjoyable (and understandable) listening experience.

Now! On to book two...Weeping in the Wings!

Lillian Yves's voice is like a familiar friend

This is a wonderfully romantic, cozy mystery that's well-written and wonderfully told by the narrator, who makes you feel like she's with you, telling you the story. Short, and sweet book.

Fantastic Gothic Mystery Suspense Thriller!

Sarah has no memory of the night her mother died. There are those that believe it was Sarah’s fault. Was SHE responsible, or was she merely witness to a horrible tragedy? Now, time has passed and Sarah is back at Bennet Cove, but nothing is the same, and death has made another appearance! Is Sarah again responsible, or will she be next? Dark, mysterious, and foreboding, “ The Spirit of Grace” is a beautifully written, magnificently narrated story that kept me intrigued, and guessing from beginning to end! The touch of paranormal weaved through this beautiful, mysterious story is a masterstroke that elevates this one to a whole new level in the Gothic genre, and I loved every … single … shivery … second! No spoilers, I don’t want to give ANYTHING away! One thing that must be mentioned though is the narration! This story comes ALIVE through beautifully chosen character voicing, and heartfelt emotion that rings so authentically true! I was kept “in the moment”, throughly engaged, guessing, wondering, and shivering, from beginning to end! I loved everything about this beautiful, brilliant, emotional story. Five stars across all categories! Don’t pass this one by!

The Spirit of Grace

Well written , the intrigue kept me interested . The ending enticing to the next book. Very enjoyable. Well done Terry

give this a try

The mystery kept me guessing and second guessing myself through the whole book. Loved the narrator that gave each character a unique voice. I really enjoyed this audible.

Good story but...

Found the narration not as compelling as I'd have liked. Chose not to finish. May go get the ebook.

Well-written.

Tense with a twist at the end.

Lillian Yves does a great job bringing the characters to life.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

The Spirit of Grace

Oftentimes when I read a mystery I can figure out whodunnit before the end of the book but this book totally took me by surprise!

Excellent

loved this listen characters well defined I loved it so much I had to stop everything else I was doing and I held my breath the suspense I thought I would scream waiting to get to the conclusion I recommend this listen the narrator was spot on

Good

I was given this free review copy at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Good

What a lovely book

from start to end had my attention
Sarah was a strong character.
thank you Lillian for sharing this book with me and free honest review.
I would recommend this book.

Good old fashioned story

If you could sum up The Spirit of Grace in three words, what would they be?

interesting, intriguing fast-moving

What did you like best about this story?

the slight supernatural element

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Sadly i think the performance didn't do the story justice. It was read with an uninterested and monotoned voice. She could have been reading the phone book.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Couldn't say without a spoiler

Any additional comments?

I liked the setting, and the story. Fell short of 5 stars due to the fact i felt it could have been expanded. It all happened very fast without much fill in detail about the characters or the time set. Enjoyed it overall though

A great book

Would you consider the audio edition of The Spirit of Grace to be better than the print version?

Equally as good.

What did you like best about this story?

The mystery aspect to the story and the plot twists

Have you listened to any of Lillian Yves’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No, this is the first

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I became very caught up in the story, and therefore eager to know what more was to come.

Any additional comments?

An enjoyable murder mystery set in the time of WWII, and so therefore full of spies and intrigue, and there's a bit of romance thrown in for good measure.
I liked the plot twists, and although I thought I had worked out the mystery it turned out that I hadn't fully.
The story is very good as a stand-alone novel, though there is scope for the characters and story to be continued which indeed it does as this is the first book in the series.
The narrator was also very good and very listenable!
Can highly recommend.