From Publishers Weekly
McGown ( The Other Woman ) places a complex but rewarding case in the capable hands of series regulars Detective Chief Inspector Lloyd and Inspector Judy Hill. The narrative alternates between "now" chapters describing the circumstances of a recent murder in Stansfield, England, and "then" sequences detailing a woman's unsolved murder some 13 years past; the same loose circle of acquaintances is implicated in both crimes. When corrupt international businessman Victor Holyoak is stabbed to death, Lloyd and Hill interview a lengthy list of potential killers, including an ex-prostitute and a crooked former policeman. Prime suspects seem to be the Holyoaks' estranged stepdaughter and her husband, whose first wife was strangled to death years before. McGown juggles a vast array of details about her characters' interpersonal relationships, supplying crucial hints in briskly passing flashbacks and flash-forwards. Some key incidents may get short shrift, but readers who stay on their toes through this mostly expository mystery will appreciate its logical, likely conclusion.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Stansfield's Detective Chief Inspector Lloyd (The Other Woman, p. 23, etc.) is present when the town's biggest factory--owned by gossipy widow Zelda Driver--is taken over with glitzy ceremony by power-hungry new owner Victor Holyoak. Katherine Scott, who married plant manager Max Scott years ago--six months after the unsolved murder of his wife Valery--and who provided Max's alibi then, faints dead away when Holyoak announces during his speech that Katherine is his stepdaughter. Good-natured, womanizing Scott is angrier at his wife than anyone has ever seen him. Among the worried witnesses to his fury are local doctors Geraldine and Charles Rule, with hidden agendas of their own, and Anna, Holyoak's p.r. woman, who knows more about him than most and whose own past is far from pristine. When Holyoak is stabbed to death in his penthouse apartment, Lloyd and Inspector Judy Hill (finally together after years of frustration) are compelled to review--at tedious length--events going back 15 years. Blackmail, suicide, child abuse, homosexuality--all will play a part in a densely plotted story full of characters well drawn but not always convincing in their complex, sometimes bizarre interplay. A mostly intriguing tale for the patient reader. --
Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
