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Killing Time

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Everyone makes choices, but choices have consequences – consequences that may cost Jack Martin his life. Jack is forced to deal with the past, while desperately trying to balance the present, but he is running out of time...killing time.

Eric Martin is murdered in cold blood, while his wife lies sleeping beside him. She is savagely beaten and left for dead. Somehow, she survives the brutal attack. A two million euro inheritance seems to be the motive for the murder, and the finger of suspicion points squarely at Jack.

However, Detective Chief Inspector Charlie Scott gets the feeling that there's more to the crime than money. Her investigation leads her to probe the dark heart of the Martin family, where she uncovers the horrifying story that is at once a bloody murder mystery and a heart-breaking story of the worst kind of betrayal.

128 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 28, 2013

9 people are currently reading
1152 people want to read

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Joanne Clancy

39 books330 followers


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5 stars
16 (23%)
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3 stars
23 (34%)
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5 (7%)
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
Profile Image for Carol  MacInnis.
453 reviews
August 3, 2013
I received this book from the Author, Joanne Clancy, in return for an honest review of it.

It was 3:00am when a call came in to Emergency Services from Glenville Heights, Killarney. Georgina Martin and her husband, Eric had been brutally beaten and stabbed by who they assumed was a burglar. Eric was dead and Georgian was hanging on by a thread. Their 19 year old son Jack, was in the very next room and said he had slept through the whole incident. Their daughter, Tara works in Dublin, a couple of hours away by car and when she received the news she immediately took a cab to see her younger brother and Mother. But after seeing the horrific sight of her Mother, it was not long before she high tailed it back to Dublin. Detective Chief Inspector Charlie Scott of the crimes-against-the-person division and Detective Dan Quinn were assigned to the case. After almost a year, the detectives had still not made an arrest and Georgina was getting extremely impatient with the entire police department. But as the detectives questioned Tara and Jack, they found them both to be very detached and almost bored of their questions, particularly Jack. Although they were getting closer to an arrest, they needed to make sure they had concrete evidence.

This story was unnerving but powerful and made me feel wrongly sympathetic towards some of the characters. Even though the Author, Joanne Clancy, had me thinking they had finally gotten justice, she blew me away with an unbelievable ending that made me stop and go over in my head all of the events that led to these attacks. This was Joanne Clancy at the top of her game!!! Excellent!
Profile Image for Sue.
1,419 reviews5 followers
August 24, 2013
I received a copy of "Killing Time" by Joanne Clancy, in exchange for an honest review. Another great suspense mystery thriller by this author.

A 911 call was received from a woman, Georgina Martin, a teacher, living in Glenview Heights, Killarney, Ireland requiring an ambulance for her husband, Eric, an author and herself. Their teenage son, Jack was also in the house at the time of the burglary and stabbing. The police entered through the back forced door and found that Georgina had been badly injured and her husband was presumed dead and Jack, sleeping at the time was left unharmed. Jack, showing no emotion to the event, calls his sister, Tara who was working in Dublin, in advertising.

DCI Charlie Scott, and Detective Dan Quinn, working in the crimes-against -the-person division, under DCI Charlie Scott, arrived on the scene. Charlie observed that Eric Martin's murder had been brutal and horrific, with no chance of survival. She was told that Georgina was clinging to life in the intensive care unit.

Entrance had been through the back door, beside a smashed window pane. Nothing appeared to have been taken...it didn't look like a burglary...but rather a murder.

The autopsy report on Eric Martin stated that he had suffered 36 stab wounds, 48 cuts and 46 blunt injuries by a hammer and a knife. The evidence consisted of a rucksack found outside the back door and a stain on Jack's jeans.

At the time of Eric's death, Eric had been working on a murder/mystery novel where the killer used a hammers and knifes! How ironic!

Neither Jack or Tara had shown any sadness at their father's death or concern about their mother. When Dan interrogated Jack, he was distant and exhibited a nonchalant attitude. Tara was hysterical and uncooperative. Neither showed any interest in going to the hospital to visit their mother.

Neighbours said that Eric was an alcoholic who just tolerated his children, when they were young and couldn't wait for them to leave the nest. He was especially hostile to Jack. Jack suffered from insomnia...so how could he have slept through the murder?

Dan received a call from Georgina's sister, Paula Conway who suspects that Jack may have had some involvement in the murder. Eric's wealthy inheritance, in the event of death, was to be left in trust for the children.

Someone called in to report seeing a fire burning in the forest around the time of the murder. Dan checked it out and found scraps of burnt clothing, burnt shoe, a carving knife, a map and note printed "GLENVIEW".

So many unanswered questions...large inheritance, appearances of a staged break-in, undigested food in Eric's stomach, blood splattered pages of Eric's unfinished novel. Who would have done such a thing and Why?

This was a fast-paced mystery thriller with a real surprise twist ending. Well written and held your attention right to the end.
Profile Image for Sandy Grissett.
262 reviews3 followers
May 1, 2015
This book will grab you from the very beginning. A call for help, a murder and beating have taken place. Eric and his wife, Georgina are asleep in the bedroom and their son is in the next room. During the night someone breaks in and brutally murders Eric, it is amazing that his wife Georgina is still alive. She is able to call 911 for help yet she was beating severely. When the police arrive, they stop when they open the bedroom door. They can't believe how much blood there is. Georgina is taken to the hospital and they awaken Jack, her son. This is hard to believe that Jack was able to sleep through everything while his parents were being attacked. They call in Detective Charlie and Dan to do the investigation. Things are not looking good for Jack. When they talk to Jack's sister, Tara they notice she is nervous. Neither Jack or Tara are acting right yet maybe they are still stunned by what has happened. What they find, and when they finally discover the outcome at the end may be something you will not be expecting. Will they discover who killed Eric and the reason behind the murder?
Profile Image for Ashley.
2,822 reviews
August 16, 2014
This newest book by Joanne Clancy is attention grabbing to say the least. Eric and Georgina Martin are a happily married couple with a son Jack and a daughter Tara in a small town in Ireland. But we're they really a happily married couple? The book starts off with Georgina calling the police to say someone attacked them and she was hurt badly and couldn't hear her husband breathing. The story unfolds from there, taking twists and turns as the detectives are trying to discover what happened that fateful night and who I'd withholding evidence, or knows something that could lead them to the killer or killers.


The twist I didn't see coming and think that readers will enjoy it immensely!
Profile Image for Colette Cooper.
38 reviews1 follower
August 23, 2013
I was gutted when I got to the end of this quite dull story and the twist appeared. I was tempted to stop reading it so many times (which is rare for me, I normally still persevere).
I felt unable to identify with any of the characters and the author didnt concentrate on one enough that you knew any if them enough to care. And it's a shame, because if the revelation at the end of the book was just that little bit sooner, it would have been a gripping emotional story. At least it was short
Profile Image for Mjl.
56 reviews
August 19, 2013
Well written but oddly structured book. Sort of a murder mystery, except seemingly everyone knows who was responsible almost right from the outset. Bit of a twist at the end but I think much more could have been made of the whole scenario and the self-delusions of the surviving victim. Skimmed the surface too much for me to really engage with any of the characters or truly empathise with any of the motivations. Shame, the narrative was slick and polished but overall the story left me cold.
Profile Image for Claire .
224 reviews19 followers
September 10, 2014
A murder mystery with no mystery. The guilty party is flagged right from the start. Lots of pages of people wondering why he's so unaffected by the crime, and about a year of "investigation" of the crime, and then the whole thing gets tied up like a gift box at the end in just a few pages, with about 3 pages devoted to the motive, like the bow on the gift box.
Profile Image for Darren.
2,040 reviews48 followers
November 16, 2015
I got this as a free e-book for subscribing to the authors website. I enjoyed reading it. I have read this authors books before. She is a good writer. I look forward to reading more books by her.
Profile Image for Maureen Reil.
Author 56 books34 followers
August 27, 2013
It is always a massive thrill to read a Joanne Clancy book because she never fails to entertain and Killing Time is a prime example of her excellent work so far, for this talented author writes fantastically detailed descriptions and allows the reader to get to know the quirks of individual characters so that you feel like you know them and the way they operate and what makes them tick. This book focuses on the engaging story of the Martin family and what happens after the pebble is dropped in the pond, which refers to the horrific murder of a sleeping husband and the attempted murder of his wife and the ripples that this heinous act leaves behind on the surface of the water. As in the aftermath of such a barbaric slaying when the finger of suspicion is firmly pointed at the family itself, for the sympathy lies solely with the mother when she manages to survive the vicious attack which left her for dead. On the other hand, Georgina’s children appear to be extremely uncaring and downright cold towards her and raise the doubts that they’re not totally innocent in all this and they actually appear to be hiding something about the incident and know a hell of a lot more than they’re telling the cops or the solicitors, or their own mother in fact. So it seems like it’s just a matter of time running out for the real culprit to be shown up for their true nature and cunning in committing such a horrific crime, for what sounds like the age old motive being nothing more than money. Or could others be involved and could there be other reasons entirely that would push someone to the very brink of such everlasting hatred? You will have to read this gripping book to find out the answer and I bet you’ll absolutely love to death the brilliant twist at the end when all is revealed, just like I did.
Profile Image for Carina.
1,901 reviews1 follower
June 17, 2016
I'm surprised this book is 128 pages long... reading it it felt far far longer, but that could have been down to my forcing myself to finish it.

I found the writing here to be... basic, if I am honest. Characters were hardly developed and when they were emotional it wasn't realistic to me. In the victims family you could argue that is understandable but in the police? Some of the actions they seemed to undertake and the emotional outbursts they portrayed just seemed... odd. Conversations between the characters also felt stilted and unrealistic and when it came to describing things... well, far too much telling me what I saw (actually that goes for telling me what the characters were feeling, very little demonstrating it via their actions).

The villain of the piece is pretty obvious, and the twist that came about in the last few pages to explain things felt tacked on and added so that the readers knew the motive (something the police didn't really seem to give a damn about).

Overall, I wasn't impressed with this book and I am unlikely to knowingly read others by this author based off this experience.
Profile Image for Raluca Sandu.
85 reviews8 followers
January 13, 2016
I downloaded this book on the author's website in a PDF version. I liked it, but the action was really slow, and that annoyed me a little. I was expecting more suspense and more action. I thought there was going to be a blow at the end that would have made me give 4 stars to the book but there was no big surprise.
Thanks to the author for giving us the chance to discover her work this way.
Profile Image for Susan.
7,275 reviews69 followers
December 12, 2015
Georgina Martin wakes up during the night to find her husband brutally murdered and herself having been attacked, while her son sleeps in the next bedroom.
Suspicions are raised by the investigating detectives, but no real suspects at first.
Profile Image for Steph.
132 reviews2 followers
August 19, 2013
No more than average but wasn't expecting the twist in the final few pages.
Profile Image for Kerry Amburgy-Dickson.
73 reviews8 followers
October 31, 2013
When the town was described, it came off sounding like a travel brochure. The dialogue was a little stilited in places, but overall it was a good read.
41 reviews
March 29, 2016
The author is an admitted plagiarist. Google Eilis O'Hanlon Joanne Clancy and read the article.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews

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