From Publishers Weekly
In her 11th Lloyd and Hill mystery (Verdict Unsafe; etc.), British author McGown provides an expertly crafted whodunit. Judy Hill, a bit cranky in her eighth month of pregnancy and uncertain about Lloyd's willingness to be a father again, ropes her reluctant partner in life and crime into joining her at a rehearsal for a local dramatic society's production of Cinderella. When Lloyd is called from there to the scene of a suspicious death involving the wife of one of the players, the curtain rises on a fascinating domestic drama. Estelle Bignall, apparent victim of a robbery gone wrong, was married to handsome doctor Carl Bignall, who was safely at rehearsal when the call came. Ryan Chester, well known to the local cops as a clever thief, is tied to the scene by the theft of a car and a sackful of Christmas presents from the Bignall house. Ryan's younger half-brother, Dexter, has been spotted running away from the scene of the crime. Sinister next-door neighbor Eric Watson, a former cop, is curiously reluctant to talk to the police. What does he have to hide? Imperturbable as ever, the witty and wily Lloyd, with the able help of his subordinate, Tom Finch, sorts through the maze of conflicting evidence and improbable stories to get to the heart of the matter. Once again, McGown has delivered outstanding entertainment.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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From Booklist
McGown produces another winning entry in her long-running Lloyd and Hill series. Detective Chief Inspector Judy Hill, struggling through the last month of what seems an interminable first pregnancy, is temporarily out of commission as far as investigating violent crimes is concerned. Her life partner (and fellow DCI) Lloyd is nervously anticipating fatherhood and facing one of the most puzzling cases of his career. Estelle Bignall has been murdered, smothered to death in what was apparently a burglary attempt gone wrong. The evidence points to Ryan Chester, a petty thief who's had numerous run-ins with the police, but Lloyd isn't buying it. In the end, it's Lloyd's plodding police work that gets him the evidence he needs to crack the case, but it's his sharply honed "cop's sixth sense" that lead him to the real killer. The book suffers from a sometimes confusing surfeit of characters and subplots, but overall, it's an engaging and carefully crafted British police procedural.
Emily MeltonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
