Anything Goes
Jill Churchill Book Review

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Plot Summary of Anything Goes

"Lily Brewster and her brother, Robert, were high-society people in New York until the crash of 1929 destroyed their father. (He committed suicide.) They're living in a run-down tenement apartment and working regular jobs when they see an ad asking them to get in touch with a lawyer, Mr. Prinney. Prinney is the lawyer for their great-uncle Horatio Brewster, who died in a boating "accident".

They inherited his Honeysuckle Cottage (they renamed it Grace and Favor Cottage), really a fancy mansion, with some terms: They are required to live at Grace and Favor for 10 years (without being away from it more than 2 months each year) and have to work to get their own money for clothes and such. Household expenses, food, fuel, and such, were seen to by Prinney.

Lily and Robert think that Uncle Horatio was actually murdered and wanted to find his killer. Then, a no-good local river rat, Billy Smith, was found dead in their kitchen, stabbed or strangled with Lily's scarf found around his neck. Lily and Robert found out beforehand that Billy claimed to have known something about the murder of Uncle Horatio, and so his murder was tied in with Uncle Horatio's. Since Billy's murder happened in Grace and Favor and Lily found him, Lily and Robert became more motivated to find the killer and clear any doubts about themselves.

Crested sapwood supportable noradrenaline runout.

"
Ann, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Anything Goes

Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).

Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 50%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%

Tone of story - very upbeat
How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story: - 1930's-1950's
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 60%
Misc. Murder Plotlets - local police w/ IQ of a houseplant
Kind of investigator - amateur citizen investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - running a business/making a living
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - unemployed
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - none
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - wealthy
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - money/treasure
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - very athletic

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Northeast
Small town? Yes
Small town people: - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee
Misc setting - fancy mansion

Style
Part of a series? Yes
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 2
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

Most similar books to Anything Goes
In the Still of the Night by Jill Churchill
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Ordeal By Innocence by Agatha Christie
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Jill Churchill Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:

Ann

SCHOLARS: Abby White Peter Kenney

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Anything Goes
Jill Churchill Book Review