Grace Blakely knows what she saw. Three years ago her mother was murdered and she is determined to get vengeance. Unfortunately no one believes her. With Grace's father being deployed to a war zone, Grace is sent to live with her grandfather on Embassy Row in Adria. When your grandfather is the US Ambassador and your new home is an embassy, even the slightest things can become international incidents. When Grace sees the man she believes killed her mother, she knows she has to make him pay - even if it could bring countries to war... 
 Ally Carter's newest book, All Fall Down, starts the Embassy Row series with a lot of action, excitement and international intrigue. Grace knows that no one believes her mother was murdered. They think her death was an accident but Grace can't let it go. She's a great character to follow as she uses all her resources to get her revenge. This is truly a foreign affair with the Russian boy next door trying to keep an eye on Grace and her closest allies being the son of Israeli and Brazilian diplomats and the daughter of an US computer whiz. The secondary characters are all interesting with their own stories and lives going on. They have their own problems yet they still support to Grace as she tries to find answers. The overall plot is exciting and full of suspense and action. Grace doesn't really know what she is doing but she knows she has to do something. Her antics often end up in disaster yet she is not discouraged. 
 Adria is a wonderful setting for Grace's story with the city itself (as well as the inhabitants of Embassy Row) adding a lot of colour and mystery. I really enjoyed the international aspect and how despite united appearances were, the political nature was incredibly unstable. Grace's single-minded determination to find the man she believes responsible for her mother's death put countries against each other and leaves them on the brink of war. 
 All Fall Down is a little darker and more grown up than Carter's Gallagher Girls series but it still maintains her distinct storytelling style with secrets and lies tied up with a great story. There are fantastic and fascinating characters with their own secrets to be discovered in the future. I can't wait for the second book in the Embassy Row series and see what happens next for Grace and her international allies. 
 Many thanks to Scholastic Australia for the review copy.