Starred review from January 6, 2003
In this exemplary police procedural, the 12th in McGown's Lloyd and Hill Mysteries (Scene of Crime, etc.), DCI Judy Hill and her partner and fiancé, DCI Lloyd, are enjoying their newborn daughter while she pursues a baby kidnapping case and he investigates a brutal murder. McGown's expertly crafted, fast-moving plot contains enough red herrings to keep even the most astute readers on their toes. With his obsession with correct grammar and his habit of creating various scenarios to help him solve a case, Lloyd makes an original yet classic detective. Ambitious and adventuresome, Hill is a modern woman who is just as qualified as Lloyd. Together they make an incomparable team. This is a stellar must-read, bound to delight existing fans and send newcomers seeking the rest of the series. (Feb. 4)FYI:The London
Times selected McGown as one of the 20th century's "100 Masters of Crime."
December 1, 2002
Here's the twelfth in the British author's series of mysteries featuring Detective Chief Inspector Judy Hill and her partner and fiance, DCI Lloyd (he has a first name, but he prefers we don't use it). This time around, the partners are facing some challenges: a baby has just been kidnapped; some people have been savagely attacked; and Hill and Lloyd have welcomed, nearly a month early, their daughter into the world. If you're a fan of the series, its delicate narrative and gentle pace (we're nearly halfway through the story before anything really happens) will be familiar and comfortable; if you're not a fan, those same features may seem annoying, as though the author were taking way too long to get to the story. Still, both fans and mystery lovers just looking for a good read will savor McGown's rich, detailed character studies (she can build a character at least as well as Ruth Rendell) and dead-on dialogue. In every way, it's a typical Hill/Lloyd mystery, and for fans, that's a very good thing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)