Time and Trouble

Howe & August #2

by Gillian Roberts

Seasoned investigator Emma Howe has been in the business so long nothing can surprise her. But her new assistant, an overeducated single mother named Billie August, nearly manages to amaze her. Billie is quick, ambitious, smart. And a lot tougher than she appears. That's a good thing, because Emma has just taken a case that will rock both of their worlds.

Sophie Redmond has come to Emma in a desperate search for her teenage daughter, whom she fears has joined a bizarre cult. In an odd twist of fate, Emma and Billie recognize wheelchair-bound Mrs. Redmond as an insurance scammer they've been tailing for another client. The woman's fake injuries are only one symptom of a family plunge into darkness-a legacy one troubled girl wants desperately to escape.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Evalyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read all the Amanda Pepper mysteries by Gillian Roberts so I thought I'd try one of the other series. It was really good and well-written, a gripping mystery of bodies found in a field, a missing teen, and the detectives working on the cases.

[Leslie Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

didn't know this G. Roberts series existed. nice treat. cranky old PI and not-so-dumb blond newbie.good tension.

[Rose O'Keefe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clever writing, occasionally overdone, but mostly a total page turner.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first Gillian Roberts mystery and yes I would like to read another...and I will.

[Marty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one kept me guessing… although it was a bit difficult to follow. Emma Howe was a crusty middle aged experienced PI. Billie was a smart 30 something single mother trying to keep her head above water. She needed a job and the PI hours fit her life. She’d learn on the job…. Or at least she thought so. Her first job turned out to be a doozy!! An 18 year old girl. Penny, goes missing. Her mother, a cripple in a wheelchair wants to find her. She believes her daughter has gotten caught up in some crazy cult. Her step-father is overbearing and demanding. As the mother asks Emma for help Emma realized the mother was a scam artist they were trying to get evidence on. She wasn’t really handicapped! --- there are many twists and turns before things get straightened out.

[Catmom 4 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute book. A young person who wants to be a PI and her first case. Plus, her Employer , an old, crochety woman who goes by the book without much emotion. It had enough twists and turns to keep me interested and the ending was definitely a surprise.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complicated and suspenseful. I liked it.

[Kris · Rating 2 out of 5]

No comment

[Ken Bruss · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tedious mystery involving a missing high school senior and several murders

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't crazy about the author's writing style from the start, but the story seemed promising. However, it seemed to be a closed and shut missing persons case, nothing more. Until 3/4's of the way through the book, it becomes a murder mystery. I wish that turn of events came sooner because it became more exciting. In the last 3 chapters, there was a chase and then a fight in the last 5 pages. If all of those had happened sooner, I would have liked the book better. As they were, it seemed a little rushed and the resolution wrapped everything up in a page.

Awesome cover - I just wish the story followed suit.

[Garden Gal · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Pub 1998-Bk #1 of Howe & August series ]

I enjoyed this very much: well-crafted. (I reserve 5 stars for "must read" books, but "GR" is an all-around ***** writer!)

Who says a murder has to appear at the start?

"Gillian Roberts" builds her characters, involves the reader, so that when things happen, our emotions are engaged.

And, as with all GR's Amanda Pepper books, all the clues were there -if we chose to see them. I appreciate mystery writers who play fair with readers.

{One quibble: p.107 says 5,850 hours; p. 358 says 5,927.}

[John Carter · Rating 2 out of 5]

A recent branching out for Roberts, this is the beginning of a series about Emma Howe, who’s run a detective agency for some time, and Billie August, her new assistant with no experience but plenty of enthusiasm. I didn’t find it nearly as good as the Amanda Pepper stories: a couple of really depressing characters, a distracting change in POV with every change of chapter, and a villain I spotted in the first quarter of the book.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book but I just sort of liked it through to the end. Don't plan to read anymore in the series. By the way, I believe this is book one, not book two unless there is a prequel.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think I'll be reading more of this authors work...too wordy for me.

[Cynthiaj · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish. Just didn't have the hook to set and get into.