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Lloyd & Hill #6
Murder... Now and Then
If ever anyone deserved to die, it was millionaire Victor Holyoak.
Holyoak's favorite tactic was to kick people when they were down, then pick them up and kick them again. Now the great man himself was down -- brutally stabbed to death in his penthouse apartment.
Detective Chief Inspector Lloyd felt a creepy sense of deja vu. For though certain he'd never seen Holyoak's scarred and bearded face before, he remembered one very like it -- somewhere in the past. Hunting for answers drew Lloyd and his lover, Inspector Judy Hill, deep into the lives of those in the dead man's dangerous orbit: his terrified stepdaughter, her playboy husband, a broken cop, an ambitious hooker, all desperate souls with plausible motives. Yet in the end, Lloyd and Hill would solve two baffling mysteries -- one now, one then, both deadly....
Holyoak's favorite tactic was to kick people when they were down, then pick them up and kick them again. Now the great man himself was down -- brutally stabbed to death in his penthouse apartment.
Detective Chief Inspector Lloyd felt a creepy sense of deja vu. For though certain he'd never seen Holyoak's scarred and bearded face before, he remembered one very like it -- somewhere in the past. Hunting for answers drew Lloyd and his lover, Inspector Judy Hill, deep into the lives of those in the dead man's dangerous orbit: his terrified stepdaughter, her playboy husband, a broken cop, an ambitious hooker, all desperate souls with plausible motives. Yet in the end, Lloyd and Hill would solve two baffling mysteries -- one now, one then, both deadly....
346 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
5 people are currently reading
132 people want to read
About the author
Jill McGown
34 books39 followersJill McGown (9 August 1947, Campbeltown, Scotland – 6 April 2007 in Kettering, Northamptonshire) was a British writer of mystery novels. She was best known for her mystery series featuring Inspector Lloyd and Judy Hill, one of which (A Shred of Evidence) was made into a television series. McGown wrote her first mystery novel after being laid off from the British Steel Corporation in 1980. She is sometimes credited as Elizabeth Chaplin.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 14, 2019
Although I've enjoyed each of the five books featuring Inspector Lloyd and Judy Hill that preceded this title, Murder ... Now and Then surpassed each of those in its tight plotting. Not only must the two detectives determine who committed the murder at hand, but they also find themselves investigating a 13-year-old murder.
As always, the characters are fully fleshed out and believable. The personal tension between Lloyd and Hill due to their romantic relationship is less pronounced than in the past, but the sparks are there.
All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience.
As always, the characters are fully fleshed out and believable. The personal tension between Lloyd and Hill due to their romantic relationship is less pronounced than in the past, but the sparks are there.
All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience.
February 22, 2021
My least favorite book in the series. At first, I was impressed with her extended development of outside characters, but man, they quickly bored me. Much less time spent on regular characters in series.
February 3, 2017
I found that I did not like most of the characters (the non-police ones).
October 1, 2019
Although I didn't hate it and finished it, I didn't really enjoy this book. I found it unnedcessarily complicated and I really didn't like Lloyd.
June 7, 2022
When I realized that alternating chapters were set in the "present" and in the past (15 years or less) and that the past chapters went into agonizing detail about the characters and how they met, etc. I gave up after only three chapters. It was ok learning about Lloyd and Hill's early relationship, however. A disappointing entry in an enjoyable series.
July 7, 2020
Yet another great read from Ms McGown.
Another double murder but with 13 years between the victims & 2 different killers.
Plenty of story which interlinks the 2 murders & red herrings a plenty to keep you guessing who killed who
Another double murder but with 13 years between the victims & 2 different killers.
Plenty of story which interlinks the 2 murders & red herrings a plenty to keep you guessing who killed who
October 14, 2017
Not the best in the series. A little long, and I had trouble keeping all the characters straight, especially because the timeline kept jumping around. I enjoyed the background on Lloyd and Judy.
March 21, 2025
I found the constantly changing timelines irritating, especially trying to remember what stage the events / investigation had reached when the next time line shift appeared. Really disruptive.
August 13, 2012
I gave this four stars because it was such a treasure trove of Lloyd/Hill lore and I had wanted to read it for a long time but could not find it anywhere, used or new. Then I had the brilliant idea of getting it from the library!
This is book six in the series that stars DCI Lloyd (no first name) and Judy Hill. The series starts when Judy has moved to Stansfield where a divorced Lloyd is a DCI. In the various books we learn that they first met when Judy was a young WPC in the London police where Lloyd was an Inspector. In addition to solving various murder mysteries, the books show Lloyd and Judy's romance being rekindled and a relationship developed.
The book is one of those intricately plotted books that Jill McGown did so well, and yes it was sort of messy, especially in the beginning. The book covers things that are happening now, including a murder that you are just cheering about when it finally occurs, and things that happened in the past, starting about 15 years ago. For readers of the series it gives the details about Judy and Lloyd, a married man with two children, first meeting and working together in London, their initial attraction and eventual separation without ever consumating their feelings. In addition it tells the history of a group of people who now live in Stansfield, but at the time some of them were also in London and had brushes with the police. The book alternates between the present and the past, moving through the years, telling about Judy marrying Michael, and about Lloyd and his family moving from London to Stansfield. These developments are told along side the lives of the other characters: Max picking up 16-year-old Catherine hitch-hiking to London; Charles and Geraldine moving to Stansfield to establish their medical practice; Anna, a teenage prostitute, finding herself at the mercy of a cruel and dishonest cop, then under the control of a merciless psychopath; Max and his wife also moving to Stansfield where his wife is murdered while he is spending the day in London.
As you can tell I was very jazzed about all of the details about Lloyd and Judy, especially since I have read all of the other books in the series. For that reason I was willing to put up with the rest of the stories that seemed at times to meander (and how were they related??). But one of Ms. McGown's talents was keeping track of all the strings and mysteries and giving you a satisfying answer to all the questions - solving the old murder and the new one. It was these mysteries that keeps one up reading until 4:00 in the morning!!
This is book six in the series that stars DCI Lloyd (no first name) and Judy Hill. The series starts when Judy has moved to Stansfield where a divorced Lloyd is a DCI. In the various books we learn that they first met when Judy was a young WPC in the London police where Lloyd was an Inspector. In addition to solving various murder mysteries, the books show Lloyd and Judy's romance being rekindled and a relationship developed.
The book is one of those intricately plotted books that Jill McGown did so well, and yes it was sort of messy, especially in the beginning. The book covers things that are happening now, including a murder that you are just cheering about when it finally occurs, and things that happened in the past, starting about 15 years ago. For readers of the series it gives the details about Judy and Lloyd, a married man with two children, first meeting and working together in London, their initial attraction and eventual separation without ever consumating their feelings. In addition it tells the history of a group of people who now live in Stansfield, but at the time some of them were also in London and had brushes with the police. The book alternates between the present and the past, moving through the years, telling about Judy marrying Michael, and about Lloyd and his family moving from London to Stansfield. These developments are told along side the lives of the other characters: Max picking up 16-year-old Catherine hitch-hiking to London; Charles and Geraldine moving to Stansfield to establish their medical practice; Anna, a teenage prostitute, finding herself at the mercy of a cruel and dishonest cop, then under the control of a merciless psychopath; Max and his wife also moving to Stansfield where his wife is murdered while he is spending the day in London.
As you can tell I was very jazzed about all of the details about Lloyd and Judy, especially since I have read all of the other books in the series. For that reason I was willing to put up with the rest of the stories that seemed at times to meander (and how were they related??). But one of Ms. McGown's talents was keeping track of all the strings and mysteries and giving you a satisfying answer to all the questions - solving the old murder and the new one. It was these mysteries that keeps one up reading until 4:00 in the morning!!
October 29, 2015
This is the sixth novel in this excellent police procedural crime series which has as its backdrop the not always smooth running relationship between DCI Lloyd and DI Judy Hill. Like Inspector Morse, Lloyd doesn't reveal his first name. In this story the past has wide ranging repercussions in the present for everyone concerned. Millionaire Victor Holyoak, well known in Europe, returns to the UK and buys a local security firm with the intention of expanding it.
Llloyd attends a reception hosted by Holyoak to celebrate the opening of his new factory. Lloyd is sure he has seen Holyoak somewhere before. Catherine, wife of Max Scott, manager of the new factory, faints while Holyoak is making a speech. Clearly there is something more going on than meets the eye.
Alternating between the nineteen seventies and nineteen nineties, this well written mystery gradually reveals the web of relationships which connects everyone in the present and which will result in murder and more.
This has to be the best in this well written series that I've read so far. It is well plotted and the way everything is slotted into place is masterly. I thought the characters were well drawn and believable and Victor Holyoak has to be one of the most unpleasant characters in crime fiction. I recommend this book and this series to anyone who likes their crime series without too much on the page violence and nad language.
Llloyd attends a reception hosted by Holyoak to celebrate the opening of his new factory. Lloyd is sure he has seen Holyoak somewhere before. Catherine, wife of Max Scott, manager of the new factory, faints while Holyoak is making a speech. Clearly there is something more going on than meets the eye.
Alternating between the nineteen seventies and nineteen nineties, this well written mystery gradually reveals the web of relationships which connects everyone in the present and which will result in murder and more.
This has to be the best in this well written series that I've read so far. It is well plotted and the way everything is slotted into place is masterly. I thought the characters were well drawn and believable and Victor Holyoak has to be one of the most unpleasant characters in crime fiction. I recommend this book and this series to anyone who likes their crime series without too much on the page violence and nad language.
July 7, 2025
This is the sixth book in the author's police procedural series (13 books) featuring Detective Chief Inspector Lloyd and Detective Inspector Hill. I first came across this series in the early 1990s and have read them all at least once.
This is the third time I have read this but I did not remember the story at all as it is over twenty six years since I last read it. This book is different from the previous five books as it is much more about the people involved than the investigation. Indeed the murder being investigated isn't known about until page 126. The story starts with Lloyd attending a lunch to celebrate the opening of a factory by a Cabinet Minister. Then the story goes back fifteen years to when Lloyd was a Detective Sergeant in London and Hill was then probationary WPC Russell. There are other flashbacks involving other attendees at the lunch. The author weaves a compelling tale and by the end two (and possibly thee) murders have been solved. Lloyd and Hill are great characters who come across as real people and an enjoyable part of this series is reading about their personal relationship.
The writing is better than the writing in most of the books I have read this year (2025) and I am really glad that I decided to re-read this series.
This is the third time I have read this but I did not remember the story at all as it is over twenty six years since I last read it. This book is different from the previous five books as it is much more about the people involved than the investigation. Indeed the murder being investigated isn't known about until page 126. The story starts with Lloyd attending a lunch to celebrate the opening of a factory by a Cabinet Minister. Then the story goes back fifteen years to when Lloyd was a Detective Sergeant in London and Hill was then probationary WPC Russell. There are other flashbacks involving other attendees at the lunch. The author weaves a compelling tale and by the end two (and possibly thee) murders have been solved. Lloyd and Hill are great characters who come across as real people and an enjoyable part of this series is reading about their personal relationship.
The writing is better than the writing in most of the books I have read this year (2025) and I am really glad that I decided to re-read this series.
March 1, 2015
3.5 stars. I am reading this series in order. This probably has the best plot so far. However, I thought the book could have been more concise. The author also had the habit of sometimes referring to characters by their last names and other times by their first names which makes thing confusing in the early part of the book until you figure out who she is referring to. The book also shifts back and forth between the Now and the Then (which is about 13 years earlier). If this isn't sufficiently confusing, near the end of the book the author introduces another time frame which is a few days before the Now.
January 31, 2012
A tidy little mystery in the Banks/Hill series. There is a lot going on here......a murder sets off circumstances which reveal long hidden secrets in the lives of most of the main characters. The book is written in a "then" and "now" format, challenging the reader to think about how the past affects the present and leading to some wrong conclusions (at least by this reader). I enjoy all the books in this series and would rank this one as one of the best. Recommended for the lover of British mysteries.
May 12, 2009
Initially I had a hard time getting into the book, but the more i read it, the more I liked it. It is more along the lines of an Agatha Christie-type mystery than a more "fluff" mystery. Some things were easy to figure out - although at the end you have to wonder if the author meant to make some points almost blatant, because I certainly did not guess what the end was!
September 15, 2011
A cracking mystery novel, with a tight (occasionally convoluted) plot that keeps up a brisk pace, I thoroughly enjoyed it. My reading pleasure was helped, knowing that the writer was a local lady and I recognised the geography and detail of Corby several times.
February 14, 2009
Excellent plotting in this Lloyd and Hill mystery.
August 16, 2014
my kind of mystery. British police procedural. this one jumped back and forth in time - added to the mystery
December 6, 2015
This took a while to get into and I rather got lost in the some of the characters. But when it picks up, be ready to roll!
September 23, 2016
Too slow.
June 26, 2019
Structured.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews